The Effects Of Parental Neglect And Drug Use Among Street Youth In Pondamali Slum, Nakuru

Abstract

ABSTRACT A street child is a child aged below 18 years who lives or works on the streets without adult supervision. There are different categories of street children, this project focuses on the poor who work on the streets by day and return to their families at night, they are likely to attend school and are not delinquent. The research project investigated the effects of parental neglect and drug use among street youth with a case study of the street children in Pondamali slum, Nakuru. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of parental neglect and drug use to the wellbeing of youth in Pondamali slum in Nakuru town. The study was guided by three objectives; to identify why parents living in Pondamali slum in Nakuru town neglect and allow their children to lead a street life, to examine the effects of alcohol and drug use to the wellbeing of street children in Pondamali slum in Nakuru town and to access the best strategies to ensure street children in Pondamali slum in Nakuru town lead a normal childhood. The study was conducted in Pondamali slum in Rhonda ward in Nakuru West Constituency of Nakuru County. The research applied the Maslow’s Hierarchy if needs theory and the structural functionalism theory. A descriptive research design was used in the study. The researcher used convenience sampling method due to the scattered distribution of the population. A total of 16 respondents were used in the study, 11 males and 5 females, 2 rehabilitation centers and four social workers in the rehabilitation centers. The study instrument used was questionnaires which was validated through the lecturer’s approval as the research expert. The collected quantitative data was analyzed using frequency tables, pie charts and bar graphs. Qualitative data was presented using reports. Children together with their parents live in informal settlement, this reflects low income with 81% of the parents having casual jobs. People living in streets face various challenges, most parents are unable to provide for their families forcing children to find their way to the streets to fend for themselves. Use of alcohol among parents, according to the research 69% of parents engage in alcohol use. Parent fights give an unsafe environment for children according to the research 44% of parents fight. Staying on the streets exposes children to use of drugs with friends being the greatest influencers being friends at 71%. According to the research 56% of the children have engaged in the use of drugs and alcohol. According to the research no parent notices the changes of children change in behavior when they start using drugs. Rehabilitation centers are the main agencies helping to reduce the anomaly in Pondamali. The research has givenrecommendationsforeachstakeholder.