All around the world children from disadvantaged communities and families end up on the streets living in hunger and their basic needs not met, this is an issue faced by many countries on this assignment we will be taking a closer look to the problem of street children.
The Problem of Street Children
The concealed and isolated nature of street children makes it difficult to make accurate statics of children living on the streets, but it is estimated that the are approximately 100 million children who live on the streets globally and the number is always growing .
in history children who live in the streets were associated with the cities of Latin America, its also estimated that the are 50million children on the streets (Lusk 1992)for Brazil the approximate have been 30 Million, which implies that in 1994 half of the children in Brazil happen to be living in the streets, but on the street children in calculated a less small of 23973 minors was titled children in street situation (SDH & IDESI, 2011).
On the Indian continent, the streets are predicted to be home to 18 million minors ( Human rights, 1996). The end of communism generated circumstances where the wasn’t a safety net for the people without jobs and the poor members of society, even though in developing countries nations the aspect of street children is capable of reaching more dramatic amplitude in terms of the amount and severeness of the problem, the street children problem also arises in the New world and Europe. In Great Britain it is debated that the prediction of displaced youth are inclined to be exaggerated by welfare agencies to validate their function and made smaller by the Bureaucrat institutions to avoid the financial problem, with the world wide calculation a record number of 180 million population of the unemployed globally its most likely the number of street children will increase.
In African perspective the is a high birth rate and death rates that are frequently stuck in severe poverty where street children come to be an everyday casualty of the breakdown of economies, social disorganization, government instability, army solutions social illnesses and high death rates due to tuberculosis and cholera. United Nations stated that approximately an amount of 7000 children moving around post conflict of Rwanda , these children were left without parents by the war ( UN children ’s fund, 2002) the is approximately 12000 street children in South Africa and 21000 in Ghana and roughly 6000 minors living on the streets of Madagascar where they do not get civic services and constantly face harassment from the police.
In South Africa, the apartheid and its injustice, exclusion of certain races and the conflicts which took place laminated the street children aspect according to ethnic groups. The legacy of racial segregation capitalism carries on to reproduce social imbalances accompanied by the phenomenon of street children as an indicator of class society increased in effect in strain and frustration. The occurrence of children that live and work on the street is thought out as an old one but nevertheless but somewhat new in South African context.
Since the likelihood of street children exist it may not be understood and this may have a lot of implications, experts understanding of the etiological elements could be inadequate and the intervention programs would be limited. Maree(1991 :33) announced that the street children issue on South Africa is growing because of the township violence, unregulated population growth and rising poverty rates. street children are the innate result of urban realities created by a total of integrated factors, the essential etiological factors recognized were the is fast urbanization which lead to high levels of people not working, lack and family abuse.
Risk Factors That Make Street Children Vulnerable to Victimization
Economic deprivation of people and groups after some time produces chronic poverty and avert conflict. It must also be taken into consideration the emotional concomitants of group characteristics and the interaction. In group and out group biases will contribute to strain. But belonging to a large system of entitlement and lack of evenness , political and institutional aspects play a crucial factor in terms of the displaying of criminal acts and victimization along the dilemma of overpopulation, resource deficiency and underdevelopment ( Utterwulghe, 1999 ).
Large scale social political adjustments often creates the break down of social and political networks presenting to the additional inequality of power an social pathology. In history at whatever time societies are in chaos the number of street children increase. Adjustments in the political and economic plans in the post communist nations for example after the fall of the Berlin wall , after the end of Apartheid in South Africa, post war turmoil and Urban conflict and the trauma of losing of a life and a family house are factors that make street children an everyday display in South Africa , Romania and Peru.
Millions of emigrant refugees originally from Yugoslavia’s multifaceted conflict happened to be bellow the age of 18, placing in the light the dilemma of 5 million dislocated in their own nation. the rise of social economic lack and political confusion children are seen as valueless. In Guatemala 70% of the society endure extreme need, in Mexico 3 out of 10 minors live on the streets. economic and social circumstances criticized societies in Canada and United States make the street life more desirable than a familial life marked by lack , family and parental rejection.
In Ethiopia poor children from socially impaired families look for shelter in the street with the with the dream of getting formal schooling( Niwenhuus, 2001 ;548) 70% of the minors who were sleeping on the street pointed out domestic violence as the principal reason for not going back home, they refer to verbal altercations with family members 32% to physical violence and sexual abuse. the ones who are living on the street disclosed high amount of physical violence at home than the children who are working on street.
Internal research uphold the idea of domestic violence and neglect as critical path to the streets (Benitez, 2001) the human rights watch state violence is pervasive and impunity is the normal in nations globally once society children show up to the street. In nations like Guatemala, India, Kenya and Ethiopia street children are seen as antisocial they are subjected to harassment and physical abuse.
Impact and Consequences of Living on the Street
Street children do not have the essentials resources to maintain a healthy living , they lack an appropriate place to live in, the insufficient diet serves as a channel to malnutrition , amnesia and vitamin deficiencies. In unfavourable weather conditions the children are subjected to common diseases like tuberculosis, parasitic diseases and dental challenges World Health Organization (1996) sexual and reproductive health problems which can be stopped if their fundamental needs are satisfied. Chemical addiction and survival put street children at a high risk category . Black male street children who are minors and young as 10 years were regularly sexually violated by white paedophiles.
A group a street children in Hillbrow Johannesburg immerse in survival sex to avert starvation and cold weather Conditions and others inhale solvents to not endure the cold weather and starvation (Paecock & Thero, 1992) drug addiction helped to hide emotions of aversion and anxiety when they are involved in sexual acts with adults who are paying them.
Memory loss, depression and suicidal thoughts are the pessimistic effects linked with solvent inhalation with extended brain, liver and kidney harm laryngeal freezing and choking may happen and sudden sniff death syndrome have been singled out as a result of sniffing ( Lowenstem, 1982, O Connor ,1979). A stressful past a impoverished and negative street environment and temporary lifestyle makes street minors vulnerable to emotional complication and learning challenges.
The street children are also excluded from taking part in community activities and establishments granted to other children, their chances of getting formal schooling are little to nonstreet children are frequently resilient toward adversity ( Smith, 1996 ) the children are criticized and labeled as convicts, they are able to create Cliques affording substitute family setting by looking after the younger children. 5. Routine activities approach.
Routine activities theory is from rational choice theory expanded by cohen and felson ( 1979). Routine activities theory needs three elements for an offense against the to happen, a motivated perpetrator with criminal intentions and the power to act on the urges, a suitable target and not being there of a capable target who can keep the crime from occurring. These three components must come together in time and space for an offense to happen.
Routine activities theory give a macro outlook on crime it foresees how change in community and economic circumstances change the general crime and victimization rate.it is the routine activities an individual takes part in during the day and night that makes a person extra vulnerable to being considered as a suitable target by devious offenders.
When it comes to a suitable target the pick is influenced by the convicts understanding of the target accessibility, the more suitable and reachable the target the chance is high for crime to take place , the number of motivated offender in the community also influence the crime rates it is said that criminals are less likely to execute a crime if they accomplish individual goals through legal means.
The presence of a capable guardian is said to prevent a person from offending, a guardian can be a person who is capable to protect a person from being victimized or a mechanical gadget like a surveillance camera or security system. These security measures assist to restrict a criminal and entry to a suitable target. the important feature of the theory is the interactivity of the motivated offender, opportunity, and the target. When in the company of a guardian this will avert the criminals sending a message that the target if off limits .the existence of a chance without a guardian boosts the offenders motives and the possibility of a crime happening is high.
Street children because of living in the streets with no capable guardian have heightened proximity with the offenders and take part in high risk Situations like doing drugs and drinking alcohol, and take part in delinquent activities themselves and often high-risk activities in doughy locations.as a result of their routine activity and lifestyle they are considered at a high risk to victimization.
By staying on the streets the children are in risky environments and areas this boosts their likelihood of engaging in illegal activities, associating with delinquent friends advances proximity and exposure to assaults and vulnerability to violence this escalates the possibility that the children will find themselves in circumstances Where they become criminals or victims or victims ( Brow, 2003 ), strong tight families are Superior at providing protection for the young ones in terms of guardianship as well as reduce the risk to motivated criminals but street children are not supervised this makes them the appropriate target to victimization the demographics , routine activity , family and peer variables remain important.
Other theories that might help to explain the issue of street children. The labelling theory is broadly equip towards a persons identity within a community the main attention is on the labels a community has fixed on them, labelling is a process of giving a person a title they did not select for themselves this title has biased ideas , characteristics and traits about a person. labelling could have a bad or good results but usually labelling is linked with negative results and most revolve around deviance.
Labels can start from the start of the into a lifetime. As early as a child is born they are labelled as male or female and beliefs are enforced into them and these expectations will determine the clothes they wear and the colour and toys they play with. street children the labelling may alter their social identity that they will carry either they are aware of it or not and the way in which act in public has to fit the label.
The label affects the street children mental outlook and belief, the street children will develop into the label they are given once they accept this identification they must take into account of the position in the community, because community builds conducts on how to act on what is though out to be good and what is bad , if a person breaks these code of conducts they get labelled. For example, if a street child is caught stealing bread once they will be labelled as a thief all the time until they accept that they are a thief and starting stealing cars.
My Proposal to Bloemfontein Shelter
My proposal to shelter is that they build a game room that will offer educational and entertaining games to the children, this will attract many street children because of the games they will get to play and have never had access to them. On weekdays every morning they will get a healthy and balanced breakfast and ten soon after eating they will be taken into showers to refresh and soon after they will be granted access to the game room where they will learn social skills, emotional coping skills, literature, and mathematics skills in an entertaining way.
And get three meals a day and hire psychologists who are willing to play with the children and counsel them not in the traditional way because that might scare the children away, once a month the shelter can host birthday party for the children born in that month to make them feel special , appreciated and loved.
Every weekend the shelter ma invite celebrities to come to motivate the children to so they can start thinking about the future and start having goals so they can have something to look forward to instead of smoking drugs, the aim of bringing celebrities is to try to show the children the positive role models and people to look up to who was once in the same situation as the Friday nights are going to be movies nights where the children will come spend the night at the shelter to watch inspirational movies and educational but entertaining movies, in hopes that they will be the ones who will be free willing to move into the shelter.
My idea will archive the following things:
- It will take the children out of the street
- Teach the children social skills
- Motivated the children to try and make right choices
- Help build the self-esteem of children
- Get the children involved in sport and recreation 9.
- The children will consult health care workers once every month
- Teach them how to read. And hopefully, in the future, they will get a formal education, when getting formal education they will know how to write and read.
In conclusion, the issue of children living on the streets is not a challenge only faced by South Africa is a global issue even faced by developed countries, the are many causes and consequences to topic of street children mostly the causes come from the government and affects the people on the ground, decrease in the economy means that the people who are at the bottom of the food chain are the ones who experience more loss and grief and the children become the victims.
References
- Aptekar, L. 1994. Street Children in the Developing World: A Review of Their
- Condition. Cross-Cultural Research, 28(3): 195–224.
- Benítez, S. T. d. 2007. State of the World’s Street Children: Violence. London: Consortium for Street Children.
- Cohen , L.E., Kluegel, J.R. & Land, K.C. 1981. Social inequality and personal victimisation: a test of the model with Canadian data. Journal of Crime and Justice, 3:129–139
- Gibson, K. E. (2011). Street kids: homeless youth, outreach, and policing New York’s streets. New York, New York University Press.
- Human Rights Watch. 1996. Police Abuse and Killings of Street Children in India. Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6a7eb0.html (accessed on 15 September 2019 )
- Peacock, R. 1993. Family stress in the lives of street children. Social Work: a Professional Journal for the Social Worker, 29(2):173–180.
- Roux, J. L. 1996. Street Children in South Africa: findings from interviews on the background of street children in Pretoria, South Africa. Adolescence, 31(122):423-431.
- United Nations Children’s Fund. 2002. New York Amsterdam News, 12 April: 2.
- World Health Organisation. 1996. Working with street children. Available at: http://www.WHO/MSD/MDP/0014 (accessed on 15 September 2019 ).
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