Child soldiers are not prepared going into battle, they are drugged and brainwashed to make them more willing to follow orders and they are forced to join the millions forces. Child soldiers should receive amnesty unless they chose to join the war by their own free will, committed extremely serous war crimes or could be a potential threat to national security. One reason that child soldiers should get amnesty is that they are not really prepared for war, so they don't know what they are doing. For example, one child soldier, Ishmael Beah, training was extremely elemental. Some child soldiers are given only about a week of training, while normal combat training takes about 10-16 weeks. According to his book, A Long Way Gone, Beah states "None of us were able to finish eating on the first day. But by the end of the week, we were able to eat any food within a minute. It was the only part of training that we mastered" (Beah 111). Beah was unprepared for his first few battles and could hardly even look at his gun. This shows that child soldiers are not prepared going into the