- published: 21 Feb 2012
- views: 12555
Street children is a term for children experiencing homelessness who live on the streets of a city, town or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids and street youth; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers use UNICEF’s concept of boys and girls, aged under eighteen years, for whom "the street" (including unoccupied dwellings and wasteland) has become home and/or their source of livelihood, and who are inadequately protected or supervised.
Female street children are sometimes called gamines, a term that is also used for Colombian street children of either gender.
Some street children, notably in more developed nations, are part of a subcategory called thrownaway children who are children that have been forced to leave home. Thrownaway children are more likely to come from single-parent homes. Street children are often subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or, in extreme cases, murder by "clean-up squads" that have been hired by local businesses or police. In Western societies, such children are sometimes treated as homeless children rather than criminals or beggars.
The Sheep is a character, created by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll. It appeared in Dodgson's book, Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
The Sheep is first mentioned in the fifth chapter of Through the Looking-Glass, "Wool and Water". The White Queen is talking to Alice, when she suddenly starts "baa-ing" and then seems to 'wrap herself in wool'. Alice figures out she is in a shop, and that The White Queen has turned into a sheep. The Sheep sits in her chair knitting as Alice looks around the shop. She gives Alice a pair of her knitting needles, and asks her if she can row. As Alice begins to answer, she realizes that they are in a little boat, and that the needles have turned into oars. As they glide along the water, the Sheep repeatedly shouts out "Feather", which means to lift the oar blades out of the water, turn them to a horizontal plane and swing them toward the bow so they don't get 'caught' in the water. The sheep then tells Alice that they will be catching 'crabs' (which is rowing terminology for getting one's blades stuck in the water if one fails to feather properly). Alice's attention is then put onto some scented rushes growing in the water. She tries picking them, but they are only 'dream rushes' and melt away. She then "catches a crab" and they are all suddenly in the shop again. Alice buys an egg from the Sheep (that ends up turning into Humpty Dumpty) and the two part ways.
They must have had the whole thing planned
There must have been a hundred
If we make a stand
I think we'll be outnumbered
If I'd had the chance
Then I could understand
Why I'm a juvenile delinquent
In an East End gang
And if you think you've seen gasoline burning in my eyes
Don't be alarmed, tell yourself it's good to be, it's good to be alive
It's just another street kid on your tail
Running on the wrong side of the rails
With my boot lace tie and my hand-me-downs
You know I run the toughest bunch this side of town
Those street kids making news just being around
I've been bottled and been brained
Squealers can't be trusted
If we fight tonight
You can bet we'll all be busted
I'd like to break away
From the rut I'm in
But beggars can't be choosers
And I was born to sin
Let's hear it for the street kids