TEENAGERS should not be recruited into the Army before they turn 18, public health campaigners have warned.
More than one in five (21 per cent) people joining the UK army are children aged 15 to 17, but experts are calling for the age threshold to be raised.
Read more: Army on standby in preparation for no-deal Brexit
The UK is the only European country and permanent member of the UN Security Council to recruit 16-year-olds.
Children as young as 15 can begin the enlistment process, with two years of training starting from the age of 16 prior to first deployment at 18.
Writing today in the journal, BMJ Open Paediatrics, the researchers from charity Medact say that current recruitment practices "capitalise on a 'window of vulnerability'" during adolescence, and disproportionately target youngsters from the lowest socioeconomic groups.
Read more: Avoidable deaths among children and teens in Scotland highest in UK
Reem Abu-Hayyeh, of Medact, and Dr Guddi Singh, an integrated child health specialist, said military service at this age exposes them to the risk of long lasting and complex effects on mental and physical health.
They said evidence shows younger recruits more vulnerable to self-harm, suicide, and alcohol misuse, associated with the isolation and culture of military life as well as the trauma of active combat.
The British Army says it is facing a personnel shortfall of 8200 but the researchers insist the recruitment policy is "misguided and counterproductive", pointing to figures showing that those recruited under 18 account for 24% of those who leave the Armed Forces voluntarily before completing their service.
Concerns have previously been raised in Scotland about the Ministry of Defence targeting recruitment drives to schools in deprived communities.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel