Personal and Familial Properties of Street Children—Street Children: The Forgotten or Not Remembered Ones

Abstract

With this research it is aimed to determine the personal traits of Street Children depending on them and also the socio-economic variables of Street Children resulting from their families. For this main aim in the research process, it is provided to have communication directly with the parents of Street Children using one-to-one and face-to-face interview method in the family environment of Street Children. In the research, after a long process of determining the addresses of Street Children, it is interacted with the families of Street Children who are told to have been worked / begged between 2012-2013 in Central County and towns of Erzincan province. “Street Children Research Interview Form”, which is used in the interaction period of the families, is developed by the researcher with a multi-dimensional approach. In order to develop the structured interview form a broad scope literature investigation that contains the properties of Street Children is done; the sociologic variables, legal and executive regulations that contain the properties of Street Children are emphasized. In addition, interviews are done with both the families who show poverty and disadvantageous conditions sociologically and families who bear the same properties as the families of Street Children for due diligence. In order to determine the content validity of the form the evaluations of academicians in sociology, legal and education sciences are applied. The interview form is designed in qualitative model. For the analysis of the form qualitatively the investigations of statistics and educational measurement and evaluation experts are applied. For the determination of structure validity and reliability of the form, a pre implementation is carried out through the participation of 12 Street Children families. After the analysis made on the data that is obtained with the results of the pre implementation, it is provided to re-design the interview form, and after it is passed to the implementation phase. According to the findings of the research, the families of Street Children substantially come to Erzincan with migration and concentrate on side neighborhoods which form the environment of the city and on specific districts. Street Children are mostly in the age of secondary school population. The case of Street Children, which evolve with withdrawal from school, continuous absenteeism and with their multiplier effect, start in primary school and reaches climax in secondary school, but no Street Children is encountered in high schools. The results of research indicate that the Street Children could not benefit from the facilities of main and compulsory education and show the insufficient schooling ratio. It is determined with the research that the access of Street Children to compulsory education is not provided adequately, their education needs are not met, and they live “limit opportunity inequality” in socio-economic respect. The results showed that migration is one of the most important reasons of Street Children problem. The parents of Street Children lack the opportunities of employment depending on education. The families of Street Children reside in the outskirts of the city in both social environment opportunities and socio-economic properties manner; represent the bottom strata. The families do not have continuous social insurance. Towards the results of the research it is proposed that the managers of public education administration must be first level responsible for “achieving the goal of full time schoolings” and accountable and auditable implementations must be developed.