There's a very significant factor in all this for those of us from 1st World Nations, we project our own ideas of childhood onto countries in South America, Africa and Asia. Just like their concept of the worth of human life is different to ours, so is their concept of childhood.
There's absolutely no doubt that what both unkated and LT. Ox mentioned is correct, young people have been seduced, coerced and forcibly conscripted into gangs and militias in South America, Africa and Asia and numbers of them do join more or less of their own free will as well, (though when the alternative is poverty or starvation, it's really not much of a choice).
We in the 1st World have extended childhood into the late teens but in other parts of the world, people in their early teens are considered younger adults and are expected to be adults. The mindset is completely different to ours, where we see a teenage child with a gun, they see a young adult. It's only been about 100 years since we in the West did the same. In the 1900-1920 period it was entirely normal for "boys" of 14+ to be doing men's work and it was entirely normal for "girls" of 13+ to be getting married and raising a family.
Life expectancy has increased significantly in the 1st World since then due to better dietary, medical and safety measures but that isn't the case in most 3rd World nations - Africa has an average life expectancy of approximately 60 so if you're "old age" is around 40-50, you can't wait until you're "middle aged" to get a job and raise a family.
What I'm saying is in no way meant to diminish the concerns about child soldiers that unkated raised, I'm just saying that in those parts of the world, they don't necessarily consider a 14, 12 or even a 10 year old as a child.
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