Growing up too soon: the case of street children and child labor in the Fifth District of Manila.

Abstract

Countless children born to poor parents are forced to bear the burden of providing financial assistance for their families. Their physical, psychological, and emotional growth are all stunted. Children drop out of school, fall victim to peer pressure, neglect their health, and in some cases, even abandon their own families to escape abuse at home. To provide for their families’ basic needs is the top answer when asked for the main reason behind their decision to work. In order to fulfill this duty, children are compelled to face harsh working conditions compromising their health and safety, fore go their education, bravely face the dangers looming on the streets, among others. It is wrong however to place all the blame on the parents. Street children and their families are often just victims of circumstance. Should one trace the root cause of all these, all roads would lead to poverty and the government's failure to address this problem. These children are robbed of their childhood, forced to think and act as adults, who in the first place are supposed to protect and provide for them.