Self Esteem Among Street Children in Chennai City

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Self Esteem Among Street Children in Chennai City

The Phenomenon of the street children is a				destructive sense of inadequacy and
recent one. It is stated that the Latin				inferiority.
American countries were the first to
recognize it in their cities being the				A child being pushed beyond his capacity by
phenomenon of a magnitude and size which				the 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 is				child’s achievements often causes a
global one and exists in both, the developed				deep feeling of inadequacy and unworthiness
as well as developing countries, with a				in the child.
difference in its size and magnitude. These
countries have some kinds of micro levels of				Rivalry and unsuccessful emulation of an
rehabilitation measures. But much remains to				extremely 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 - shaking				of hopelessness and inferiority.
uncontrollably as a result of anxiety,
excitement or weakness which often highlights				A child’s unflattering physical
a certain set of working and living				appearance and/or “odds” apparel,
conditions rather than personal and social				plus perhaps physical, mental, or emotional
characteristics of the individual children				handicaps damage his sense of self worth.
them selves. So often, Children in these
conditions are victims of stereotypes such as				A child raised on the basis of “ Reward
“Juvenile delinquents “ on the				and punishment”, rather than being
part of the public and authorities . The term				motivated through understanding and allowed
“street children” should refer to				to make his own mistakes and to accept and
all children who work in the street of urban				resolve, so suffer the consequences develops
areas without reference to the time they				low self –esteem.
spend there or the reasons for being
there.” (National workshop on street				Adverse 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 Terminology				in one or two extremes. The child may become
of street children used in differentways as				a drop-out from school or society or he may
follows,				become a compulsive over achiever in a
				desperate attempt to “ prove
In Naples ,” SCUGIZZO ” derives				himself”
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 for				respect and sense of worth.
the police in the market place.
				Lack of sense of meaning and purpose in life,
In Colombia “GAMIN” (Kid) is				of clear goals and objectives, preclude sound
Borrowed from the French, but has strongly				self – esteem; Key to High self –
negative connotations. The same world appears				esteem.
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 have				analysis, case studies and one study on
proposed the term “twilight				street children on the independent variation
children” to suggest their fragile and				of sex, age, education relationship between
indefinite status.				father and mother were conducted.

Officialdom, in contrast, tends to be more				But no study was conducted in relation with
circumspect and refers to street children				street children’s self – esteem
euphemistically as “children in an				and so I have taken this problem for my
irregular situation.” So, The street				project study. Because the street children
children is a most vulnerable and high				are the important component of the developing
– risk group in the society. According				country. but they are not in the main stream
to UNICEF, they can be classified into three				of 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 with				themselves 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 with				society 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 of				experience. We have successes , failures,
Urbanization in the world, particularly in				compliments, Put down personal experiences,
the developing countries , is the existence				our expectation and others expectation of
of a large proportion of the urban poor				us.
living in slums and pavements many families
do not find any shelter. The forces of				In 1657, Augustine Baker, a mystical
modernization including industrialization and				theologian and Benedictine monk declared
urbanization, coupled with the appalling				“self – esteem, Self- judgment
condition of poverty have adversely affected				and 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 of				synonyms 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 metropolitan				confidence”, “ assurance”,
cities, particularly in chennai. The				“Pride” or “self-
population of street children in chennai is				sufficiency”. 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 of				Therefore , the self- esteem provides an
food, clothing and shelter, psychological				essential Thread that ties together various
needs of love, protection and recognition and				aspects of functioning. Low Level of self
social needs of social interaction,				– esteem have been linked to confusion
acceptance and maturity. They are not able to				and disorganization with in a construct
get care and support from family as well as				system. It would appear that low level of
society.				interrogation derived from grids developed
				to test the construction of others do not
Condition of street children				strongly imply that low level of
				interrogation will be found when the grids
The most vulnerable are the runaway boys and				are based upon the construction of self.
girls who live on the railway station, bus
station, market place, pavements, streets and				No 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 on				stream of social development and to be
pavements and street with sky as their				provided with the opportunities to grow in
shelter and no one to care for with love and				sound mental and physical health in a
affection.				appropriate social environment.

The condition of street children is a sad				The human resource development approach has
reality that this section of the population				to be applied while dealing with all team,
are neglected, delinquent and are uncared				and it is sure that given all opportunities
for. They are a new and rapidly increasing				of their development, in their turn they can
group of vulnerable, deprived and exploited				contribute immensely to the all round
children in our cities.				development of the society.

Chennai NGO forum for street and working				This study was conducted to mainly assess the
children conducted a survey on street				level 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 following				reasons for higher or lower self –
objective:				esteem.

To enumerate the number of children of				Aim
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 Chennai				Objective

On the basis of the survey, it was estimated				To find out the level of self – esteem
that the number of street children in the				between school children and street children.
city of chennai would be around 75, 000. If
one were to include the children bellow 6				To find out the level of self –esteem
years and the teenagers on the street, the				between 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 odd				children.
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 the				There will be significant difference between
street children are controlled by				school children and street children in their
territories, each of which is guarded				level of self – esteem.
fiercely by its members, who react violent if
threatened . In this struggle for survival				There will be significant difference between
the competition is ruthless and only the				street 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 their				There 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 their				self – esteem.
expenses, they get from the waste paper shop
owners for which they would sell their				There will be significant difference between
collection of waste only to that particular				street girls and school girls in their
shop.				level of self - esteem.

The waste paper shop is also their place of				There will be significant difference between
stay after their work. During their Leisure				school boys and girls in their level
hours, they go for movies, regularly take				of self - esteem.
drug, pills and injection and at night have
sex with local CSWs at a cheaper rate. This				Sampling
involves the risk of acquiring AIDS and
spreading it. They have homosexual habit				Using Random sampling method for the study
also. The drugs they use includes brown				120 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 background				years. Justification of age selection is,
				below 12 years the children are not able to
Most of the street children are living on the				recognize and express their self –
streets away from their family due to some of				esteem 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 towards				Tool used
studies, frustration, orphan and others.
				The index of self –esteem by walter
These street children have no one to care for				W.Hudson was found to be the most suitable
them except their peer with whom they live on				tool to measure the self – esteem
the streets. As they are away from home and				levels. The total questionnaire is 25
school environment , the informal social
control could only play a major role in their				Statistical 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 been				established to test the hypotheses
affecting street children’s Self-
esteem very deeply. Self esteem refers to the				Findings
extent to which they expect to be accepted
and valued by the adults and peers who are				The Level of Self – esteem of school
important to them. Even though self- esteem				children 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 debate				having high level of self – esteem.
its precise nature and development. But they
generally agree that parents and other adults				There is no gender different in the level of
who are important to children play a major				self –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 children				street girls is higher than school girls.
talk about the need for good self –
esteem , they usually mean that children				The 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 to				Conclusion
which they expect to be accepted and valued
by the adults and peers who are important to				An 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 – esteem				the school children is lower than the level
feel that the important adults in their				of street children, that means street
lives accept them, care about them, and would				children 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 adults				esteem developed by the street children boys
would be upset if anything happened to them				and 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 the				is 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 their				Limitations
safety and well –being.
				The sample was limited only in the age group
During their early years, young				of 12 to17 yearsstreet and school children.
children’s self- esteem is based
largely on their perceptions of how the				It was done only in Chennai city.
important adults in their lives judge them.
The extent to which children believe they				The sample size was small.
have the characteristics valued by the
important adults and peers in their lives				The self esteem questionnaires was given to
figures greatly in the development of Self				the street children and school children
– esteem. For example, in families and				separately.
communities that value athletic ability
highly, Children who excel in athletics are				Implications of the study
likely to have a high level of Self –
esteem, Whereas children who are less				One of the first steps in encouraging healthy
athletic or who are criticized as being				self - esteem in children is to : establish
physically inept or clumsy are likely to				good 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 and				mutually loving and caring , honest and
cultural groups vary in the criteria on which				supportive create an atmosphere for healthy
self – esteem in based.				human growth and great self - esteem.

Children with self- esteem				Emotionally, children are easily threatened
				by anyone bigger, older or more confident
Keeping self – esteem alive is				than they are not yet possessing the well -
necessary to every human being. It is the				developed defended adults usually have,
daily food of emotional health. Mother Teresa				children’s sense of self is still
said that “each of us has a mission to				Fragile vulnerable and easily knocked down.
fulfill, a mission to live, but that it must				for example, children often don’t
begin in our homes …. In the place				understand the significant difference
where we are, with the people with when we				chronological 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 a				more time than they for learning skills,
positive self – image are all important				physical growth, greater muscle control, more
influences on a child’s healthy				practice 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 a				in eyepiece but not necessarily in
child’s self –image could				intelligence.
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 to				unimportant and un wanted misfits. threat
be a positive force in a loving relationship				brings on feelings of insecurity
and thereby make a worthwhile contribution to				embarrassment ; failure and fear abounds
the world.				inside them . So threat is too be avoided.

Many parents are unwittingly aiding their				What 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 parental				emotions.
approval.for his or her own sense or
personhoodfor his or her sense of proven				Provides outlets for strong feelings.allow
abilityfor his or her sense of				time for strong feelings to cool off.connect
individualityfor set realistic achievement				yourself with their strong emotions.help
goalsto provide a framework of meaningful				relieve stress with some thing physical.show
values				that you can accept even the
				undesirable.encourage children to talk to
Typical sources of low self- esteem in				other adults.help children by telling them
children				stories.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 we				Be an example of self - value, self - love
fail to give it we unconsciously build low				and 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 and				respected for his / her own self.
appreciation by parents and others as an
intrinsically valuable and important				Make your child responsible for his/ her
individual, can mar his self esteem. Phrases				actions 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 own				Give sincere praise and appreciation for
age whom he admires for their strength and				every good experience.
ability , their popularity, self
–confidence and achievements. To make				Let your child find him self through your
matters worse, his parents, family and				guidance. Don’t make him a robot or
friends compare him unfavourite brother or				rubber 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 take				not compete with others who may be more
responsibility for his ability as he grows in				beautiful smarter or wealthier . these are
age and experience. The child is not taught				False 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 a				consistent 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 his				praise for good behavior and don’t
actions. For example, Mohan, whose mother				destroy the value of praise by withholding
had a severe migraine, is a “ bad				praise 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 natural				them how to give tem selves self - support
exuberance and lack of awareness that caused				self - 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 unreasonable				by treating them respect fully , taking their
standard, often raising them before the child				views 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 to				keep in mind that self - esteem is an
unreasonable, harsh criticism and undue and				important part of every child’s
or inconsistent punishment. Such actions				development.
cause early frustration, defeatism, and a

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