The cause and consequences of the street children's problem

The cause and consequences of the street children's problem

The most Northern of the world's 200 million street children are in Russia. The number of homeless children in the country is app. 500 000. There are app. 3 million neglected children in Russia.

Street children's phenomenon began to develop in Eastern Europe in the early 1990's. Its main cause is alcoholism in families and financial distress.

Numerous families that came to the big cities from another territory of the Former Soviet Union seeking work ended up unemployed and homeless. Some homeless children even came of their own accord to big cities where they found it easier to scrape out a living.

The problem is especially alarming in the largest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moscow draws homeless children and families from the whole country. In both cities there are about 50,000 neglected children. The resources of the cities are not sufficient to solve the situation.

The problem is not confined to these cities alone, but has spread throughout the large cities in the entire country.

In 1998 president Yeltsin raised the issue of street children, and in early 2002 president Putin gave the Government the task of solving the problem. Unfortunately this has not led to significant improvements. Vagrant children have been chased on the streets and placed to orphanages, but the most of the flee back to the streets.

Street children differ from orphans with a normal family background. Due to their drug addiction and other complicated problems they need specific attention and help. It is vital to create establishments where children can be housed and where their physical, mental, social and spiritual treatment can be initiated while the juridical questions related to their background and situation are being processed.

In addition to resources, the society is lacking an up-to-date legislation and programs to help the social orphans of the streets. Help activities by non-governmental organizations are complicated by the fact that a child whose parents are alive cannot be taken under governmental or other custody without clarification of his background and resolving of the questions related to parental rights. Many of the children are lacking documents of identity. For this reason street children are juridically in an in-between situation, and reaching them through help programs requires complex measures.

Street children are not a new phenomenon in Russia. During the First World War (1918-1922) and in the post-WWII years of 1955-1960, many children were forced into homelessness, orphaned on the streets of Russia. The reasons for the current influx of children to the streets are different than during earlier periods in history.

Russian parents still abandon their children in the streets because of economic hard times. (According to Unicef, over 40% of Russian children live in poverty and malnourishment.)

The major reason for the current influx of children to the streets seems to be the general spiritual and moral malaise in families, reflected in alcoholism, drug addiction, child abuse and neglect. (Over 10% of the Russians have a difficult alcohol addiction, and in every fifth family one member is alcoholic.)

There are some orphaned children on the street, but the vast majority of street children are "social orphans". Interviews with these children reveal the heart-rending reasons for their homelessness:

Parents are alcoholics and not able to feed the child.
Parents abandon the child for not being able to feed him.
One parent or the both are imprisoned. Many children told that their street life and thefts began when their mother was imprisoned, their father already being in prison or being an alcoholic.
Parents cannot afford feeding the child and bring him to an over-crowded orphan-asylum at militia for temporary stay.
The child flees from immoral life at home. One boy living in a dungeon told that he could not stand the home life with "all kinds of men coming all the time".
Child flees from sexual or physical abuse. A 14-year old girl told that since she was 13, her mother had been selling her. She had finally escaped.
Families come to the big city from another territory of the Former Soviet Union to seek work. The child gradually becomes a street child.
The child is a refugee from a territory of war or unrest.

Part of the street children have fled the harsh discipline in public orphanages. On the streets there are also children who have fled their home to search excitement.

Consequences of the problem

Physical, psychic and moral corruption:
The unprotected street life without provision for the basic needs produces children and youth who are broken physically, mentally and socially and have a corrupted set of values. Not only are these children suffering from untreated sicknesses and deficiency deseases, but they also corrupt morally.

Crimes:
Children without custody and control make their living through committing crimes: breaks into cars, homes and stores and through attacking people. The struggle of survival of tens of thousands of homeless children in the large cities is reflected in the rapidly growing statistics of violent acts, thefts and hooliganism. Young people who have to steal and act in a violent way in order to stay alive are a serious criminalizing factor in the society.

Drugs:
On the streets the child usually becomes addicted to drugs. Drug usage begins from sniffing glue, which for the children is a means for quenching the feeling of cold, hunger and pain. As young as 12-13 -old may move from glue sniffing to intravenious drugs. Many of them are so deeply into street life and drugs that they hardly can be motivated and restored back to normal life.

Violence and dangers:
Violence and dangers are an inseparable part of children's life on the streets. Harsh conflicts occur between intoxicated children and their groups, some of them even are killed in these fights. Debts are collected back through violence, if needed. Children and youth may use very harsh measures when attacking and robbing adults. On the other hand, also the militia handles the children roughly, even those who have not committed crimes.
— In addition to violent incidents, street children occur in dangerous situations due to their reckless playing - such as hanging behind a tram - and climbing to the places where they stay, for example ruined buildings.

Diseases:
Street children suffer from malnourishement and health problems caused by glue and drugs. Many of them are smaller by size than normal children of their age. Lice and itch are a common trouble. Some children have venereal diseases and tuberculosis. We have seen children who have not washed themselves and changed clothes for half a year! Weekly baths provided by street patrol have brought significant help to many children.