Question

a diary entry for street children

Answer 1

The term street children was probably first used by Henry Mayhew in 1851 in his book London Labour and the London Poor. Earlier, street-connected children were referred to as homeless children, abandoned children, or runaways (Scanlon, Tomkins, Lynch, & Scanlon,). In countries across the world, street-connected children continue to be labeled with derogatory terms referring to their daily activities. In the modern-day Democratic Republic of Congo, groups of children who live on the streets and hang around schools looking for piecemeal work are collectively called moineax (“sparrows”) or balados (“ones who walk around”); they are also called phaseur, which refers to their habit of taking naps during the day (Human Rights Watch,). They are called “parking boys” in Kenya, “Peggy boys” in the Philippines, pivetes (slang for “street kids” or “juvenile thieves”) in Brazil, and pajaros fruteros (meaning “fruit birds”) in Peru (Agrawal). Lan pyaw kalay is the traditional term for street children in Myanmar, which literally means “children who are happy on the streets” (CSF,). In North American countries, street-connected children are usually included in the population of homeless children or youth (Flowers, ): in the United States, they may be known as “throwaway kids,” most of whom end up on the streets after a failure of the foster care system. Street-connected children in the former Soviet Union countries are referred to as bezeprizorniki, which means “those who are uncared for.” In Costa Rica, they are called chapulines, meaning “grasshoppers,” “parasites,” or “pests.” In Vietnam, they are known as buidoi, “children of the dust” (literally, “the dust of life”), and in Bangladesh, they are called tokai, meaning “rag pickers.” In Guatemala, they are called huelepegas, or “glue sniffers” (Pemberton). Nairobi’s street-connected children are branded as chokora (“scavengers”), and in Mongolia, they are known as “manhole children” (Kurihara,). These terms, describing the behavior or living styles or occupations of street-connected children, all have negative connotations. On a global basis, however, researchers and practitioners in the field are increasingly trying to change such stereotypes or labels, in order to avoid the adverse impact they have on the self-image of these children and society’s attitude toward them