Child Soldiers in Latin America By: Leslie Cardona, Ashley Valencia, Guadalupe Farias,Per.5,Ms.Rodriguez, 10-23-2015

What are child soldiers ? According to do something.org, child soldiers are often defined as “ any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by a state or non-state armed group and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes.”

How many people does this affect in the world? According to council on HemisphericAffairs.ORG there are an estimated 300,000 child soliders in the world. Our team focused on helping child soldiers in Latin America.

Who are the most common victims of this type of slavery? Forbes/Opinion states that, the average child soldiers are usually boys. These slaves can be found in Latin America.

Reasons why this type of slavery exists https://9snchildsoldiers.wordpress.com/why-do-child- soldiers-exist/ believes child soilders exists in Latin America today because rebels don’t have enough soilders. Children are easily convinced to join the army than, adults Since,children are smaller than adults they could hide better so,rebels prefer children over adults.

Living conditions and overall treatment In Latin America child soldiers are treated without any respect until,they pass a certain test. For example they would have to kill their best friend so the army could see if they could trust them.

In this video you will see information about Child Soldiers. Slave Narrative: In this video you will see information about Child Soldiers. https://youtu.be/CtPHZyvuVvw

What can people do to stop this? One organization that is working to stop child soldiers is Ban Ki-moon in United Nations. They want to help children have a nice life and a great career. If you want to help save child soldiers from losing their childhood and having a better life you should sign petition or even start one of your own. http://www.endchildslaveryweek.org/sign-petition/#FSContact4

The petition we found #stopmoderndayslavery You can use this link http://www.endchildslaveryweek.org/sign- petition/#FSContact4 to sign a petition to help stop children from becoming child soilders. #Saveourchildhood #ChildrenNotSoilders

Our Conclusion Through our research we learned about child soldiers in Latin America.They are separated from their families.Sometimes they have to kill someone like a relative or friend.So, the army can see if they can trust them.Child soldiers don't have a childhood.

Works Cited "From Cradle to Conflict: Child Soldiers’ Growing Role in Latin America’s Drug Wars." Council on Hemispheric Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. "For Child Soldiers, Every Day Is A Living Nightmare." Forbes/Opinion. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. "Latin America." United Nations Environment Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. Drumbl, Mark. "The Truth about Child Soldiers." CNN, n.d. Web. Oct.-Nov. 2015.

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