Preventing Street-Child Explosion in Third World Countries

Street children in Africa



Children these days are traditionally the subject of ridicule, humiliation, abuse, and mental torture. Besides South America and Asia, Africa is another continent yet to find a remedy for the number of children without any education.


The problems associated with street children vary. Broken homes, separation or divorce, parents' inability to bring up children, lack of education, and teenage pregnancy. 

How do we assess the institution of marriage today in our society when so many divorces and activities of irresponsible parenting are causing havoc to our children?

Without much or any financial support, single mothers are left to face problems in bringing up children and earning money to give their children a good education. 

The devil always has worked for idle hands. Lack of education forces young girls into prostitution. After giving birth out of hardship and frustration, the teenage mothers abandoned their children.

Later, the children grow up to be juvenile criminals, destitute,  glue sniffers, and junkies. The question is, if a mother can't afford to feed her child, how then can the child get an education? 

This is a burning issue that leaders of Third World Countries must consider as a priority, to create free or lower the cost of education for every child to be in school.

The children we neglect: A global crisis of abuse and Abandonment

Many African children are fatherless and motherless.

Children are assets to national development in every part of the world. They are considered future leaders, and for this reason, they need care, support, and education throughout their growth and development.

However, it is heartbreaking to see children, especially in many Third World countries, roaming the streets as if they were dropped from nowhere simply to increase the population of their nation. These children are often left without guidance, protection, or hope.

Today, children are frequently subjected to ridicule, humiliation, and mental torture. Poverty drives some parents to treat their children with cruelty, to the extent that an estimated sixty‑five percent of children in poverty‑stricken countries are forced into prostitution, crime, and child labor—clear violations of their fundamental rights.

In parts of Asia, children work in migrant labor camps for miserable wages. Some are forced by their parents into slavery to repay debts. Young children who attempt to escape harsh treatment are often sent back with threats, raising the painful question: why are some parents so cruel to their own children?

In advanced countries like the United States, it is estimated that one million children are abused each year. The suicide rate among 15‑ to 24‑year‑olds has risen steadily over the past two decades, revealing deep emotional and psychological suffering.

In Brazil, children playing or sleeping on the streets are sometimes “sprayed” with bullets by gang child assassins in what they call “Street Cleansing". This horrifying reality shows how vulnerable children are when society fails to protect them.

If parents are not ready to take responsibility for their children, why bring them into the world only to expose them to danger, abuse, and unhealthy living conditions? The lower the level of care, the more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorized, or sexually abused.

Unfortunately, thousands of children who should be in school are instead on the streets because of poverty. We must not neglect the children. Our society needs change, in our minds, our feelings, and in our systems of work, law, education, and politics.

We urgently need to see clearly, articulate precisely, and, above all, act boldly on issues affecting children. Their future depends on the choices we make today.