INTRODUCTION

Street children constitute a marginalized group in most societies. In the

Philippines, they comprised 1-3% of the youth and children in the major cities of the
country. They do not have what society considers appropriate relationships with major
institutions of childhood such as family, education and health. A generally accepted
definition of street children is, " any boy or girl who has not reach adulthood for whom
the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, waste land,
etc.) has become his habitual abode and/or sources of livelihood and who is
inadequately protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults" (Inter- NGO 1983,
832).
Street children exist in every part of the world and large groups of children
unsupervised by adults have appeared in almost every country during some part of
history. Most are found in large, urban areas of developing countries. The problem has
worsened across the globe in recent years because of economic problems, political
changes, civil unrest, increasing family separations and conflicts, the epidemic spread
of diseases and natural disasters.
The phenomenon of street children, linked as it is to mass rural exodus, the loss
of traditional social bonds, changes in the family and the uncontrolled development of
urban areas, is one of the key markers of the social and societal transformations
currently under way. It raises the question of what our development and aid institutions
are doing to help population groups that are left on the sidelines of national and
international efforts to promote economic and social development. The continuous

exposure to harsh environments and the nature of their lifestyles make them vulnerable
to substance use and this threatens their mental, physical, social and spiritual wellbeing.
In many regions most of these children use alcohol and other psychoactive substances.
In addition, these children are confronted with discrimination and view health and social
services with suspicion. Street children live a transitory life style and are vulnerable to
inadequate nutrition, physical injuries, substance use, and health problems including
sexual and reproductive health problems. These factors reduce the effectiveness of
interventions that target street children.
Some street children are part of entire families who live on the street. Others are
born to older street girls. Some street children are on the street, which means that they
still see their families regularlyand may even return every night to sleep in their family
homes. Childrenof the streets, on the other hand, have no home but the streets. Even if
they occasionally spend time in institutions for children or youths, they consider the
streets to be their home. In this document, the term children refers to both children
under the age of 10 years and young people aged 10-24 years. Although street children
support themselves in many different ways, they need the assistance of caring adults
and charitable services provided by governmental or non-governmental organisations.
Despite peer solidarity and support through charitable services, street children have
extremely high rates of morbidity, disability and mortality
According to Cosgrove (1990: 185), the critical mass of street children in the
developing world is growing, giving them "...a visibility difficult to ignore.". Children are
coming to cities in response to rapid urbanisation and the 'bright-lights' syndrome,
combined with reduced state capacity and socio-economic restructuring which has left

families impoverished, forcing children to eek out a living on the streets (GNCC, 1997;
Rurevo and Bourdillion, 2003). Consequently, street children are viewed as committing
a 'transgression' (Cresswell, 1996) because their presence in the urban landscape is
opposed to state.
Children staying in the streets and working to gain money for their basic needs is
viewed as a violation of the rights of children. The five major causes for children to take
to the streets are poverty and large families, unemployment/ underemployment; limited
access to basic social services; breakdown of family structures; and the shift from
traditional values that tend to be consumeristic and materialistic. The immediate trigger
is often physical or sexual abuse within the family. When these children experience
family problems, hunger, neglect and domestic violence, they escape from their homes
and live part-time, or even full-time on the streets. Some are simply abandoned.
From the recent studies, most of the street children are boys aging 7-16 years
old. About 75% of these children still return home after begging on the streets or
working on it. Factors that affect the decisions of children in leaving their houses will be
discussed in this paper. It will be determine what constitute greatly to this choice of the
children.