Toybox - let the Street Children live!
Why are there street children?
"Push" factors
Circumstances that might push a child onto the streets.
Poverty is obviously a huge contributory factor in many cases. Street children are likely to have come from areas of poor housing, with little access to running water or adequate sanitation.
There is likely to be a lack of social services and affordable education. Their parents are likely to be unemployed and illiterate.
War and political/social unrest within a country can lead to street children.
Natural disasters cause homelessness and displacement - e.g. Hurricane Mitch and Stan.
Urbanisation - When families move from rural to urban areas they lose the support of their extended family, making them more vulnerable when under pressure. Children are consequently abandoned.
Orphans - as a result of civil war, drought, famine, the AIDS epidemic, and city violence.
Dysfunctional family environment - Children may leave home to escape abuse, or they may be abandoned. Some children are even born on the streets - for example, if their parents are prostitutes. It is worth noting that although these are strong contributory factors, most children from poor and dysfunctional families do stay at home.
"Pull" factors
Some children are attracted to the street life. These are often children who come from "high-risk" areas, and who have been spending the majority of their days on the streets.
Gangs - They may have made friends on the streets and want to leave home to become an official member of a gang.
Freedom - They may be attracted by the lure of freedom and entertainment in a big city. They may no longer want to work for their parents and live with their 7 siblings in a small shack.
Drugs - Children who spend most of their time of the streets may be encouraged by the street children to try glue sniffing or other drugs.
Prospect of a better life - in an attempt to escape hardship, children have been leaving their homes and walking, hitch-hiking, hopping on and off trains and buses in the unrealistic hope of making it to the USA.
This type of Central American migrant is typically a boy of 12 to 16 years of age. Usually they end up in Guatemala or Mexico - living in conditions as poor as the ones they left.
For a diagram explaining the complex issues surrounding street children, click here.