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Self Esteem Among Street Children in Chennai City

The Phenomenon of the street children is adestructive sense of inadequacy and
recent one. It is stated that the Latininferiority.
American countries were the first to
recognize it in their cities being theA child being pushed beyond his capacity by
phenomenon of a magnitude and size whichthe parents’ vicarious needs to achieve
warranted the attention of all concerned.a sense of worth and importance through the
However the problem of street children ischild’s achievements often causes a
global one and exists in both, the developeddeep feeling of inadequacy and unworthiness
as well as developing countries, with ain  the  child.
difference in its size and magnitude. These
countries have some kinds of micro levels ofRivalry and unsuccessful emulation of an
rehabilitation measures. But much remains toextremely bright or gifted brother or sister,
be  done  in  this  field.or of an exceptionally talented and
prominent parent often generates a deep sense
Street children is a trem - shakingof  hopelessness  and  inferiority.
uncontrollably as a result of anxiety,
excitement or weakness which often highlightsA child’s unflattering physical
a certain set of working and livingappearance and/or “odds” apparel,
conditions rather than personal and socialplus perhaps physical, mental, or emotional
characteristics of the individual childrenhandicaps  damage  his  sense  of self worth.
them selves. So often, Children in these
conditions are victims of stereotypes such asA child raised on the basis of “ Reward
“Juvenile delinquents “ on theand punishment”, rather than being
part of the public and authorities . The termmotivated through understanding and allowed
“street children” should refer toto make his own mistakes and to accept and
all children who work in the street of urbanresolve, so suffer the consequences develops
areas without reference to the time theylow  self  –esteem.
spend there or the reasons for being
there.” (National workshop on streetAdverse economic, social, cultural, or ethnic
children,  29  and  30  August  1998)position of parents and family often invite
depreciation  and  ridicule.
The other terminologies for street children
have  been  using  is,Over possessiveness, over permissiveness, and
undue control exercise by one, or both
“children  without  families”parents, nurtures a feeling of un –
importance  and  lack of esteem in the child.
“  high  –risk  children”
A serious sense of guilt is frequently
“Unattached  Children”induced by one’s material wealth or
affluent  background.
“Children in need of care and
protection”High values place on money, achievement and
thing rather than on the individual and his
“Abandoned  children”innate worth, can preclude or destroy
one’s  self  –  esteem.
The UNICEF has called them “children in
difficult  circumstance”.Repeated defeats and failures can destroy
one’s sense of self- worth and result
Around the part of the world the Terminologyin one or two extremes. The child may become
of street children used in differentways asa drop-out from school or society or he may
follows,become a compulsive over achiever in a
desperate attempt to “ prove
In Naples ,” SCUGIZZO ” deriveshimself”
from the work for spinning – top
alwaysmore.Procrastination and lack of self –
discipline, taking the path of least
In Peru, the “ PAJARO FRUTERO”resistance, tend to demolish one’s self
(Fruit bird) earns his name looking out forrespect  and  sense  of  worth.
the  police  in  the  market  place.
Lack of sense of meaning and purpose in life,
In Colombia “GAMIN” (Kid) isof clear goals and objectives, preclude sound
Borrowed from the French, but has stronglyself – esteem; Key to High self –
negative connotations. The same world appearsesteem.
in RWANDA in the form “SALIGOMAN”
(Sale  gamin,  Nasty  kid).The secret to inner peace lies in self
–  affirmation.
In Zaire, street children are
“MOINEAUX”  (Sparrows)Need  for  the  study
In Cameroon, “POUSSINS” (Chicks)Bring to the end, many studies have
to field Workers, MOUSTIQUES”concentrated on street children situational
(Mosquitoes) to the police . Others haveanalysis, case studies and one study on
proposed the term “twilightstreet children on the independent variation
children” to suggest their fragile andof sex, age, education relationship between
indefinite  status.father  and  mother  were  conducted.
Officialdom, in contrast, tends to be moreBut no study was conducted in relation with
circumspect and refers to street childrenstreet children’s self – esteem
euphemistically as “children in anand so I have taken this problem for my
irregular situation.” So, The streetproject study. Because the street children
children is a most vulnerable and highare the important component of the developing
– risk group in the society. Accordingcountry. but they are not in the main stream
to UNICEF, they can be classified into threeof the society. they are neglected from the
categories  as  follows.family, school and social setup even they are
having positive self – esteem about
Street children on the street (children withthemselves which is not recognized by the
continuous  family  contact)existing social system. the street
children’s perception towards the
Street Children of the street (Children withsociety  is  negative  one.
occasional  family  contact)
SUMMERY  AND  CONCLUSION
Abandoned and Neglected children ( children
without  family)Many psychologists state that our self
–image is affected by all type
One of the negative consequences ofexperience. We have successes , failures,
Urbanization in the world, particularly incompliments, Put down personal experiences,
the developing countries , is the existenceour expectation and others expectation of
of a large proportion of the urban poorus.
living in slums and pavements many families
do not find any shelter. The forces ofIn 1657, Augustine Baker, a mystical
modernization including industrialization andtheologian and Benedictine monk declared
urbanization, coupled with the appalling“self – esteem, Self- judgment
condition of poverty have adversely affectedand self – will” to be the there
the  family  life.requisites of independence, the term had been
used by scholars in Latin and Ancient Greeks,
Illiteracy, broken family,Plato, Aristotle and others. Thesaurus
III–treatment, parent left, Death ofsynonyms are “ self- reliance”,
parents and orphans and poverty are the key“self- consequence”,
factor that forced to runaway from home and“poise”, “
living on the street at major metropolitanconfidence”, “ assurance”,
cities, particularly in chennai. The“Pride” or “self-
population of street children in chennai issufficiency”. Antonyms are “self
around 1,00,000 Most of the street children– doubt” and “self –
are  drop-outs  from  school.effacement” to “self-
hatred”  and  “  shame”.
Most of the time they are living on the
street, without having basic general needs ofTherefore , the self- esteem provides an
food, clothing and shelter, psychologicalessential Thread that ties together various
needs of love, protection and recognition andaspects of functioning. Low Level of self
social needs of social interaction,– esteem have been linked to confusion
acceptance and maturity. They are not able toand disorganization with in a construct
get care and support from family as well assystem. It would appear that low level of
society.interrogation derived from grids developed
to test the construction of others do not
Condition  of  street  childrenstrongly imply that low level of
interrogation will be found when the grids
The most vulnerable are the runaway boys andare  based upon  the  construction  of self.
girls who live on the railway station, bus
station, market place, pavements, streets andNo society can afford to ignore the street
do odd jobs like rag picking cup collecting,children .They are society’s future.
coolie, begging, cleaning the rail boogies,They are to be integrated with the main
small hotels etc. These children live onstream of social development and to be
pavements and street with sky as theirprovided with the opportunities to grow in
shelter and no one to care for with love andsound mental and physical health in a
affection.appropriate social  environment.
The condition of street children is a sadThe human resource development approach has
reality that this section of the populationto be applied while dealing with all team,
are neglected, delinquent and are uncaredand it is sure that given all opportunities
for. They are a new and rapidly increasingof their development, in their turn they can
group of vulnerable, deprived and exploitedcontribute immensely to the all round
children  in  our  cities.development  of  the  society.
Chennai NGO forum for street and workingThis study was conducted to mainly assess the
children conducted a survey on streetlevel of self – esteem among street and
children in 1996 with the support of UNICEF.school children to ascertain the possible
This survey was conducted with the followingreasons for higher or lower self –
objective:esteem.
To enumerate the number of children ofAim
children who were on the street in the city
of  chennai.Studying the level of self – esteem
among  street  and  school  children.
To find out the conditions of the street
children  in  the  city  of ChennaiObjective
On the basis of the survey, it was estimatedTo find out the level of self – esteem
that the number of street children in thebetween  school children and street children.
city of chennai would be around 75, 000. If
one were to include the children bellow 6To find out the level of self –esteem
years and the teenagers on the street, thebetween boys and girls among street children
population would be as high as 1.5 lakhs.and  school  children.
They were covered under survey only 6 to 18
years  children.To develop and recommend the remedial
measures to overcome low elf esteem of street
Most of them earn their livelihood doing oddchildren.
jobs like picking rags, or recycling garbage,
shining shoes, washing cars and the like.Hypotheses
Their employers often exploit them sexually.
In addition, most economic activities of theThere will be significant difference between
street children are controlled byschool children and street children in their
territories, each of which is guardedlevel  of  self  –  esteem.
fiercely by its members, who react violent if
threatened . In this struggle for survivalThere will be significant difference between
the competition is ruthless and only thestreet boys and girls in their level of self
fittest survive. To survive, They work for–  esteem.
three hours a day on an average, either in
the morning or in the evening, and with theirThere will be significant difference between
earning they meet their daily expense.street boys and school boys in their level of
Whenever they need advance money for theirself  –  esteem.
expenses, they get from the waste paper shop
owners for which they would sell theirThere will be significant difference between
collection of waste only to that particularstreet girls and school girls in their
shop.level  of  self  -  esteem.
The waste paper shop is also their place ofThere will be significant difference between
stay after their work. During their Leisureschool boys and girls in their level
hours, they go for movies, regularly takeof  self  -  esteem.
drug, pills and injection and at night have
sex with local CSWs at a cheaper rate. ThisSampling
involves the risk of acquiring AIDS and
spreading it. They have homosexual habitUsing Random sampling method for the study
also. The drugs they use includes brown120 school and street children were selected
sugar.among these 120 children , 60 were boys and
60 were girls. Their age ranged from 12 to 17
Family  backgroundyears. Justification of age selection is,
below 12 years the children are not able to
Most of the street children are living on therecognize and express their self –
streets away from their family due to some ofesteem properly , so above 12 years has been
the following reasons, Abuse, violence,selected  for  the  study  .
poverty, broken family, Peer group pressure,
attractions on city life, dislike towardsTool  used
studies,  frustration,  orphan  and  others.
The index of self –esteem by walter
These street children have no one to care forW.Hudson was found to be the most suitable
them except their peer with whom they live ontool to measure the self – esteem
the streets. As they are away from home andlevels.  The  total  questionnaire  is  25
school environment , the informal social
control could only play a major role in theirStatistical  Analysis
life in shaping the character and behaviour
of  these  children.The Collected date was analysed, the Mean,
standard deviation, ‘t’ Value was
The above stated variations have beenestablished  to  test  the  hypotheses
affecting street children’s Self-
esteem very deeply. Self esteem refers to theFindings
extent to which they expect to be accepted
and valued by the adults and peers who areThe Level of Self – esteem of school
important to them. Even though self- esteemchildren is lower than the level of street
has been studied for more than 100 years,children, that means street children were
specialists and educators continue to debatehaving  high  level  of  self – esteem.
its precise nature and development. But they
generally agree that parents and other adultsThere is no gender different in the level of
who are important to children play a majorself  –esteem  of  street  children.
role in laying a solid foundation for a
child’s  development.The level of self –esteem of the street
boys  is  higher  than  school  boys.
What  is  self  –  Esteem?
The Level of self – esteem of the
When parents and teachers of young childrenstreet  girls  is  higher  than school girls.
talk about the need for good self –
esteem , they usually mean that childrenThe Level of self – esteem of school
should have “ Good feelings”girls  is  higher  than  school  boys.
about themselves. With young children,
self-esteem children refers to the extent toConclusion
which they expect to be accepted and valued
by the adults and peers who are important toAn analysis of data collected being done, the
them.following conclusion were arrived at. The
Level of Self – esteem identified by
Children with a healthy self – esteemthe school children is lower than the level
feel that the important adults in theirof street children, that means street
lives accept them, care about them, and wouldchildren were having high level of self
go out of their way to ensure that they are– esteem. The level of self –
safe and well . They feel that those adultsesteem developed by the street children boys
would be upset if anything happened to themand girls is the same. The level of self
and would miss them if they were separated.–esteem accumulated by the street boys
Children with low self – esteem, on theis higher than school boys. The Level of self
other hand, feel that the important adults– esteem indicated by the street girls
and peers in their life do not accept them,is  higher  than  school  girls.
do not care about them very much, and would
not go out of their way to ensure theirLimitations
safety  and  well  –being.
The sample was limited only in the age group
During their early years, youngof  12  to17 yearsstreet and school children.
children’s self- esteem is based
largely on their perceptions of how theIt  was  done  only  in  Chennai  city.
important adults in their lives judge them.
The extent to which children believe theyThe  sample  size  was  small.
have the characteristics valued by the
important adults and peers in their livesThe self esteem questionnaires was given to
figures greatly in the development of Selfthe street children and school children
– esteem. For example, in families andseparately.
communities that value athletic ability
highly, Children who excel in athletics areImplications of  the  study
likely to have a high level of Self –
esteem, Whereas children who are lessOne of the first steps in encouraging healthy
athletic or who are criticized as beingself - esteem in children is to : establish
physically inept or clumsy are likely togood relationships with them. Persons in
suffer  from  low  self  –  esteem.good, relationship is ultimately what the
world is all about . Relationships which are
Families, communities, and ethnic andmutually loving and caring , honest and
cultural groups vary in the criteria on whichsupportive create an atmosphere for healthy
self  –  esteem  in  based.human  growth  and  great  self  -  esteem.
Children  with  self-  esteemEmotionally, children are easily threatened
by anyone bigger, older or more confident
Keeping self – esteem alive isthan they are not yet possessing the well -
necessary to every human being. It is thedeveloped defended adults usually have,
daily food of emotional health. Mother Teresachildren’s sense of self is still
said that “each of us has a mission toFragile vulnerable and easily knocked down.
fulfill, a mission to live, but that it mustfor example, children often don’t
begin in our homes …. In the placeunderstand the significant difference
where we are, with the people with when wechronological age can make in their
are  closest,  and  then  spread out, “performance. younger children may feel stupid
because their older siblings appear smarter
Nurturing self- esteem in children, creating.they do not realize older children have had
opportunities for success, facilitating amore time than they for learning skills,
positive self – image are all importantphysical growth, greater muscle control, more
influences on a child’s healthypractice and mare experience in sports,
development.school, the arts and so on. younger children
need to understand they may be years behind
Lack of self- esteem that damages ain eyepiece but not necessarily in
child’s self –image couldintelligence.
interfere with a child’s ability to
learn  and  relate.When they get threats from others, they think
of themselves as unlovable, incompetent,
To enhance a child’s self esteem is tounimportant and un wanted misfits. threat
be a positive force in a loving relationshipbrings on feelings of insecurity
and thereby make a worthwhile contribution toembarrassment ; failure and fear abounds
the  world.inside  them  .  So threat is too be avoided.
Many parents are unwittingly aiding theirWhat Adults can do to boost self - esteem in
children  to  fail and have low self- esteem.children?
First we must define what every child needs.Acknowledge a child’s right to
Every child needs to get parentalemotions.
approval.for his or her own sense or
personhoodfor his or her sense of provenProvides outlets for strong feelings.allow
abilityfor his or her sense oftime for strong feelings to cool off.connect
individualityfor set realistic achievementyourself with their strong emotions.help
goalsto provide a framework of meaningfulrelieve stress with some thing physical.show
valuesthat you can accept even the
undesirable.encourage children to talk to
Typical sources of low self- esteem inother adults.help children by telling them
childrenstories.what  parents  can  do  ?
In most cases, low self- esteem in children,Apart from this, in order to build great self
stems from unfortunate childhood experiences.-  esteem  in  children,  parents  need  to.
The greatest gift we as parents can give to
our children is sound self- esteem. When weBe an example of self - value, self - love
fail to give it we unconsciously build lowand  self  p  celebration.
self-  esteem  in  our  children.
Respect your child as a unique never - to
A Parent’s own low self –esteem-be-  repeated  miracle  of  good.
is  a  model  for  the  child
Lead your child to feel loved , Valued and
A Child’s lack of recognition andrespected  for  his  / her  own  self.
appreciation by parents and others as an
intrinsically valuable and importantMake your child responsible for his/ her
individual, can mar his self esteem. Phrasesactions  and  conduct.
like “A child should be seen and not
heard, “Mother knows best”, etc.Help your child to feel capable of
demonstrate that the child’s needs,accomplishing  things  on  his/her  own.
feelings, desires and opinions are not given
due  consideration.Show your child that each day is full of joys
and  wonderful  experiences.
A child sometimes makes self-deprecating
comparisons of himself with those of his ownGive sincere praise and appreciation for
age whom he admires for their strength andevery  good  experience.
ability , their popularity, self
–confidence and achievements. To makeLet your child find him self through your
matters worse, his parents, family andguidance. Don’t make him a robot or
friends compare him unfavourite brother orrubber  stamp  of  yourself.
sister. This overpowers the child with
devastating  sense  of  inferiority.Invest time and energy to help your child
achieve  greatness.
A child feels inadequate because he is not
encouraged and motivated to be independent,Lead your child to Improve with each event,
to do what he can for himself – to takenot compete with others who may be more
responsibility for his ability as he grows inbeautiful smarter or wealthier . these are
age and experience. The child is not taughtFalse standards of greatness and make one all
to  think  for  himself.but feel like a loser the winner in the one
who is doing his best for his own sake. Be
The false concepts, values and reactions of aconsistent in your discipline and lead your
child’s Parents, Teachers and peers,child to agree as to proper conduct. Empress
cause him to identify himself with hispraise for good behavior and don’t
actions. For example, Mohan, whose motherdestroy the value of praise by withholding
had a severe migraine, is a “ badpraise when improper conduct occurs. Teach
boy” because he slammed the door.children not to use self put- downs Teach
Whereas, in reality it was only his naturalthem how to give tem selves self - support
exuberance and lack of awareness that causedself  -  value,  and  self  -  assurance.
the act. This may load the child with self
condemnation,  shame,  guilt  and  remorse.Parents can play an Important role in
strengthening children’s self - esteem
Harsh and demanding parents set unreasonableby treating them respect fully , taking their
standard, often raising them before the childviews and opinions seriously, and expressing
has developed the ability to meet them.appreciation to them above all, parents must
Parents may also subject their children tokeep in mind that self - esteem is an
unreasonable, harsh criticism and undue andimportant part of every child’s
or inconsistent punishment. Such actionsdevelopment.
cause early frustration, defeatism, and a



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