Street childREN
DEFINITION
Street child is a term for a homeless child residing primarily in the streets of a city (typically in a developing country). The exact definition of a street child is debatable due to the lack of precise categories. The term has largely been used in reference to children who live entirely in the streets, without adult supervision or care. They are often subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or, in extreme cases, murder by "cleanup squads" hired by local businesses or police.
History
The phenomenon of street children has been documented as far back as 1848. In Tsarist Russia, seventeenth-century sources described destitute youths roaming the streets, and the phenomenon survived every attempt at eradication thereafter. Long before the Russian Revolution, the term besprizornye had gained wide currency. In 1848 Lord Ashley referred to more than 30,000 'naked, filthy, roaming lawless and deserted children', in and around London. By 1922 there were at least 7 million homeless children in Russia as a result of nearly a decade of devastation from World War I and the Russian Civil War. Abandoned children formed gangs, created their own argot, and engaged in petty theft and prostitution.
INRTODUCTION
India is home to the world’s largest population of street children, estimated at 18 million.[23] The Republic of India is the seventh largest and second most populous country in the world. Due to the acceleration in economic growth, an economic rift has appeared between, with 22 percent of the population living below the poverty line.[citation needed] Owing to unemployment, increasing rural-urban migration, attraction of city life and a lack of political will, India now has one of the largest number of child laborers in the world.
Causes
The causes of this phenomenon are varied, but can be related to domestic, economic, or social disruption; including (but not limited to) poverty, breakdown of homes and/or families, political unrest, or acculturation.
a) Sexually abused
Many of the street children who have run away from home have done so because they were beaten or sexually abused. Tragically, their homelessness can lead to further abuse through exploitative child labour and prostitution. Not only does abuse rob runaway children of their material security, it also leaves them emotionally scarred. Many of the abused children in India encounters are traumatised and some refuse to speak for months. To aggravate matters, children often feel guilty and blame themselves for their mistreatment. Such damage can take years to recover from in even the most loving of environments; on the streets it may never heal.
b) Child Labour:
Most Indian street children work. Boys and girls as young as 6 years old sift through garbage in order to collect recyclable material. The children usually rise before dawn and carry their heavy load in a large bag over their shoulder. Rag-pickers can be seen alongside pigs and dogs searching through trash heaps on their hands and knees. Other common jobs are collecting firewood, tending to animals, street vending, dyeing cloth, begging, prostitution and domestic labour. Children that work are not only subject to the strains and hazards of their labour, they are also denied the education or training that could enable them to escape the poverty trap.
c) Gender Discrimination:
In Indian Society females are often discriminated against. Their health, education, prosperity and freedom are all impacted. The girls carry the liability of dowry and leave the family home after marriage, parents may prefer to have male offspring. Many female babies are aborted, abandoned or deliberately neglected and underfed simply because they are girls. Gender discrimination is particularly evident in education where boys are more likely to attend school and to do so for more years. The traditional place of the woman is in the home and many parents and children consider education for girls to be a waste of time, especially when the child can instead be working or performing domestic chores.
d) Child Marriage
Child Marriage is another way in which girls are disadvantaged. In addition to limiting educational possibilities and stunting personal development, early marriage carries health risks. A girl under 15 is five times more likely to die during pregnancy than a woman in her twenties; her child is also more likely to die.
e) Health:
Poor health is a chronic problem for street children. Half of all children in India are malnourished, but for street children the proportion is much higher. These children are not only underweight, but their growth has often been stunted; for example, it is very common to mistake a 12 year old for an 8 year old.
f) Child Labor
Child labourers suffer from exhaustion, injury, exposure to dangerous chemicals, plus muscle and bone afflictions.India provides nutrition, medical treatment, hygiene and reproductive health education to 5000 children yearly in our street schools and homes.
g) Homelessness:
Street children in India may be homeless because their family is homeless through poverty or migration, or because they have been abandoned, orphaned or have run away. Homeless children have the odds stacked against them. They are exposed to the elements, have an uncertain supply of food, are likely to miss out on education and medical treatment, and are at high risk of suffering addiction, abuse and illness. A single child alone on the streets is especially vulnerable.
h) Poverty:
Poverty is the primary cause of the street children crisis. Poverty dumps a crowd of problems onto a child. Not only do these problems cause immediate suffering, they also conspire to keep the child poor throughout his/her life. In order to survive, a poor child in India will probably be forced to sacrifice education and training; without skills the child will, as an adult, remain at the bottom of the economic heap.
Statistics and Distribution
According to a report from the Consortium for Street Children, a United Kingdom-based consortium of related NGOs, UNICEF estimated 100 million children were growing up on urban streets around the world. 14 years later UNICEF reported: ‘The latest estimates put the numbers of these children as high as 100 million’ (UNICEF, 2002: 37). And even more recently: It is likely that the numbers are increasing’ (UNICEF, 2005: 40-41)
MANAGEMENT
- To provide Sex Education for the students from Grade 7
- To educate the society about the gender equality
- To work against child marriage
- To stop Child Labor
- To provide better nutrition programs from Balvadi to Senior Secondary level
- To provide shelter for needy
- To take more responsibility to avoid poverty
CONCLUSION
Governments have implemented programs to deal with street children; the general solution involves placing the children into orphanages, juvenile homes, or correctional institutions. Efforts have been made by various governments to support or partner with non-government organizations focused on aiding needy children. Non-government organizations employ a wide variety of strategies to address the needs and rights of street children. Advocacy groups have pressed for the rights of homeless children, as well as amendments to the institutional treatment of said children. Residential facilities and aid have seen some distribution as well.
Mahesh Palloor
