Many of the kids on the streets walk along with bottles of glue in hand or mouth. It s a cheap drug, and I guess it s probably a nice diversion. Since it s so much a part of the street culture, in many ways you can t blame them. Despite the attempt to not give to kids, it is not easy or pleasant to always be telling them no, especially since many do look very dirty, hungry, etc. Still, it seems that by giving the streets do become attractive, so it s much better to give to a ministry that tries to get kids off the streets.
Many parents also send their kids to the streets to bring back money, which is really sad.
Again, it s hard to blame them, they are probably very hard up. Still, the abuse that goes on is disgusting. In addition to the street kids, there are some older beggars. People seem to think that it is OK to give to these people as they are often legitimately needy. This seems particularly plausible if you often see the same people on the walk to work or something.