In Metro Manila, most are initiated to street life when they work to earn a living without the supervision of a parent or a responsible adult. Others drift away from home because no one is there to look and care for them. Some are influenced by their peers. An increasing number are runaways from difficult situations like bonded labour, prostitution, armed conflicts and natural disasters. We also see children growing up not knowing any other place because their families have made the street both home and a source of living.
Children are the future.
If we persist in neglecting them, we are in fact sowing the seeds of our own destruction. The parable of the lost sheep in the gospel of Matthew was prefaced with strong words about not looking down on these little ones. Like the disciples who were rebuked by the Lord for preventing children from coming to Him, most of us need an attitude change in as far as children are concerned. They are important like all the rest of humanity. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God belonging to them.