Refugees in Turkey and residents still living in Syria have told Sky News that President Assad's forces are actively targeting students and teenagers in an attempt to contain the uprising.
We spoke to seven teenagers - independently of each other - aged between 14 and 17 who claim they have been arrested and tortured.
Fourteen-year-old Moussa says he was detained in a village near Idlib because he was a Sunni Muslim.
He claims he was threatened with sexual violence and was also beaten with sticks.
"I was tied up and stretched. They hit me with sticks and cables I now have flashbacks and nightmares," he says.
The uprising in Syria began a year ago in Deraa after youths were arrested and beaten for spraying anti-regime graffiti.
Assad's opponents claim students are being rounded up as a way of silencing dissent and warning other family members not to revolt.
Seventeen-year-old Mustafa was picked up by government militia in Idlib. He claims he was held for 100 days.
He says he was shackled and electrocuted - and on his ankles there are large scars.
"They used all kinds of torture. They tied my hands up and put me in an electric chair. They also kicked me and hit me with sticks," he says.
The charity Human Rights Watch says the Syrian state has been "torturing children with impunity" over the last year.
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