I read "A long way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier" a while back and was devastated to encounter this young man's story of youthful innocence lost to drug-filled mass killing when he was forced to join a rebel army at the age of 11.

Haunted by the story, I spent the night searching the web - Surely, I thought, one child is too many but this must be a story that could only be told by a small few. My research showed otherwise. There were many child soldiers out there, carrying not the same story, but ones that no child should have to be part of.

A recent U.N. report paints an even darker picture than my mind had conjured: In 13 countries around the world (Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Colombia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uganda), 58 different groups recruit and use child soldiers. The children are also raped, killed, kidnapped, and maimed.

Please visit the Coalition to Stop Child Soldiers to find out what you can do to help.