The term ‘child soldier’ is usually associated with Iran and North Korea, not the United Kingdom. Even so, the British Armed Forces remains the only European military that actively recruits soldiers as young as 16.

Can you imagine going to war when you are too young to legally smoke, drink, vote or drive without the presence of an adult?

Vice UK sums up the situation in pretty damning terms.

While they can’t legally be sent to war until they are 18, because of the Army’s recruitment rules, most 16-year-olds are sent straight into the infantry. These rules, says Gee, “discriminate against the younger age group, much to their detriment in the long term.” In Afghanistan, the infantry’s mortality rate was seven times higher than the rest of the armed forces.

Unlike adults, who only have to sign up for four years, children are made to sign away six years of their lives. And while the Army promises action, adventure, and an education to kids who might not have had much of any of these, in reality the MoD considers its obligations fulfilled if recruits have attained a reading age of nine to 11 after basic training.

War-torn veterans who started their military careers at the tender age of 16 have created a stop-motion film entitled “Action Man: Battlefield Casualties” to protest this practice. In a style reminiscent of Robot Chicken, the series puts the harsh facts of recruiting soldiers too early on a visual platform.

According to the film’s website, young infantryman are twice as likely to die on the battlefield and 82 percent more likely to commit suicide after they return home.