JINHA

WAN –Around half of all children working in the streets in Van experience violence, 60% of this violence from police, according to a new study by the municipal government.

The majority of children working in the streets selling cigarettes, carrying loads and begging in the city, who are generally boys, say they are there because of economic problems in their families, says the study, conducted by the Association of Psychological Counselors at the city government.

25% of the children said there were times they spent the night in the street and 50% said they had used drugs. Of those, 64% said they either smoked cigarettes or used drugs every day.

Most of the 243 children surveyedwere between the ages of 14 and 17, but many are between the ages of 11 and 13. Around half of them said they had started working between the ages of eight and ten.

25% of them said they would not continue school.

The municipal government also asked what kinds of municipal projects they would like to see. The children said they would like to see sports areas, handicrafts courses, social activities, bilingual education and projects on drug addiction.

(gk/fk/cm)