Homeless Children: Who is to Blame?

One night Francisco takes his wife and children to the local pizzeria. In the parking lot, a shabbily dressed boy offers to guard Francisco's car while the family enjoys the meal. When Francisco and his family leave the restaurant, the boy eagerly thrusts out his hand to receive a few coins for his service. Late into the night on the city streets, children like him struggle to earn a living. They are not in a hurry to leave, since the street is their home.

Homeless children are looked upon as the outcasts of society and have been tagged "nobody's children" or "throwaway kids." Their number is staggering and frightful-perhaps 40 million. An exact figure, though, is hard to come by. Unfortunately, however, all experts agree that the problem is increasing worldwide, especially in Latin America. The sight of homeless children huddled in doorways or begging for money is so pitiful that society turns them into cold statistics on a casualty list, shrugs, and moves on. But society can no longer afford to do that. According to UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund), 60 percent of the homeless between 8 and 17 years of age use hallucinatory substances, 40 percent use alcoholic beverages, 16 percent are drug addicts, and 92 percent use tobacco. And since they have no marketable skills, they often survive by begging, stealing, or prostitution. Growing up as "nobody's children," they are in danger of becoming outlaws, and outlaws are a threat to the security of any community.

The Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo reported concerning a gang of homeless children: "They have no family, no relatives, and no hope for the future. They live each day as if it were the last. . . . The children . . . do not lose any time: They take, in seconds, a teenager's wristwatch, jerk off the neck chain of a woman, attack an aged man's pocket. And they also lose no time in disappearing in the crowds. . . . Sexual intercourse starts at an early age among the . . . minors. Eleven-year-old girls and 12-year-old boys come together and then break up the romance in one or two months, with the same ease with which it started."

In addition, some parents are irresponsible in caring for their offspring, beating them, sexually abusing them, throwing them out, or just ignoring them. As a result, the abused or neglected child often feels that he is better off by himself, even on the streets.

Yet, children need loving care and guidance. This was well expressed by James Grant, UNICEF's executive director. Quoted in an editorial of the Latin America Daily Post entitled "Kids and Tomorrow," he states: "By the age of three or four years, 90 percent of a person's brain cells are already linked and physical development is advanced to the point where the pattern is set for the rest of a person's life. Those early years therefore cry out for protection, both to defend the child's right to develop to its full potential and to invest in the development of people so that they can more fully contribute to the well-being of their families and their nations."

Thus, observers are worried, blaming the economy, the governments, or the public for homeless children. The same editorial continued: "Neither the humanitarian nor the economic case for 'investing in children' has made much progress. . . . 'Economic adjustment' has often meant that subsidies on food and everyday necessities have been cut back. . . . Coming on top of rising unemployment and falling real wages, such cut-backs have meant that the heaviest burden of recession has been passed on to those who are least able to sustain it-the poorest families and their children."

Without doubt, the poor economy in many countries is another reason for the increasing number of street children. Parents will push their children into the streets to earn whatever they can, however they can. Why, though, is it so hard to solve the problem of homeless children?