Imagine waking up in a cold sweat, hearing screams of supplication in your dreams, having to wake up every single day knowing that that day you will have to take innocent lives. Well, for some African children this is a sad and twisted reality. According to the United Nations Children's Fund, known as UNICEF, a child soldier is defined as “any child, boy or girl, under the age of eighteen years, who is a member, in any capacity, of any type of armed force regular or irregular or of an armed group". .”(Kaplan, cfr.org) For Africa, this is a very problematic area as many children are often part of a rebel group or even part of the government army. Under international law, armed participation by children under 18 is generally prohibited, and the recruitment and use of children under 15 is a federal crime. (amnesty.org) It is estimated that around 250,000 child soldiers are used worldwide today and almost 40% of child soldiers are girls. (warchild.org) The following countries have reported child soldiers since 2011: Afghanistan, Colombia, India, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Thailand, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and others. (dosomething.org) Child fighting is not a new practice either; Child soldiers have been found to have been on battlefields throughout history. An example would be the Hitler Youth during the final days of World War II. Even in Africa, AIDS is an epidemic disease, leading to many orphaned children, up to 40 million by 2010. (Kaplan, cf.org) You may ask: why the use of child soldiers? Children are known to be extremely loyal. Most children are easily manipulated and can even be easily brainwashed. Because they are small, some army groups barely power the...... middle of paper......07. 127+. Print."Child Soldiers." Child Soldiers. World Child UK, nd Web. 11 March 2014. "Children and human rights | Amnesty International." Children and human rights | Amnesty International. Np, nd Web. April 13, 2014. “Children as Soldiers.” Children as soldiers. Np, nd Web. 14 March 2014. “Central African Republic: Over 6,000 child soldiers may be involved in fighting,” UNKaplan, Eben. "Child soldiers in the world". Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, December 2, 2005. Web. March 14, 2014. Staff, NPR. “Former child soldier imagines 'tomorrow' in Sierra Leone.” NPR. NPR, January 9, 2014. Web. March 14, 2014.Thompson, G. (2003, March 21). Young, hopeless and violent in the new South Africa. New York Times (file 1923-current). Wessells, Mike. "Sierra Leone: Child Soldiers". Sierra Leone: child soldiers. NP, November-December 97. Network. 14 April. 2014.