The Hypocrisy Surrounding the Use of Child Soldiers

Let me preface this post by saying that I am completely against the use of child soldiers.

That being said, I can not continue to ignore the overwhelming hypocrisy surrounding discourse around the use of child soldiers throughout the world. The recruitment of young people in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America are constantly portrayed as involuntary conscription by rebels and other undisciplined violent factions. However, it is a fact that many young people join the army and non-formal militant groups because they feel they have not other options considering their socioeconomic condition. This is almost always the underlying grievance of militant groups who wage war.
But for some reason this phenomenon is never linked or compared to the recruitment of soldiers in the US. It is a fact that military recruiters go to impoverished and lower income areas in order to recruit young people, especially school drop outs of upcoming high school graduates with no prospect for the future. Is it not the same conception of a lack of resources and a bleak socioeconomic situation that spurs their interest in the army.
Of course I know age is always considered an issue, but in the US, tens of thousands of high school students are trained in ROTC programs starting at the age of 14 and then shuffled into the army after they graduate high school. Also, comparatively speaking young people in developing countries mature far faster than those in the US and may even become the head of their households or breadwinners in their families at 13 or 14. Recruitment into militant groups is seen as a better opportunity for them as it is seen as one for young American soldiers.
I would say that a grave difference is the benefits that American soldiers receive, but considering the number of homeless veterans in the US, I no longer deem it fair to even make that argument.
Ultimately, I think that it is very important to stop isolating issues that exist abroad, especially in developing countries. The best way to solve issues is to analyze them comparatively and apply lessons learned. The recruitment and conscription of young people into armed factions is not due to desire, but a lack of more favorable opportunities. Perhaps, we should focus our efforts on making these opportunities available for young people discouraging and preventing those who are more vulnerable from being conscripted and recruited.

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