Street Children: Their Lives and Issues That Surround Them

Street children: Who are they? Why do they live on the streets? Do they deliberately choose to be homeless? What quality of life do they enjoy? What are the characteristics of these children? These questions appear to be simple, but the answers are extremely complex. In general, street children are those who are deprived of their basic rights and dignity as human beings. They do not have proper education and are extremely vulnerable to all types of exploitation. Street children have complex circumstances and are very vulnerable to exploitation and violence. They lack vital services such as education and healthcare because they are marginalized hence, they are deprived of their right to education because they work to support themselves or their families, so a lot of red tape and bureaucracy will be needed to try to get them into school. Very often the public are uninformed about these children, and they instinctively judge and cast aspersions on them. This book presents a clear understanding about some of the issues that street children encounter daily. With the use of existing literature, it tries to provide a definition and quantify the number of street children globally. It explains the difference between children on and of the streets and highlights some of the notions of street culture and child abuse. It is the firm view that if the public are more cognizant of the reasons why these children live on the streets, they may be more compassionate. This book does not evoke sensationalism but tries as far as possible to create an awareness of the lifestyle of street children.