The Name of Childhood Is 'Now', not Tomorrow

by Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

1. Street children undoubtedly constitute one of the most serious and disquieting challenges of our century for the Church, as well as for civil and political society. We are facing a phenomenon whose vastness was unknown, even to the public institutions: a population of around 100 million children, according to the estimates of Amnesty International (150 million according to the International Labor Organization); moreover, it is a phenomenon that is growing al-most everywhere: a real social emergency, besides being a pastoral one.

2. It has been observed that even when public institutions show a clear awareness of the gravity of the phenomenon, they do not adequately mobilize so as to transform this awareness into effective actions of prevention and rehabilitation. The prevalent attitude in civil society itself is often one of social alarm, because it is faced with a threat to public order.

There is thus more concern about personal protection from the danger that street children present than a readiness to help them; the humanitarian aspect and sense of solidarity with respect to this problem emerge with difficulty, not to mention a Christian attitude towards it.

Reality of street children

3. During the meeting, it was clear that street children in the strict sense of the term — meaning children who have made the street their dwelling place, of-ten forced even to sleep there — are deprived of bonds with their family nucleus of origin. Among them a wide range of situations was observed.

Briefly, there are those who suffered the traumatic experience of a broken family and have remained alone, and those who have been driven away or fled from home because they were too neglected or maltreated.

There are also those who reject their home or are rejected due to their involvement in some form of deviant behavior (drugs, alcohol, theft and various stratagems to survive), and those who are persuaded to stay on the streets through promises, seduction or violence by adults or criminal gangs. This often happens to young foreigners who are forced into prostitution, or to unaccompanied foreign minors who are forced to go begging. These children experience the interference of security forces in their lives and jail. In developing countries there is an impressive number of children who belong to this category.

4. A category that is different from the preceding one is that of the "children on the street", which means those who spend much of their time in the street, even if they have a "home" and a bond with the family of origin. They prefer to live day by day, with little or no responsibility for education and the future, in groupings that can hardly be recommended, habitually away from the family, although there they can still find a place to sleep. Their number is a cause for concern in developed countries, too.

Principal causes of phenomenon

5. There are numerous causes under-lying this ever more alarming social phenomenon. Among the primary ones, the following were mentioned:

• the increasing break-up of families, tension between parents, aggressive, violent and at times perverse behavior to-wards the children;
• emigration, with uprooting from the usual context of life as a result and disorientation as a consequence;
• conditions of poverty and misery that crush human dignity and deprive children of the indispensable needs of life;
• the spread of drug addiction and alcoholism;
• prostitution and the sex industry that continue to reap an impressive number of victims, often forced by spine-chilling violence even into this most ferocious form of slavery;
• wars and social disorder that disrupt the normality of life also for minors;
• the spread of a "culture of deviance and transgression", especially in Europe;
• the lack of values of reference, solitude and an ever more profound sense of existential vacuum that characterize the world of youth in general.

6. The more alarming the seriousness of the problem and the more insufficient the effective presence of the public Authorities, the more we recognize the action of private social groups and volunteers in this area as precious and praiseworthy. Associations in the ecclesial field and those of Christian inspiration are active and efficient, though absolutely inadequate before the vastness of the needs and, in most cases, linked to a specific organic form of pastoral care.

Thus, it was noted that the Dioceses and the national Episcopal Conferences do not sufficiently assume this problem both for its prevention and for the rehabilitation of the children. However, some positive things do happen that encourage and stimulate those who consider the field too infertile for investing more energy into it.

Agreement regarding objectives

7. In the course of the meeting, it was observed that in the majority of cases, the activities are planned and carried out by workers who are strongly motivated and well-prepared professionally, be they people in charge of such initiatives or volunteers.

8. Although there are different approaches, there appeared to be a substantial agreement regarding the objectives, namely:

• rehabilitation of street children for a normal life, which includes their rein-
• corporation into society, but above all in a family environment, in their family of origin if possible or, if not, in another family, or else in family-type community structures;
• bringing back the child to himself, to self-esteem, to a sense of dignity and, as a result, personal responsibility;
• instilling in the child the authentic desire to go back to school and be professionally prepared to enter society with a job, so as to develop dignified and gratifying plans for life through his or her very own efforts and not just by depending on others.

9. Quite various and diversified in-stead were the types of action in favor of street children, such as:

• the so-called commitment in the street, which involves contact with the children in the places where they gather, in order to establish an empathic relationship of trust that allows wayward children or those in difficulty to be open towards an educator;
• day centers geared towards the pro-motion of essential conditions so that the children may be able to live with dignity;
• support initiatives to satisfy their primary needs: food, clothing, sociosanitary assistance;
• structures for education and training: kindergartens, schools, courses for professional training;
• welcome residences where they al-so receive education and formation, but what counts most of all is human accompaniment that is also supported by psycho-pedagogical skills; in some cases there is also spiritual accompaniment based on the Gospel in a way committed to interior reconstruction and healing of the heart;
• activities geared to reincorporate the children into the original nucleus where they belonged or in new communities of adoption;
• activities of a wider range intended to reach civil and ecclesial society, not only to inform but also to raise their awareness and above all involve them in the work of prevention of the phenomenon and of support for the children who have been returned to their natural environment;
• training and refresher courses for workers and volunteers so as to guarantee professionalism on everyone's part.

Methods to help children

10. As to the method, the following were the main points that emerged in the course of the meeting:

• teamwork among all workers;
• parallel commitment of support to parents if they can be located and are available for collaboration;
• re-insertion in school and in professional training;
• creating and enlarging networks of friendship, even outside the structures of welcome;
• giving great importance to recreational activities and sports and to everything that stimulates the children to actively exercise a responsible role and be creative.

11. Commitment in favor of street children is certainly not easy. At times it can even seem useless and frustrating, and in those cases one can be tempted to lay down one's arms and retreat.

This is the time to go back to the basic motivations that inspired one's involvement in this meritorious work. For believers, it is primarily a faith motivation.

In any case, it is useful to pay attention to those who have had a decidedly positive experience, as clearly emerged during the meeting, to those who rightly claim that the work has satisfying results, in many and at times the majority of the cases.

Prudence, however, dictates that we wait for time to confirm results by verifying, for instance, after five years, the "constancy" of the rehabilitation and the normalization of the subject. A relapse could in fact take place, a return to the streets.

But the contrary may also happen: one who earlier resisted the work of educators may later open up to an itinerary of rehabilitation and to the very values previously offered to him.

Tomorrow is too late

12. It was generally observed, however, that something had to be done urgently: the name of childhood is "now"; tomorrow is too late. Besides, rehabilitation at an early age is relatively easy, not so when adolescence begins.

13. Unfortunately, in many countries, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, although formally approved, is still quite insufficient in its application.

This item 6344 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org