Giving children back their childhoods

Walking on the streets of Shanghai, one inevitably comes across beggars. Often, they appear as a group of innocent children followed by expressionless adults who may or may not be the children's parents. In many cases, the adults have chosen a career in begging over an actual job. It is a sordid existence for a child, and goes against the widespread and self-evident belief that every child is entitled to the right to start life with a healthy foundation.

Fortunately, things seem to be changing, as shown by an announcement from the local authorities this year, stating that the city's street children will be sent back home to their parents or taken in by orphanages.

As reported by local media, the present system to rescue street children provides them with constant forms of aid, like accommodation, food and clothing, until they are sent back to their relatives. Nevertheless, this year the aim is to prevent relapses of children being sent off to beg by their parents.

In my view, there are two aspects that should be emphasized in the process of rescuing juvenile street beggars and enabling them to lead normal lives.

One is to recognize that this endeavor is a means of also "rescuing" the parents, who have evidently lost a proper perspective on how to provide healthy lives for their children. Reports circulated last September of a certain father-son team of beggars, while media also revealed the presence of "beggar villages" in China's interior - places in which parents allowed their children to accompany other adults from the villages to large cities for professional mendicancy.

Hence, the issue of child begging is serious and multi-layered. To address the problem effectively, we need to educate these adults on how to think more rationally and with greater consideration as to their children's lives. They also should be equipped with skills that can help them acquire gainful employment.

The other significant factor in reducing the amount of street youths is to give more attention to left-behind children in undeveloped areas.

According to statistics from local authorities, some 2,965 street children from all over the country were rescued in Shanghai last year, many of whom were runaways. The widening economic gap between cities and the countryside has caused a mass influx of villagers into the nation's cities, with many children being left behind in their hometowns. Without supervision or guidance from their parents, they begin to feel lost and stop paying attention to their studies.

To cope with this problem, I think that villages should create a more structured environment for those left-behind children, perhaps with some financial contributions from the nearby cities. More activities should be organized by schools and communities to create opportunities for better communication both among children and between children and parents, in order to help kids maintain a positive spiritual state.

Only by conscientiously handling these two aspects mentioned above will the city be able to accomplish its goal effectively. The objective is not to simply get children off the streets, but rather to provide them with a platform for health and happiness that children all across the world deserve.