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Essay / Street children in our world
Street children use various coping strategies to deal with the problems they face on the streets. They rely on the efforts of a combination of activities to survive. They draw on their different forms of resources (negotiation skills, work and social networks) to earn a living on the streets. Their survival skills and various coping strategies strengthen them to survive on the streets (Samuel, 2014, p170). Street children use legal and illegal means to deal with street problems. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get Samuel's original essay (2014), find out that street children's survival strategies are difficult. The basic needs of life that may be essential for an individual to achieve self-sufficiency include, but are not limited to, food, water, shelter, and clothing. Children face daily challenges in finding work, food, clothing and a safe place to sleep and for this they use several strategies to cope with the difficulties of life on the streets. Street children often have several alternative means of earning income. For many children, it is difficult to find work and they are vulnerable to many dangers such as abuse and exploitation. Kombarakaran (2003) notes that many employers overcharge street children, pay them less, keep part of their earnings and mistreat them. Often, self-employment, such as selling goods or washing car windows, is the preferred strategy for generating income, because the working time and strategy are decided by the child. Respondents indicated that most street children beg for food as a coping strategy. . Many of them ate leftovers at open restaurants and went without food by fasting and skipping meals. In food-related facts, it becomes evident that street children may use both an approach strategy and an avoidance coping mechanism simultaneously. A survey conducted in Addis Ababa found that out of 50 children, 22 (44%) use begging as a coping strategy, usually in hotels and restaurants. This means that most street children survive through begging (Samuel, 2014). Another important strategy indicated was the situation of pleading helplessness or inventing a story of being orphaned or abandoned by one's family. This strategy is often learned by listening to other children's experiences with the police. According to a study conducted in Addis Ababa, street children use buying second-hand fabric as the most common way to obtain fabric, with the second most common source of fabric being friendly people and garbage collection (Adugna, 2006). This study highlights the fact that some of these street children engage in indecent activities such as stealing to obtain clothes. Respondents indicated that most street children often spend their nights in video stores, abandoned buildings and cars. Although the majority of children do not have sufficient shelter, they are able to organize their own construction of shelters next to modern buildings, public parks and against church walls (Adugna, 2006, p92). Another study in Adama found that a street child who earns money mainly through shoeshine rents a house in a group (Girmay, 2007). Respondents indicated that most street children,,, 2005).