LIFE OF A STREET CHILDREN!

 

According to UNO, “Street children are children who live in street and are left entirely to their own devices.”

Children in difficult circumstances find that even the most  basic of their rights are flouted. These children include street children, who have fled the indifference, negligence, ill-treatment and sexual abuse of their homes to end-up, for want of an alternative in the street. The street becomes their refuge and their gang, their new family. Yet they do not find safety for all that. Their living conditions are rough, and the threats hanging over them endanger their survival all the time. Being a street child means not eating one’s fill, sleeping in unsanitary places, confronting  violence and sometimes becoming a sacrificial victim, as well as growing up without support, love or protection, having no access to education or health services, losing all dignity, and becoming an adult before knowing what it is to be a child.

In many cases, children may also end up in the street as a result of tragic events; children orphans by AIDS, refuge children, and children who are not recognized by society because they’ve been brought into the world by adultery, incest, parents in prison, drug addicts or prostitutes. A child doesn’t live alone on the street; he or she joins a gang consisting of other children or teenagers. They face day-to-day problems, compensates for the huge deprivation. They suffer from malnutrition, skin & lung diseases & sexually transmitted illness.  Stigmatized by society and marked out by their vulnerability, street children are more exposed to all kinds of abuse and cannot count on any protection.

Very often, they involve themselves in drugs for various reasons like,

Ø  To resist and relieve pain, cold & hunger.

Ø  To reduce stress, anxiety, & fear.

Ø  To increase physical strength, courage & stamina.

Ø  To relax

Children of today are future of tomorrow. We can’t ignore the fact that street children are huge in number. So, our future won’t be good if we don’t actually educate these children. Thousands of children, who are deprived of even basic necessities of life, requires our support and above all, a little care to live a dignified life. Let’s all come together and join our hands to turn these children into a good human being and a responsible citizen of Independent India.