Child Soldiers International

The British armed forces: Why raising the recruitment age would benefit everyone

A briefing (Child Soldiers International, 2019) making the case for setting 18 as the minimum age for recruitment.

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UK army minimum recruitment age should be raised to 18 – survey

ICM survey was commissioned by campaigners against child soldiers

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British army ‘explicitly targeting’ working-class recruits, say critics

Recruitment drive focuses on teenagers seeking adrenaline, says Child Soldiers International

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My thoughts exactly: UK army accused of dictating soldiers’ press statements

The army has been accused of manipulating teenage soldiers by spoonfeeding them identikit quotes to be used in local and regional newspaper articles extolling life in the military.

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UK military school audit reveals teenage recruits at risk

Drive to fast-track late joiners at AFC Harrogate led to issues including skewing staff/student ratios in dangerous activities.

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British army ads targeting ‘stressed and vulnerable’ teenagers

The British army has targeted recruitment material at “stressed and vulnerable” 16-year-olds via social media on and around GCSE results day, the Guardian can reveal.

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Soldiers at 16 – The other side of the story

Army adverts don't tell you what being a soldier is really like.  

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British Army targets working class kids

The Army's latest recruitment campaign focuses on low income families from cities with high deprivation levels.

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Army recruitment practices exploit and widen class divisions

New evidence confirms that the British Army recruitment marketing deliberately targets working-class young people.

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Is it Counterproductive to Enlist Minors into the Army?

This article, written by Child Soldiers International and published in the Royal United Service Institute Journal, argues that raising the UK enlistment age from 16 to 18 would bring benefits to young people and the British armed forces. The article explains that the UK’s low enlistment age is counterproductive internationally, as it implies to other countries that it is acceptable to use children under the age of 18 to staff national armed forces.  

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