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Friday, September 02, 2005
Oledan: When streets become a refuge
By Radzini Oledan
Spice of Life
"What's worse is the community's insistence that these street adolescents are "problems" and that their condition could be solved by treating them like criminals."
AT A tender age of 13, Myrna should be in school. Instead, she can be found on city streets, hanging around with other youngsters who, sometimes, find themselves in violent clashes with other groups. She is only one of the youths who have come to regard the streets as their alternative homes.
Labeled as tambays, buntogs, pickpocket, addict, whore or gangsters, these adolescents spend their time on the streets engaged in unproductive and sometimes anti-social activities. Yet, looking beyond the hangouts where they converge reveals a chaotic home lives that push them to where they are.
Poverty characterizes many of the street adolescents' family situations. Many of their parents are in low paying, irregular occupation where incomes hardly suffice for the needs of their typically large families. In effect, formal education is forgone and children face situations where they either while away idle time or are expected to contribute to family income.
Their often large families in an urban setting face heightened financial constraints, aggravated by diminishing care and nurturance. Traditional family life is practically nil as parents and children are more preoccupied with eking out a living. Young children are relegated to the care of older children who may be strained with enormous responsibilities.
Where parental care is wanting, there is a tendency for children to go their way and seek the companionship of others for their own security.
However, more than poverty, it is the abuse and conflict at home that significantly push children to take refuge among peers in the streets.
Abuse in the home takes the form of unreasonably laborious housework, often coupled with frequent scolding; severe physical punishments; mental and emotional assaults and even sexual abuse and incest relationship.
Most of these happen at the pretext of discipline and the corresponding power of parents and older relatives over children who are seldom recognized as human beings with intrinsic human rights.
The breakdown of families and troubled home lives account for many of their pains. So they turn to the streets where unfortunately they experience further abuse, negative biases from the community and continuous struggle for survival.
Peer groups become their alternative families and their barkada, group or gang help source their basic needs, provide emotional support and companionship, as well as much needed protection from predatory older and more vicious gangs.
Banding together in street gangs, they evolve a sub culture that does not necessarily conform to society's norms, but is frequently functional to their needs.
But risks are inherent in street life. In the concrete jungle, street adolescents endure further abuse in the hands of older street denizens and their peers.
They endure further stigma and discrimination from the public in general who tend not to look beyond appearances and regard the existence of street gangs as a mere problem of criminality.
Doing odd jobs and devising strategies to meet their basic needs, street children become vulnerable to various risk taking behavior. They found themselves in substance abuse, violence and reckless sexual behavior. Pushed to the edge, some find themselves into prostitution and petty crimes for survival.
Street adolescents are the new breed of children who are forced to mature early in lopsided environments. Gangs thrive because they provide venue for fun activities in non-ideal conditions.
What's worse is the community's insistence that these street adolescents are "problems" and that their condition could be solved by treating them like criminals.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (September 2, 2005 issue)
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