Street children
Many street-based children have been in juvenile court or prison due to theft or vagrancy. Some street children report the police—not hunger or loneliness—as their greatest fear. In Brazil, between 1988 and 1990, a recorded 4,611 street children were murdered by police. High numbers of street children murders by police have also been reported in Guatemala and Colombia. Hostility and violence towards street children may originate from their indigenous background, indicated by their darker skin, or from their insubordination to authority figures. Street children are commonly viewed as threats to society, as thieves and criminals. Under child labor laws, even legal work is illegal, and street children are thus often legal targets for police harassment and incarceration, even if they are not selling drugs, stealing, or engaging in other illegal activities. Children have worked on the streets of Latin America for centuries, yet it is only recently that the prevailing public perception of them has been negative. People group street children with criminals and school drop-outs, as mentally unstable and emotionally underdeveloped individuals incapable of contributing to society.