{"id":320276,"date":"2017-08-04T18:46:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T17:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/british-army-must-stop-recruiting-child-soldiers-veteran-tells-rt\/"},"modified":"2017-08-04T18:46:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T17:46:26","slug":"british-army-must-stop-recruiting-child-soldiers-veteran-tells-rt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/british-army-must-stop-recruiting-child-soldiers-veteran-tells-rt\/","title":{"rendered":"British Army must stop recruiting child soldiers, veteran tells RT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Britain should raise the military recruitment age from 16 to 18 because joining the services at such a tender age can cause irreversible psychological damage, a British Army veteran has told RT.<\/p>\n

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Wayne Sharrocks, who joined the army when he was 17, has spoken out against current military regulations, which allow recruiters to accept under 18s, who are effectively children based on international standards.<\/p>\n

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Sharrocks is calling for the recruitment age to be raised following a recent report <\/a>published by Veterans for Peace (VFP) UK, which sheds light on the detrimental effects of army training on soldiers in general, and young people in particular.<\/p>\n

Twenty-two out of every 100 British soldiers are under the age of 18. However, they are exempt from combat operations until they reach adulthood.<\/p>\n

The 72-page report, \u2018The First Ambush? Effects of army training and employment,\u2019<\/em> says military training alone increases violent offending among recruits, with the rate of offenses rising again once they return from the front line.<\/p>\n

The report, assembled through the testimonies of army veterans and more than 200 separate studies, also found recruits are twice as likely to drink heavily – all factors which may in turn lead to unemployment and homelessness.<\/p>\n

Regardless of recruitment age, Sharrocks believes \u201cmilitary training and culture is damaging and not healthy for a person to go through.\u201d<\/em> But because young people\u2019s minds are more \u201cmalleable\u201d<\/em> than those of adults, the effects of training are far worse for them.<\/p>\n

It emerged last month that the British Army is actively trying to fill its ranks with young people from households with a \u00a310,000 (US$13,000) annual income.<\/p>\n

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Read more<\/p>\n


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In a document <\/a>for the British Army\u2019s \u2018This Is Belonging\u2019 campaign, seen by the Independent and Child Soldiers International, the military says it is deliberately targeting 16 to 24-year-olds from social classes known as C2DEs – denoting the three lowest ranks of society.<\/p>\n

The VFP report says the British Army \u201cstrategically\u201d<\/em> targets such youngsters from deprived neighborhoods by presenting a \u201cromanticized\u201d image of the soldier.<\/p>\n

Members of the Scottish Parliament have backed a petition calling for further research into military recruitment of youth.<\/p>\n

There have also been calls by the Scottish National Party (SNP) Youth for a review of the policy on military recruitment age, but a motion to raise it was opposed by senior MPs in December last year.<\/p>\n

Sharrocks, who twice served in Afghanistan and left the army after being severely injured by an improvised explosive device (IED), said more information should be made available to young people so they know what they are signing up for.<\/p>\n

Jay Sutherland, a Scottish 16-year-old student who has founded a campaign group against \u201cmilitarism\u201d<\/em> in schools, said advertisements are \u201cglossed over, with the military not even showing important regulations such as when you sign up you are locked in until 18 and the fact that younger recruits are twice as likely to be killed in Afghanistan than older recruits.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n