By Rev. Bro. Jos van Dinther, CAS Director
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At the end of 1992, the Catholic Association for Street Children (CAS) started its operations within Accra-Ashaiman Metropolis. From the onset, CAS workers met the street children and urban poor children daily.
During the past 15 years, CAS had conducted several researches to know the target group better and to determine why so many children are in the streets.
Street children and urban poor children are those, who are not registered with any organised society or Church, but are Ghanaians.
It is easier to work with organised groups and it is often more interesting because results can be easily identified or known but the unorganized youth should not be forgotten.
Our research have so far revealed that street children are from all the regions of Ghana without exception.
Therefore, they represent members of all ethnic groups of Ghana with the majority coming from Ashanti, Greater Accra and Central Regions.
This is a surprise to many because the media do not investigate and spread the wrong information which suggests that all Street Children come from Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions.
All the various ethnic groups have different cultural practices regarding the upbringing and education of their children. The practice of some tribes have made parents not live together in one house with their children.
In other tribes, children are brought up and educated by an uncle or aunt. Often, the children are sent to an uncle or auntie who lives in a town or city with the hope that the uncle or auntie would educate them.
But often times, these children are only treated with violence. Although, violence and ill-treatment are not accepted in any tribe, this often happens to neglected children.
Families
Families are unable to cater for their children or do not bother to take care of them. The neglect of children is easily the highest factor that had led to the many street children in Accra and elsewhere.
In the past, the extended family had ensured that children were catered for by an aunt or uncle but now more and more families live in a nuclear setting due to the high cost of living.
It is generally presumed that married couples know how to bring up their children but unfortunately, many do not even bother to care for their children and so this knowledge cannot be passed on from one generation to the next.
So when a parent who does not know how to care for a child ends up in the Streets and therefore they miss the opportunity of learning how to care for their children.
There are still families who do not see any value in educating their children. They use their children either on the farms or for household activities. As soon as that child has an opportunity to leave, he or she will never return.
CAS had tried to interest children in agriculture but has discovered that none was interested though their parents were farmers but their (parents) living standards are not inspiring to them.
Reasons
CAS has established from its research that 86% of Children in the streets are there because of family problems. Therefore, the street children issue is related more to social issues than to economic reasons.
Our findings show that children leave home because of the following reasons:
Reason Problem Percentage
a. Neglect Social 29%
b. Single parent Social 16%
c. Truancy Social 12%
d. Violence at home Social 9%
e. Too many children at home Social 6%
f. Orphans Social 5%
g. Sickness of single parent Social 3%
h. Peer group pressure Social 3%
i. Sexual violence at home Social 2%
j. Born in the streets Social 1%
k. Poverty Economic 11%
l. Left behind by
parents-Immigration Economic 3%
Other reasons
* Parents do not value education
* Urbanisation, Nobody can stop it.
* Fathers do not feel their responsibility to cater for their children.
* Cultural practices such as forced marriages.
* Polygamy
* More children more prestige
* Lack of care
* Ethnic violence
* Rural under-development.
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