Problems of Street Children

Street children a term used to refer to children who live on the streets as a city. They are deprived of

family care and protection. Most children on the streets are between the ages of about 5 and 18

years old, and their population between different cities is varied.

Street children live in abandoned buildings, cardboard boxes, parks, railway, bus stations, and

footpaths. A great deal has been written defining street children, but the primary difficulty is that

there are no precise categories, but rather a continuum, ranging from children who spend some time

in the streets and sleep in a house with ill-prepared adults, to those who live entirely in the streets

and have no adult supervision or care.

Street children are divided into two categories

1. Children on Streets: Children on the street are those engaged in some kind of work, like
begging, shoe polishing, cleaning train bogies, cleaning vehicles at traffic signals and involved
in selling toys and other materials. Most go home at the end of the day and contribute their
earnings to their family. They may be attending school and retain a sense of belonging to a
family. Because of the economic fragility of the family, these children may eventually opt for a
permanent life on the streets.
2. Children of streets: Children of the street actually live on the street (or outside of a normal
family environment). Family ties may exist but are tenuous and are maintained only casually or
occasionally. Street children exist in many major cities.
The Problems of Street Children:

1. Abuse
2. Child labour
3. Gender Discrimination
4. Health
5. Homelessness
6. Poverty
7. Abuse:
 Physical Abuse
 Sexual Abuse

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.

A large proportion of the boys and girls on streets have suffered abuse. In addition to fulfilling their

material needs, we Valmiki Foundation seeks to provide a warm and care atmosphere in the future.

Child Labour:

In Hyderabad and Secunderabad a common job is rag-picking, in which 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 the collecting of firewood, tending to animals, street vending, dying,

begging, prostitution and domestic labor.

Children that work are not only subject to the strains and hazards of their labour, but are also denied

the education or training that could enable them to escape the poverty trap.

Valmiki Foundation provides non-formal education to ensure that working children get at least a

basic education through our, Destitute children tuition program. We nurture community support for

our center and seek to mainstream into government schools for their formal education.

Gender Discrimination:
In Indian Society, females are often discriminated against. Their health, education, prosperity, and

freedom are all impacted. The problem is worse in conservative Andhra Pradesh than almost

anywhere else in India.

For example, because girls carry the liability of dowry and leave the family home after marriage,

parents may prefer to have male offspring. Many babies are aborted, abandoned or deliberately

neglected and underfed simply because they are girls. This can be seen in the fact that female

mortality rates amongst 0-4 year olds in India are 107% of male mortality rates, whereas the

comparable number in Western Europe is 74%.

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 so 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. Only 38% of Indian women are literate and, at 64%, the
gender parity between literacy rates amongst Indian women and men is one of the most unequal in

the world.

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.

Valmiki Foundation emphasizes care and opportunity for girls. We, Valmiki Foundation believe that

Girl child education is the future of the nation, Hence we would like to promote girl child education.
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.

Street children live and work amidst trash and open sewers. Not only are they exposed and

susceptible to disease, but they are also unlikely to be vaccinated or receive medical treatment. Only

two in three Indian children have been vaccinated against TB, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, and

Measles; only one in ten against Hepatitis B. Most street children have not been vaccinated at all.

They usually can not afford.

The HIV/AIDS rate amongst Indian adults is 0.7% and so has not yet reached the epidemic rates

experienced in Southern Africa. However, this still represents 5 million people or about 1 in 7 in of

those in the world who have the disease. The rate amongst children is lower, but because street
children are far more sexually active than their Indian peers and because many are even prostitutes

they are thus hugely at risk of contracting the disease.

Valmiki Foundation provides nutritious food, clothes for these types of needy children. We organize

an AIDS awareness programs for street children, school and college students.

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. It is not unusual to

see whole families living on the sidewalks of twin cities of Hyderabad, or rows of individual children

sleeping around the railway station.

Homeless children have the odds stacked against them. They are exposed to the elements, have an

uncertain supply of food, are likely 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.

Valmiki Foundation prioritizes homeless street children. For them, we provide counseling and

awareness to go back to their families and enrich the importance of education, when we visit the

residential homes for street children. And also we are planning to run a residential home for

homeless children very shortly.

Poverty:

Poverty is the prime cause of the street children crisis. Children from well-off families do not need to

work or beg. They live in houses, eat well, go to school, and are likely to be healthy and emotionally

secure.

Poverty dumps a crowd of problems onto a child. Not only do these problems cause suffering, but

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.

The root causes of poverty are beyond a single NGO’s power to change, but Valmiki Foundation

believes in helping where it can. Destitute children tuition program provides education, as does

mainstreaming of children into government schools and offering scholarships to private schools

children and also helping the poor people.