A creative response fusing poetry, animation and sound to encourage critical thinking about the military recruitment of young people. Should the armed forces recruit children under the age of 18? You decide...

International human rights treaties ban the use of children in war. They also ban the recruitment of children by all state armed forces unless there are safeguards in place to ensure that recruitment is ‘genuinely voluntary’, that children’s parents or guardians give ‘informed consent’, and that children are ‘fully informed of the duties involved’ in military service.

The UK armed forces spend tens of millions of pounds a year on recruitment campaigns targeted at young people from age 16, especially those who are economically disadvantaged. Recruitment adverts typically present a very glamorised and positive view of military life - focusing on travel, fitness and self-development - and do not mention the risks and obligations that are involved. The armed forces also make thousands of visits to schools every year. Joining up under age 18 is associated with a long-term increase in mental health problems.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has criticised the UK armed forces, saying: ‘Safeguards for voluntary recruitment are insufficient…briefing materials provided to child applicants and their parents or guardians do not clearly inform them of the risks and obligations that follow their enlistment’. The Committee asked the UK to ‘strengthen its safeguards...in order to ensure that the recruitment is genuinely voluntary, and based on fully informed consent of the recruit’.

CRIN commissioned spoken word artist Potent Whisper, animator Neda Ahmadi, and sound designers Torch & Compass to produce a creative response to the military recruitment of young people - The Rhyming Guide to Joining the Army. Here we’ve put the piece next to a recent army recruitment advert, to encourage critical thinking about armed forces recruitment and its relationship to human rights. 

Watch the animation

Compare army recruitment advert

How do the two videos above make you feel about the military, and about the recruitment of young people? Is there one you agree with more?

Find out more about this topic:

• If you are a young person...we have compiled resources specifically for young people who are thinking about joining the armed forces, or who have already joined, here.

• If you are a teacher/educator…Quakers in Britain have produced a lesson plan based on this poem for use in schools, which is available here. Check out all their peace education resources here.

• If you have five minutes...our two-page paper Why raising the recruitment age would benefit everyone summarises the case for ending the recruitment of under-18s by the UK armed forces.

• If you have 15 minutes...our short booklet Soldiers at 16 addresses common myths and misconceptions about the military recruitment of young people in the UK.

• If you have longer...Why 18 Matters is a comprehensive report on the military recruitment of young people in affluent countries. A summary is available here.

• All CRIN’s resources on armed forces recruitment of children are available here.

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