Becoming derailed without any sort of parental guidance they are indulging in theft, pick pocketing, drug peddling and even more serious crimes. If the authorities who should be concerned start taking prompt steps, the solution to the problem may not be so difficult

Street kids and crime

According to media reports there are about a million children living in the streets of Bangladesh. As many as seventy per cent of them live in the capital. In order to survive in the harsh conditions that street life entails, many of the street children are increasingly choosing a life of crime. According to research findings by BIDS and the ministry of social welfare about 41 per cent of the street children have no sleeping beds, 84 per cent have no warm clothes, 54 per cent don’t get nursing and 75 per cent can’t go to the doctor when sick. About 44 per cent street children are victims of addiction, 40 per cent don’t take a bath every day and 35 per cent have no access to toilet facility.
Becoming derailed without any sort of parental guidance they are indulging in theft, pick pocketing, drug peddling and even more serious crimes. The street urchins, commonly referred to as ‘tokai’ are recruited by the major political parties to act as foot soldiers in violent political programmes like hartal. Faced by oppressive poverty it is easy to get these kids to join rallies, torch public transports, carry and throw bombs which are as much a risk to themselves as to the intended victims. Though street children are paid a small sum of money to carry out such activities but they pay a very heavy price including jail time, injury and death. The lives of these children are far removed from the ideal childhood envisioned in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Psychologists say that getting paid to indulge in criminal acts may apparently seem empowering to them. They also find an outlet to vent their frustrations caused by poverty and hopelessness of growing up in the slums. These children begin to have a perverted sense of self-worth. These street kids are growing up being totally desensitised to the gory and gruesome aspects of life. The sanctity of human life fast loses to those who repeatedly indulge in such acts. As adults they are likely to emerge as hardened perpetrators of criminal activities.
Thankfully one million street children is not a huge number. If the authorities who should be concerned start taking prompt steps, the solution to the problem may not be too difficult. When the government takes the initiative there are reasons to believe that many individuals and organisations will come forward to support the worthy cause. The commercial banks and other big corporate houses can also do their bit to alleviate the pitiable condition of the street children under their CSR (corporate social responsibility) programmes.

Becoming derailed without any sort of parental guidance they are indulging in theft, pick pocketing, drug peddling and even more serious crimes. If the authorities who should be concerned start taking prompt steps, the solution to the problem may not be so difficult

Street kids and crime

According to media reports there are about a million children living in the streets of Bangladesh. As many as seventy per cent of them live in the capital. In order to survive in the harsh conditions that street life entails, many of the street children are increasingly choosing a life of crime. According to research findings by BIDS and the ministry of social welfare about 41 per cent of the street children have no sleeping beds, 84 per cent have no warm clothes, 54 per cent dont get nursing and 75 per cent cant go to the doctor when sick. About 44 per cent street children are victims of addiction, 40 per cent dont take a bath every day and 35 per cent have no access to toilet facility. Becoming derailed without any sort of parental guidance they are indulging in theft, pick pocketing, drug peddling and even more serious crimes. The street urchins, commonly referred to as tokai are recruited by the major political parties to act as foot soldiers in violent political programmes like hartal. Faced by oppressive poverty it is easy to get these kids to join rallies, torch public transports, carry and throw bombs which are as much a risk to themselves as to the intended victims. Though street children are paid a small sum of money to carry out such activities but they pay a very heavy price including jail time, injury and death. The lives of these children are far removed from the ideal childhood envisioned in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Psychologists say that getting paid to indulge in criminal acts may apparently seem empowering to them. They also find an outlet to vent their frustrations caused by poverty and hopelessness of growing up in the slums. These children begin to have a perverted sense of self-worth. These street kids are growing up being totally desensitised to the gory and gruesome aspects of life. The sanctity of human life fast loses to those who repeatedly indulge in such acts. As adults they are likely to emerge as hardened perpetrators of criminal activities. Thankfully one million street children is not a huge number. If the authorities who should be concerned start taking prompt steps, the solution to the problem may not be too difficult. When the government takes the initiative there are reasons to believe that many individuals and organisations will come forward to support the worthy cause. The commercial banks and other big corporate houses can also do their bit to alleviate the pitiable condition of the street children under their CSR (corporate social responsibility) programmes.