Street children: change into the worst [Archives:2006/929/Reportage]

By: Samar Mujaly
When walking main city streets, one notices dozens of children with dirty clothes, hands and faces playing freely and in groups. They fight and form small gangs looking for trouble. Such children in Yemen have become a major issue requiring immediate attention.

Street children

“Street children” is a well-known name for many Yemeni children resulting from them spending long hours in the streets rather than at home. The name directly indicates these children's bad behavior and attitude as they worsen daily.

Children think they become more mature like their fathers and big brothers by cursing and fighting, while some think it's their way of getting the attention they need as children. However, when they spend most of their time on the streets, they eventually become emotionally weak.

“Home is everything for children. When they lose the warmth of home, they try every possible way to gain it back. Their ways of doing that are not obvious to parents. Parents think it's bad behavior when it's really the need for loving parents,” local doctor and father of four Mohammed Saleh said.

Street children practice several bad activities that cause chaos in some situations. They go to candy shops in groups and distract the shop owner as they steal money and candy. This stealing habit develops over time until they begin stealing from their own homes and then from their neighbors.

“I used to see my children with a lot of money. When I asked them where it came from, they refused to tell me. I later found out they had been stealing from a meat shop owner,” mother of eight Fatima Humeed said, noting a negative change in their behavior.

“They put nails in the street. They throw little stones and dirt at passing cars. They even throw themselves in front of cars to frighten drivers. They also bother their neighbors by knocking on doors and running, putting garbage in front of their houses and by shouting and disturbing them,” she added.

Their first home

Children spend more time on the streets than at home. The streets have become a place where they learn to act and to deal with people. For many children, from the moment they awaken, they spend their time on the streets, only returning home at mealtimes to eat quickly and go out again.

What is more shocking is that little girls are doing the same thing. Girls often are more vulnerable than boys, so they are kept home to be raised well. But this is not what's happening. In some instances, young girls spend as much time on the streets as boys.

School is a very strange place for these types of children. For them, it is a boring place to torture them, when they could be spending time having fun with their friends. It is never explained to such children the benefits and importance of studying. “Why should they learn? They will grow up and find no jobs. It's a waste of time, energy and money,” a father of seven complained.

Many parents only realize the importance of education for their children during exams month. Parents lock their children at home to make them study, but unfortunately, it's too late. Children become aggressive and violent when they spend their time on the streets and since they hate school and studying, they don't study for exams. At this point, parents begin losing control over their children, but it is control they never had due to allowing them total freedom.

Future bad effects

Living in a bad environment has numerous bad effects. Boys grow up to be careless and violent, continuing a lifestyle to which they're accustomed. They continue spending time on the streets but with a new way of harassing others. They start chasing girls and going down the wrong path. They develop fighting habits and begin possessing guns and different types of weapons. They start forming larger gangs and picking senseless fights with passersby until it worsens.

Girls also grow up to be poorly behaved as a result of spending time with boys who are like them on the streets, as well as having no other care than getting into other people's business and gossiping about everyone.

Whose fault?

Parents are the ones who mold a child's character and behavior. When they do this poorly, it remains with the child for life, even if they attempt to change it. It is like a genetic imprint, as it's nearly impossible to change.

Ironically, Yemeni parents love having many children but unfortunately, they don't like the responsibilities that come with it. Fathers chew qat with friends without disturbance and mothers go out visiting others and gossiping, while children are sent to the street to do whatever they want.

“Parents who raise their children poorly are without minds. They not only raise their children to be bad, they destroy their future and any chance they have to be good people. We see a lot of boys and girls today who commit crimes and do very bad things to their families and society,” senior college student Jamal Shaef said, worrying when imagining his children in this situation.

Many parents nowadays complain about the amount of responsibility they must take, but didn't they think about that before getting married?
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