The International Day for Street Children. 31st January.
Street children have been identified by the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as children in difficult circumstances and their
rights and welfare remains a growing concern to both national and international
bodies.
Street children differ in age, gender, ethnicity,
social class, and these children have had different experiences throughout
their lifetimes. UNICEF differentiates between the different types of children
living on the street in three different categories:
Candidates
for the street (street children who work and hang out on the streets),
Children on the streets (children who work on the
street but have a home to go to at night), and Children of the street (children
who live on the street without family support)
UNICEF suggested that there are tens of millions of
street-based children, and this number continues to rise in low- and
middle-income countries because of increased urbanization, economic depression
and widespread poverty, health challenges of parents, the HIV epidemic,
migration and global population growth. These children do not enjoy their basic
human rights. These involve in particular their access to basic social services
such as health, education, nutrition, protection, environmental sustainability,
etc Poverty is the major reason for
these kids being on the street where for many parents ,it is becoming an
overwhelming task to provide adequate care, love, protection and full attention
to their children. Other causes are
trafficking
and exploitation, war situations
authoritative parenting, death of a parent, dysfunctional and degrading family
fabric, and the erosion of traditional values of solidarity.
The majority of the participants were boys,
with many of them resorting to begging, stealing, drug abuse, telling lies, sex
work, street fighting, drunkenness and other risky behaviors with very little
public support. Street children in every country are developmentally at risk,
and the longer they stay on the streets, the worse their situation becomes due
to lack of protection, adult supervision and the framework of a family which
lays the foundation for healthy growth and development. No doubt most of these
children are despised as they engage in all sorts of unhealthy practices on the
street.
The phrase ‘street children’ has not been the only
term referring to such children; they have been identified by various terms,
including ‘nnagaboko’ , ‘don for quart’ ,‘teenage beggars’, ‘homeless kids’, ‘SDF’
,‘street boys’, ‘park boys’, ‘city nuisance’ and ‘children in difficult
circumstances’.
Because of their less recognized and underdeveloped
status, street children are regarded as ‘vulnerable’ worldwide yet their well-being and health profile have
not been given adequate attention. The preventive and remedy mechanisms are
ineffective and inadequate leaving this vulnerable group of children to survive
on the street by themselves, without proper adult supervision.
Most of these kids are find it really hard surviving;
continuous police arrest, ill health due to mosquito bites, sexual abuse,
exposure to very cold weather, malnutrition, drinking dirty water, self
medication side effects, and the list goes on.
PUBLIC APPROACHES TO STREET CHILDREN
There are four categories of how societies deal with street children: Correctional model, Rehabilitative model, Outreach strategies, and Preventive approach.- The Correctional system is primarily used by governments and the police. They view children as a public nuisance and are a risk to public security. The objective of this model would be to protect the public and help keep the kids away from a life of crime by justice systems and juvenile specific institutions.
- The Rehabilitative system is mainly initiated by NGOs and churches whereby street children are viewed as damaged kids and are in need of help with objective to rehabilitate children into society. The methods used to keep children from going back to the streets are education, drug detoxification programs, and providing children with a safe family-like environment.
- The Outreach strategy is supported by NGOs, and church organizations and persons of good will. This strategy views street children as oppressed individuals in need of support from their communities. The objective of the Outreach strategy is to empower the street children by providing outreach education and training to support children.
- The Preventive approach is supported by NGOs, and government initiatives. They view street children’s poor circumstances from the negative social and economic forces. In order to help street children, this approach focuses on the problems that cause children to leave their homes for the street by targeting parents’ unemployment, societal reinsertion programs
WAY FORWARD
-. Rehabilitation emergency; These kids need a ‘safe’ place to stay.
They are exposed to violence and all forms of abuse at night. It’s an utmost
priority.
- These children need psychological support because of their
experiences on the streets.
- Creation of a special health care system that will include and target
street children, offering health support, general education and reproductive
health as these kids are at increased risk of unwanted pregnancy and
contracting HIV/AIDS and/or other STDs with general deteriorating health
profiles.-Development of non-formal education opportunities, which is diversified to suit the different intellectual levels of these kids helping them to integrate society.
-Emphasize the functionality of juvenile correctional systems whereby instead of unreasonable sentences of juveniles without adequate defense, they be sent to adequate correctional homes so they are being given the necessary help they need rather than prison term.
- Government action as often is very minimal and ineffective. Intervention strategies exist in theory and laws under, but are not being implemented in practice. A process to review existing legislation on strengthening children’s welfare is adamant.
- Identity Campaign should be launched whereby these kids get legal recognition for example having birth certificates so that they are no longer invisible and ignored.
As children roam the streets in search of shelter, food and other
basic needs, their future hangs in the balance. Understanding the plight of
street children highlights the need for immediate design and implementation of
intervention strategies to prevent children from living in the streets and
assist those who have become street children.
Commemorated every year on the January 31st, although there are some initiatives demanding UN to observe 12th April as the International Day for Street Children ,the Street Children’s Day highlights the plight of these children. These are just kids who experience violence and abuse, without care and love, homeless. Children whose playground is the streets, where they run for their lives if they happen to smash a street lamp or accidently push off a seller’s article, children who do drugs, rob, beg, hawk stolen articles, prostitute or do anything for their basic needs. Children who give birth on the streets, lie in illness to death, they scavenge bins for your rags to be clothed, compete with animals for your leftovers to be able to feed. These are kids who dream of chocolates, ice-cream like ordinary kids with homes, food, clean clothes, good parenting, education and opportunities to attain their full potentials yet due to their circumstances, all they have is what the street has to offer.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE, TAKE ACTION
Donate
money to causes genuinely working to rehabilitate street children in some form
Sponsor
a child’s education
Give
a child an opportunity to shine at some work
Direct
them to street children homes in your locality
Volunteer
at these homes to share your love, passion and empowerment to these kids
Educate
and inform street children, about how they could live, earn and enjoy, being on
the right side of the law
Do
something meaningful every 31st January, for the cause of the street
children
If
nothing else, give them a smile each time you pass them by.
