High numbers of street children in Brazil – Causes and Consequences
Introduction
Quoted from a song that, ‘in the eyes of a child, there is joy, there is love’, but, sad to note that nowadays children are being put at risks and experiencing unlimited pressure such as coming from the environment and the people that surrounds these children. There is ample need to know certain causes and consequences of children living in the streets, how and for what reasons and impose awareness of such fact and to amiably provide ways and means in helping the authorities like the government, in reducing high numbers of street children, focus on Brazil. There explores to the causes and consequences of such alarming issue as there may seek to create known of global dimensions and of health consequences of street life of the children which transcends them from youth to mainstream adult and good citizens of the world.
Body
Street children do represent a growing challenge affecting every nation of the world and at risk for physical, emotional violation; these children are in need of interventions that appropriately address needs in the context of environment and building positive survival skills being developed as outcomes of street life. According to Home Unlimited for Street Children (2007), in Brazil, there are estimated 7 million street children, they suffer every imaginable form of abuse, neglect, violence and exploitation the average survival for street kids is only 3-4 years these children desperately need a new beginning, Approx. 18% of the children are biological orphans the remaining 82% are social orphans having forced to flee home due to abuse and violence. 16 children are reported murdered everyday but many of them are unreported cases (cited from, UN Report, 2006)
The study of street children has increased as result of their growing numbers in many cities throughout the world (Blanc, 1994; Rizzini and Lusk, 1995). Although this has helped to reveal the extent of the problem, there was precise picture of the developmental implications of growing up as a street child has yet to emerge. The basic assumption is that street children suffer developmentally and socially as Molnar, Rath and Klein (1990) have indicated that such children are indeed at risk within the environment that make one child more able to survive on the streets than another can be good value. One study done by Westhoff et al. (1995), indicated that over 90% of the street children reported having good social support available to them as the supportive social network may bolster street children’s resilience.
The lives of children in the streets are considered as a major concern of today’s generation as they are the ones who resemble the present youth of this generation and the alarming reality which deserves proper action and attention. Street children’s phenomenon began to develop in Eastern Europe during the early 1990′s with the main cause pointing towards alcoholism within the families and also due to impeding financial distress and some are due to homelessness as homeless children have even came of their will to the big cities where it is easier for them to find good means for a stable living.
Thus, street children differ from orphans having normal family background, due to drug addiction and other complicated problems these children need specific attention and help assistance. It is vital to create foundations and effective establishments wherein street children can be housed and rejuvenate points of good physical and mental functioning along with basic social and spiritual treatment and be ideally initiated. In addition to the underlying resources, Brazilian society can be lacking certain updated legislation and innovative programs to help these social orphans out of the streets. Some helpful activities by non-governmental organizations can possibly be complicated by the fact that such child whose parents are alive cannot be taken under legal custody without clarification of the child’s background and resolving questions relating to parental rights as these children also may lack documents of identity. For such reasons, street children are juridically into in between situation and reaching them through help programs requires adaptable and complex measures. The major reason for the current influx of children to the streets seems to be spiritual and moral malaise in families as reflected in alcoholism, drug addiction as well as child abuse and neglect. Furthermore, those children without custody and control are prone to committing crimes like, breaks into cars, homes and stores and by means of attacking people (Aptekar, 1994; Kenyon, Densley and Joss, 2000).
Indeed, many children are living in the streets as these children are mostly victims of child abuse and violence and in this essay, there accounts to the lives of street children in Brazil as it is the ultimate responsibility of families, communities as well as human rights advocate to keep moving and working, to possibly eradicate cases of street children protecting children from being victims of maltreatment and stigma coming from the society and to avoid acts of violence that will lead these children to commit ruthless crimes and become wanted criminals of the society. The struggles of survival of these street children are recognized in rapidly growing reality of violent acts, thefts and hooliganism. Moreover, on the streets the child usually becomes addicted to drugs and the usage begins from sniffing glue, which for the children is means for quenching the feeling of cold, hunger and of pain and are into street life and drugs are avoided as there is motivation and restore them to get back to normal life (Aptekar, 1994; Kenyon, Densley and Joss, 2000).
. Aside, points of violence and dangers are inseparable part of children’s life on the streets. Harsh conflicts occur amongst the intoxicated children and their groups, some of them even are killed in the fights. In addition to violent incidents, street children might occur in more dangerous situations due to reckless playing into certain building facilities. Death squads are being associated with violent happenings as such from dictator and authoritative states and may have the expressing support and are connected to vigilant affiliations. Thus, foreign powers may aid states where death squads are active, usually without the international criticism that would be involved when supporting states that support terrorism. Some death squads are being classified as terrorist organizations as death squads might commit premeditated attacks against political opponents, alleged rebel sympathizers and any other people deemed dangerous by authorities such as street children, as caused by poverty and injustice served to them as they intend remove political groups whose existence does not serve the good will of mankind (Aptekar, 1994; Kenyon, Densley and Joss, 2000). In Brazil, some death squads have appeared in the 70s as linked to the military police or civilian police forces, targeted criminals who had become famous for their crimes and for evading the police or those involved in the killing of policemen, these death squads were tolerated by the military government and were employed to spread fear among the régime’s opponents. However, Brazilian death squads are more on criminal phenomenon than types of illegal policing affecting many lives of children and in Brazil, the street children were urban problem having roots in rural poverty, neglect and the enforced violent displacement of people from the country. The constant poverty, industrialization and burgeoning of urban shanty towns, generate massive social and economic upheaval as there profound poverty means family disintegration, violence and break-up become more prevalent affecting lives of the children at large scales.
Conclusion
The absence of better accepted concept of such despairing one seemingly intractable street child have duly resulted in political discrepancies into street controversies in Brazil as such how to count the children, the ones idle to street children population and keeping contact to encounter such cases. Therefore, taking part to possibly eradicate points where numbers of children living in the streets can serve as a vital factor, helping those involved parties to move deeply into the situation and helping units of families to have better means of income and provide livelihood for the communities to earn as these may help reduce street children from becoming hostile victims of violence and such death squads as possible.
Reference
Aptekar, L. (1994). Street children in the developing world: A review of their condition. Cross-Cultural Research, 28(3), 195-224
Blanc, C. S. (Ed). (1994). Urban children in distress: Global predicament and innovative strategies. Pennsylvania: Gordon and Breach.
Kenyon, M. Densley, and Joss, D. (2000), Street children: Causes, consequences, and innovative treatment approaches Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation IOS PressVolume 15, Number 3 pp. 217-225
Molnar, J. M., Rath, W. R., & Klein, T. P. (1990). Constantly compromised: The impact of homelessness on children. Journal of Social Issues, 46(4), 109-124.
Rizzini, I., & Lusk, M. W. (1995). Children in the streets: Latin America’s lost generation. Children and Youth Services Review, 17(3), 391-400.
Westhoff, W. W., Coulter, M. L., McDermott, R. J., & Holcomb, D. R. (1995). Assessing the self-reported health risks of urban street children working in the Dominican Republic. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 15(2), 137-144.
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