Who are the Street Children?
Street children are young people who spend a considerable time
living and/or working on the streets of the world’s cities.
Different countries describe street children in different ways.
However, two general categories have been frequently used to
describe them:
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children living
and working in the street
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children working
on the streets who maintain regular contact with their
families |
Reality Situation of Street Children in Asia
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The working
street child works from 6 to 16 hours, often in a combination
of “occupations”.
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| • |
Street children
usually come from large families, with six to ten children per
family.
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| • |
Street children
are generally malnourished and anemic, many of them physically
stunted.
|
| • |
Street children
suffer psychologically from undue family pressures, abuses and
neglect at home. Very often, they develop low self-esteem.
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| • |
Street children
are prone to street fights and bullying from bigger youth,
harassment from policemen, suspicion and arrest for petty
crimes, abuse and torture from misguided authorities.
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| • |
Street children
usually come from broken families.
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| • |
There are more
boys than girls. Female children are disadvantaged because of
their sex; they do more housework and are prone to sexual
abuses.
|
| • |
Parents of street
children are preoccupied with earning a living, oftentimes
engaged in irregular low-paying jobs as construction workers,
vendors, and scavengers.
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