Instigator / Pro
14
1510
rating
8
debates
68.75%
won
Topic
#3767

The concept of child soldiers in shonen anime is problematic and needs to be addressed

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
6
0
Better sources
4
2
Better legibility
2
1
Better conduct
2
0

After 2 votes and with 11 points ahead, the winner is...

ProfessorS17Jr
Tags
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
4
Time for argument
Two weeks
Max argument characters
20,000
Voting period
One month
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
3
1484
rating
1
debates
0.0%
won
Description

TOPIC: The concept of child soldiers in shonen anime is problematic and needs to be addressed

STANCES:
Pro must argue why the concept of child soldiers in the media is problematic and whether or not it should be addressed

Con must argue why the concept of child soldiers problematic and/or acceptable and whether or not it should be addressed

DEFINITIONS:
Shonen: noun
a genre of Japanese comics and animated films aimed primarily at a young male audience, typically characterized by action-filled plots.

Child soldier: noun
a young boy or girl under the age of 18 who is recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity. It does not refer only to a child who is taking a direct part in hostilities.

RULES:
1. Round 1: (States you stance "THBT" and give your reasonings) ,Round 2 :Create an argument supporting your stance and include you evidence,Round 3: Rebuttals of Opponents/Pointing out flaws in their arguments, Round 4 Defense and Conclusion
2. The stance CANNOT be opinionated and/or use personal pronouns (me,my,I)
3. Forfeit=Automatic Loss. Make an attempt to put something on your post before deciding to forfeit.
4.Viwers are allowed to give constructive criticism on the debate(Be respectful and understand that this is an argument that with strong evidence can be proven true.)
5.The Burden of Proof is shared.

Round 1
Pro
#1
Shonen: noun
a genre of Japanese comics and animated films aimed primarily at a young male audience, typically characterized by action-filled plots.

Child soldier: noun
a young boy or girl under the age of 18 who is recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity. It does not refer only to a child who is taking a direct part in hostilities.


THBT: The concept of child soldiers in shonen anime is problematic and needs to be addressed because it demonstrates a lack of regard of the mental well-being of young male protagonists who have to participate in constant battle, and it portrays conflict and participation in conflict as normal to an impressionable young male audience.

Reason #1: The protagonists are portrayed to go through severe traumatic experiences through these "battles and wars" in a way that is viewed by the audience as merely entertainment, which can make the audience become desensitized to these situations.

Reason #2: The normalization of young males participating in war or consistent violence can be detrimental to the audience, as it can encourage the target demographic (which are age 8-12) to partake in violent behavior to resolve conflicts.

Con
#2
Forfeited
Round 2
Pro
#3
Forfeited
Con
#4
Forfeited
Round 3
Pro
#5
Forfeited
Con
#6
Forfeited
Round 4
Pro
#7
Since neither side has presented any evidence to support their argument (or even state their argument) yet, I will put the rest of my argument into this post.

Shonen: noun
a genre of Japanese comics and animated films aimed primarily at a young male audience, typically characterized by action-filled plots.

Child soldier: noun
a young boy or girl under the age of 18 who is recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity. It does not refer only to a child who is taking a direct part in hostilities.


Shonen manga, by definition, is a genre of Japanese comic books targeting an audience of adolescent boys. More specifically, the target demographic of this genre is young boys age 12 to 18 years old. This is reflected in a survey done in Japan with 1, 001 high school boys and girls. According to the survey, out of 355 boys, 92% of the male student population read shonen or seinen manga. This suggests that the majority of young boys within this age group of young boys consume this form of media the most, and thus are most likely to be influenced by it. So considering the age of the target demographic and how much of them actually consume this type of media, one would have to be aware of the content that is shown to them and how it would impact the way they perceive the world. This would include the themes that the media decide to showcase in their content and whether or not it's addressed properly. Shonen manga often tries to touch on mature themes in their content, with varying degrees of success. The main theme that most of the popular shonen titles try to tackle is war, and the protagonists, who usually around 14-17, are essentially made into child soldiers as they partake in large, high-stake wars.

         In real life, while war can resolve conflict and tensions between two groups, it can also lead to numerous casualties and dire consequences for both sides. War can be a long , exhausting and traumatic experience for all involved. War is hell, as declared by William Tecumseh Sherman. If war can be traumatic for adult veterans, it can definitely be traumatic for children and teens who fight in the war.  According to a survey of former child soldiers in northern Uganda, there were 58 girls and 44 boys. Eighty nine children (87.3%) reported having experienced ten or more war-related traumatic psychological events; 55.9% of the children suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, 88.2%, symptoms of depressed mood and 21.6% had various forms of physical disability. The majority of children and teens showcased in this study struggle with severe mental illness as a result of war or other traumatic instances they've suffered. Even though manga is based 

SOURCES:


Con
#8
Forfeited