Poverty and Child Development: The Dilemma of Children in Want”

In as much as children can successfully grow and develop into responsible and productive citizens able to fend for themselves and others regardless of where they come from, more often than not the economic status of their parents commands a greater say on where they go and how they will develop. In this regard, generally those children coming from well-off families have better chances to develop properly in areas of nutrition, health and education, subsequently having much more opportunities to choose what they want to be in their lives. The case is different unfortunately for the child who grows in want, deficiency and poverty.

A scene at a squatter camp.

With the scourge of poverty scorching through the continent, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, an alarmingly high number of children never get to enjoy a complete package of the rights they are entitled to. Due to poverty child mortality is very high as well as illiteracy. Malnutrition puts the lives of millions of children at the cliff-edge of mortality. For those who survive the scourge, life is never a pleasant experience. Whilst children born in poverty have the potential to develop into the kind of people they dream to be, the legacy of their parents’ poverty become a burden to them and a stumbling block to progress. At this stage the scene is not at all pleasing, but worse still it does not end there, but a multiplier effect is instituted bearing a string of burdens and challenges. When parents are unable to meet the needs of a child, neglect and other vices are certainly poised to affect the child, destroying security, protection and hope on the part of the child. For most children one alternative remains; to find ways to sustain themselves. The problem becomes even more pronounced given the ailing social security systems that are supposed to cater for the children’s development needs should they be sound and fully operational.

What ensures here is an ugly battle for survival and the children will do anything necessary and possible to survive, in the process turning a blind eye to the consequences of their ways, such as acquiring the HIV virus through prostitution. Many children opt for being in the streets engaging in begging and vending whilst some have made them their permanent homes, and the “homes” are not safe at all. In the streets children have become subjects of rape and sexual exploitation, bullying from their peers, harassment from local authorities, and are severely exposed to diseases and malnutrition arising from hunger, the unhealthy living environment and harsh weather conditions. Although never a justification of crime, criminal activity will certainly be done by most as an alternative for survival. Such is the dilemma of children who are prematurely ushered into the world of adulthood by the poverty at home, to stand on their own and seek survival.

With the desperate need for survival coming hard on the heels as a push factor, they unwillingly become more frequent offenders thereby running the risk of turning into hardcore-criminals, implying failed child-development.  Juvenile crime then becomes a mere indicator of loopholes in the way our children are raised, and because of the poverty of their parents that initiated this entire chain of events, they find themselves behind bars. Such is the sad reality on the ground. For this reason, a much higher number of juvenile offenders is seen in areas where poverty levels are high.

Even for many children in this vice who attempt survival strategies such as child labour, without necessarily heading for criminal activity, fate takes them there. In the process child labour interferes with the child’s education and thereby future possibilities in the labour market. Unfortunately, the consequences of child labour to the defenseless and helpless child are more than physical. In addition to injuries, poor health, and chronic illnesses, child labourers develop high level of stress culminating into anti-social behaviour. Low self-esteem and confidence affect their chances of success and subsequently in adult life. It is a complex matrix of psychological disturbances leading to the many problems of moral decadence and crime reaching its peak in their adult lives. This is how many children end up in crime and subsequently in prison.

It is never by choice that they find themselves as criminals at young age, but unfortunate fate passed down to them by the poverty of their parents and the resultant inability to cater for their proper development into what they ought to become. It is a battle for life and survival with a bitter ending-children behind bars. The reason: a search for survival!