Join the Army now: Call to kids as young as seven-year olds

London, Jan 7 (UNI) Even as nations talk about peace and paving a way to denuclearisation, children as young as seven are being lured by the Brit Army, which gives a ''glamorous and gamelike'' view of warfare, a new study has claimed.

The report revealed that kids were given a misleading picture of life in the armed forces, with vital information left out and risks ignored.

The Ministry of Defence rejected the claims, saying much of the study was ''incorrect and ill-informed''.

Junior schools were visited by Army education teams, but to raise awareness of the forces rather than target children as future recruits, it said.

Britain is the only European Union state to recruit military personnel as young as 16.

The Army faced a challenge to find recruits because fewer people wanted to join, partly because of negative publicity over the conflict in Iraq, the Daily Mail quoted researcher David Gee as saying.

Recruitment literature directed towards children and adolescents emphasises potential benefits such as career interest and challenge, comradeship, the active lifestyle, travel and training opportunities. It, however, omits to mention the radical change from a civilian to a military lifestyle, ethical issues involved in killing, risks to physical and mental health etc, the report stated.

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