Tim Hetherington states his opinion on the topic on an article in The Independent. Hetherington is a photojournalist who created Restrepo, a documentary film about the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s dangerous Korengal Valley. He filmed the soldiers because he thought their experiences needed to be seen by others so people can better understand what they go through. While filming, he says he worries that some of the troops may be too young to handle the situations that soldiers are put in. He comments, “Does a young guy aged 18 really know what he's letting himself in for?” During the movie, you see the effects of the war on the soldiers and what they go through. Hetherington believes that maybe some soldiers are too young to grasp the nature of the war.
On the other hand, there are others that would disagree and say that yes, eighteen-year-olds are capable of making their own decisions, and if they want to join the military, then they should be able to. After all, eighteen is the age where you can vote, get married, buy a house, and go to “the big” jail. If they are able to do these things then why not be able to join the military. If you are interested in joining the military, by the age of eighteen, you should know what comes along with joining. They should be able to know their limits and whether or not they would be able to handle it or not.
So what do you think? Is eighteen a reasonable age to be able to make such a big decision like this? Or do you think an eighteen-year-old is just too young to even be going through what the military goes through?
I think that eighteen is not too young to join the military. By this age people are considered to be young adults and are able to make their own decisions. Many of them have family members who served in the military and have an idea on what its like. They have also joined the ROTC program and have studied the branch they are interested in. Also by this age young men are suppose to sign up for selective service.
ReplyDeleteI think eighteen is too young to join. I know this is the age where someone can vote and get married and all the other great things that come with growing up but I still think eighteen year olds are often too immature to understand what there getting themselves into. How do they know they can handle what comes with joining the military and going to war if that happens. I have many friends who joined as soon as they turned eighteen and i worry about them all the time. It may just be me getting too emotional about this stuff but I think the age should be at least 20.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Destiny. I think that eighteen is almost too young to join. Many people really do not know what they are getting in to and it is hard to tell at that age whether or not you will be able to handle what comes along with it. But, I also see where Alexander is coming from. At age eighteen, you are considered to be young adults and it is the time to start making your own decisions.
ReplyDeleteI am kind of unsure of which side I agree with. I think that it is very difficult to set an age limit for things such as this. The maturity and knowledge of each person is different. If you took 3 18 year olds and put them together, one might be really immature but know a lot about the military. Another one might be the most mature 18 year old around, but he/she does not know anything about the military. The last one may know everything there is to know about the military and be insanely mature. I agree with Alexander, at 18 we all start make our own decisions. I feel that the age limit should remain at 18 and the choice to join remain up to the individual.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are 18 you are considered an adult; however, I believe that a lot of 18 year olds are very immature. Joining the military is a very big responsibility. However, I do not think if you are 18 or 25 you know EXACTLY what goes on in war. Yes, one may know a lot about the military, but they do not know what goes on until they are put in that situation. Therefore, I agree with Branden, I am unsure of my answer. They have to set some age to be the age limit to join the war; therefore, I believe that it is the persons decision to be in the military or not.
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