Date :

READ TO GET INFORMED

CHILD SOLDIER STATISTICS

• Approximately 300,000 children under the age of 18 are thought to be fighting in conflicts
around the world.
• Most child soldiers are recruited from the age of 10 upwards.
• Some children are tempted to become soldiers by promises of food or security. Many others are
kidnapped and forced to fight. They do not usually get paid for their work.
• Sometimes their captors force children to take addictive drugs to make them dependent and loyal.
• Many of the children don’t have a strong sense of right and wrong, and will commit atrocities such
as the murder of innocent people.
• Child soldiers, both boys and girls, are often the victims of abuse.
• Most often child soldiers are recruited in long drawn-out civil wars. Many are orphans, or are
recruited after losing their family.
• Many children die or are wounded in battle. Those that survive and gain freedom need years of
support to overcome their trauma and successfully reintegrate into society.
• Most child soldiers have missed out on opportunities for education and play and many have difficulty
finding a place in society.

Your TASK  Read the facts below and complete the tasks.
 What is the nature of the document under study ?
The document is an article with statistics about child soldiers. ( = a statistics article / a
statistical article)
 What is the issue which is raised ?
It deals with the issue of war children and child soldiers.
 Read the text and highlight all the “transparent” words in the text and circle 6 words you
don’t understand.
 Approximately / age/ conflicts/ soldiers/ recruited/ tempted / promises/ security/ kidnapped/
forced/ captors / drugs/ dependent / loyal/ sense / commit / atrocities / victims / abuse / long /
civil/ orphans / battle / survive / support / trauma / reintegrate / society / opportunities /
education/ difficulty / place /addictive
 upwards / draw-out / wounded / gain / overcome / miss out on / captors

 Make a list of all the passive forms .

are thought / are recruited / are tempted / are kidnapped / (are) forced / get (=are) paid /
are wounded
 Rephrase (sentence  ) in the passive form.
Children are often forced to take addictive drugs by their captors to make them dependent and
loyal.

 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has
certain rights that should never be taken away from them. Using the information listed above,
find at least five rights in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child handout that are
violated in the case of child soldiers.
The right to life / the right to safety / the right to food and shelter / the right to live in society
/ the right to education / the right to play / the right not to be used as a cheap worker/ the
right not to be used as a soldier in wars/ the right not to be hurt/ the right to be protected
from danger / the right to be with their parents

 To what extent can child soldiers be seen as victims or slaves. Explain in your
own words making use of passive forms in your answer. (30/40 words)
Child soldiers can be seen as victims or slaves as they are abducted (captured /kidnapped)
and forced to serve as soldiers in wars . They are also tempted to become soldiers for food or
safety as they are poor or orphans. Moreover, most of them are tortured and victims of abuse.
They are forced to take drugs by their captors and to kill innocent people. Child soldiers are
not protected by law and they die or are wounded in battle. Also they are not allowed to go to
school. Most of the” Rights of the Child “ are denied in the case of war children as they are
not treated as children.