Is it Possible to Morally Distinguish Child Soldiers From Adult Soldiers? (PDF)

Academic Paper from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - International Politics - General and Theories, grade: 8,5 (Niederländisches System), University of Groningen, course: Theories of International Relations, language: English, abstract: This paper tries to shed light on the discussion of moral distinction betwenn child soldiers and adult soldiers, as well as combatans and non-combatans.

The presence of armed children in war zones has become a sad reality in contemporary conflicts all around the world. Many non-governmental armed forces would not even be able to participate in war without recruiting children. However, strategies to cope with the situation lack sufficient definitions of where to draw the line between soldier and child. Does it include those children who are actively taking part in armed conflicts? Or do children -similar to adult soldiers - lose their immunity as soon as they take up arms? While there are numerous legal and theoretical attempts on the rights and duties of adult soldiers
the contemporary issue of child soldiers seems to challenge these thoughts. This is because our general moral intuition understands children as vulnerable beings in need of protection. The image, however, is diametrically opposed to armed juveniles on the battlefield and thus creates a moral dilemma.

Therefore, the author argues that no clear cut distinction between combatants and non-combatants and further between children and adults can be made. To substantiat her claim, she will approach the issue from its theoretical basis by having a closer look on depicted definitions first and from its feasibility in war second. Based on her findings, she claims that it is not possible to make a clear cut distinction and thus that there are good reasons to treat child soldiers no different than regular combatants. In the following conclusion she will briefly suggest additional guidelines to provide a more thoughtful and secure framework for every soldier- child and adult - on the battlefield.