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The Experience of Childhood in Brazil

In 2000 Brazil was the 'sixth largest country in the world after China, India, USA, Indonesia and the Russian Federation' (Advermag, 2009). Brazil has an approximate population of 185 million and is predominately young: '62% of Brazilians is under 29 years of age.' Brazil's high population rate and remains on being one the largest country in the world can make one question the state of the economy, education, health, crime and the lives lead by Brazil's children. What is the description of the average Childhood Brazil's children experience? This report will evaluate the main aspects and issues Brazilian children face and look at possible causes and effects of the various factors. Childhoods is socially constructed and therefore have various expectations depending on time, culture, religion and legislation. However, every childhood has universal factors as every child depending on their age have the same human needs and restrictions, and every childhood is constructed to meet the basic requirements of children needs. UNICEF (2006) estimated that 42 percent of Brazilian children live in poverty and up to 8 million children live on the streets of Brazil. Poor children are vulnerable in every sense, their health, safety and education is compromised. Street children are vulnerable to; exploitation, substance abuse, child labour, bad health and dangerous circumstances. The causes of child poverty in Brazil and across all nations are complex. Numerous researchers have provided various theories about this international issue; however one popular theory is globalisation. Globalisation creates wealth and poverty and is claimed to be an essential cause of a dire economy in poorer countries. Most countries that have adopted globalisation have adopted the western world's way of life. Competition, financial markets; changes in the international trade, investment patterns and telecommunications are essential factors of the economy in most countries. In addition globalization changes methods of crime. 'Global forces are not acultural or supracultural. They are, rather historical artefacts that derive from Western domination; they reflect Western values of rationality, competition and progress, in which context there is an implicit assumption that with modernization, local traditional institutions and structure will be replaced by Western systems and patterns. L.M. Whiteford and L. Manderson (2000:3)

Industrialisation affected Brazil's children. Families move to industrialised areas in hopes of gaining a frequently paid job and receiving more opportunities for their families. 'This increase to industrialization resulted in 30 million adults and children leaving the countryside between 1960 and 1980, and rushing into the cities (Jubilee 1998). The millions of families migrating to industrialised cities resulted in overcrowding creating slum villages around Brazil's cities. Just like the western world lower income families struggle to survive with this way of life, however in poorer countries lower income families experience more depraved lives as poorer countries cannot afford a substantial population living off the state. Therefore, many families in Brazil have low income levels and no means of money for general living. Consequently families have no means to be stable parent for their children (if parents survive) leaving children without families and a home. UNICEF (2006) estimated that one in eight children live on the street in poor conditions. This is a worrying high figure and leads one to question the lifestyles of these children's lives. What do their daily lives consist of, what is the state of their health, education and welfare?

What schemes are in place in order to aid the lives of Brazil's children and essentially provide a better life for them? Globalization is an essential cause of poor quality of lives for children in poor countries; however globalization may be the only way to improve the quality of life for poor children. Much of the aid industry is predicated on the belief that change and development is possible in poor countries. Donors- multilateral organizations, bilateral organizations, international non government organizations- believe that it is possible to make life better for poor children. For them especially big international donors like the World Bank, globalization may have had its hiccups, but it is necessary and inevitable; indeed, it offers the only route to a better future. H. Penn (2005).

The various problems children in Brazil face are claimed to be caused by the area of residents. It is argued that issues such as health, safety, child exploitation, child labour and exposure of harmful substances are problems that most Brazilian children face when living in a city in Brazil. Numerous research conducted supports this theory. Child mortality is significantly lower in rural areas of Brazil (Sastry 1997). Theory's of south Brazil compared to Northern Brazil claims immense differences between the two. The Northern area of Brazil appears poorer compared to Southern Brazil due to rates of death, health problems and education. The different rates of various key issues for Brazilians demonstrate this theory. For an example the rate of child mortality differs significantly. 153 deaths occurred amount the 1,435 births in the Northeast region and 1,651 births and 75 deaths occurred in the South/ Southeast region. (Sastry, 1996) The North-eastern region is where the most poverty is and the south/south-eastern region is more rural. Neglected children in Brazil are an urban issue which has its roots in rural poverty (Jubilee, 1988) Brazil's division between North and South may be due to ethnicity. The Northern region of Brazil has a higher population of mixed and Afro Brazilians compared to the Southern region high population of white Germans, Italians and Poles descendants. Perhaps the colour of Brazilian's skin provides the opportunities for their lives. The Northeast has the greatest proportion of people of African descent, the South and Southeast are home to the bulk of Brazilians of European and Japanese ancestry, while indigenous peoples live largely in the North and Central-West. Still, regional migration and extensive miscegenation (racial inter-breeding) has made Brazil one of the most racially diverse nations on earth (Advameg, 2009).

The child mortality rate is an unfortunate feature of childhood in Brazil. The child mortality rate for children under the age of five is 61 per 1,000 births. (Jubilee 1988). The main causes of infant death are malnutrition, diarrhoea and respiratory disease (Jubilee 1988). These causes demonstrate the straightforward fixable diseases Brazilian children face but can still result in death. UNICEF claims that over 50 percent of Brazilian children suffer from some form of malnutrition. This could be due to reasons such as; access to health care, fresh fruits and vegetables, exposure to harmful substances.

The alarming rate of malnutrition should demand reforms in policies and procedure the government creates to decrease this rate of malnutrition, as this rate can cause future problems to the state health systems and economy. Brazil's future population is not only a worrying issue as Newsweek reported that over 150,000 Brazilians infant died before their first birthday (Jubilee 1988). UNICEF also claims that 320,000 children under the age of five die every year from unnecessary causes. Survival of Brazil's population seems uncertain to many Brazilians. Many children in Brazil are born into poor families and due to very low household incomes many families are unable to care for their children adequately or just provide the basics human requirements. Due to the lack of proper care many Brazilians have died due to dehydration. (Maldenado, 1996) The children of Brazil are also vulnerable to drugs and alcohol abuse. Harmful substances are more exposed specifically to children who live on Brazil's streets. Many children use glue, paint sprits, marijuana, tobacco and alcohol. In Sao Paulo a survey among street children showed that 45 percent of children between the ages of six to seventeen were classified as heavy drug users (Dimenstein, 1991). In addition to substance abuse, AIDs have been another health issue for the Brazilian street children due to drug users sharing needles. In 1996, there were 79,000 AIDs cases reported (Jubilee 1998), and it is estimated that over 15,000 children in Brazil carry the virus. Child labour and child prostitution or trafficking are distressing exploitations that many children from Brazil face. It is estimated that 6 million children aged 5-15 are involved in child labour such as domestic work and many of these children are vulnerable to abuse and violence. Unemployment is one of the biggest problems facing the country The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). In the Brazilian Sex trafficking 80% are estimated to be female with 50% being children. Sex trafficking is estimated to have annual proceeds of $7 billion. (www.womensenews.org)

Crime is an essential issue for children in Brazil. Figure one (in the appendix) illustrate the shocking figures of murders committed by youths in Brazil. Many youths in Brazil have committed murder, consequently this rate results in Brazil having the highest youth murders compared to the other 74 countries listed. This figure demonstrates the serious issue of crime for Brazil's children. In August 2007 Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva announced a plan costing over $3bn (1.5bn) to tackle the high levels of crime in the country's cities. Although there have been many proposals and programs for addressing the problems of Brazilian street youth, it would appear that only minimal headway has been achieved. (Eisenstein, 1993, 1994; Kirsch, 1995). At the most general level, programs appear to be of four types: 1) The correctional approach 2) The rehabilitative perspective 3) Outreach strategies 4) The preventive outlook These intervention strategies aim to improve the quality of lives the children in Brazil live. The correctional approach targets Brazilian children involved in crime by sentencing children to correctional institutions in hopes of creating fear for Brazilian children to not commit a crime as consequence are harsh. However, this approach has been highly criticised due to the inhumane treatment Brazilian children received at these correctional institutions. Conditions in these facilities have been described as both crowded and abusive (Lusk, 1989). Due to this substitutions of correctional institutions have been recreated for child offenders or abandon youths and provide alternative community based treatments for convicted children. This method has been praised as Brazilian children avoid imprisonment sentences and receive a more personal, caring and educating approach of justice. This common sentence of justice prevents child offenders believing that they will go to prison to receive shelter and frequent food for the crime they committed.

Local government are responsible for providing state and educational programs following the guidelines of the Federal Government. The 1988 Brazilian Constitution states that 'education' is a right for all and is provided in three sections. The first educational level) is free for everyone and is compulsory for children between the ages of 6-14. Secondary education is also free, but it is not compulsory. Higher education (including graduate degrees) is free at public universities. Brazil's education opportunities provides education without expenses (if attending a public education establishment) which is distinguished compared to other countries that have fixed fees. Statistics from surveys and admin demonstrate that females attend their local schools compared to male Brazilian children although Education is compulsory for all Brazilian children up to the age of 14. Figure two (in appendix) illustrate this as the ratio of females enrolling into Secondary school is 83 percent compared to 75 percent of males secondary school enrolment. Male Brazilian children may be relied on as the provider for their families, so they are less likely to attend schools and prefer using this time to earn an income. Brazilian children from poor families and street children are more likely to not attend their local schools as raising money for their household income in a higher priority to them. This is a worrying issue for Brazil's future as a population of illiterate generations can work against building a better economy. Children who gain an education are likely to be more economically active than if they had no education H. Penn (2005). Illiteracy is not only a problem for children in Brazil but for many adults as well. This makes it difficult to teach children to read without the help of the government (Lam & Daryea, 1999). To combat this problem, the former President Cordoso began a program to get children back in school. For each child a parent sends back to school, the government will give the family twenty-five reals (twenty-two dollars and thirty cents) a month. Brazil's street children face multiple obstacles before they could receive the education they are entitled to. This program can help to eliminate the large number of children working on the streets and give children the opportunity to have a more successful future.

There proves great difficulties and restrictions on gaining information on children in a country other than the country of your residents. Gaining accurate and formative knowledge of all aspects of childhood Brazil's community create proves immense difficulty due to most of the Brazilian publications on children are published in Portuguese or Spanish. Most of the publication's available in English concentrate specifically on Brazil's deprived children. The quality of lives lead by a high proportion of children in Brazil is deplorable and is the main cause to this issue being highly publicised in the media. However it is important to highlight that the living conditions described in this report do not represent all Brazilian children childhoods, but the harsh reality of the many poor and street children living in Brazil. The experiences and issues Brazil's children face calls for immediate intervention.
The many distressing issues a high proportion of Brazil's children face are highly published and still being attempted to improve. Although some of Brazil's children live in rich or standard means families have a higher quality of life compared to Brazil's poor and street children. Many statistics, reports and images are available to the world in the English language to promote awareness and request for any means of aid. Brazil's street and poor children is clearly not a problem that the state can solve by itself, additional national support seems to be a better solution to provide a better quality of life for the children. Charities and organisations have help aid some of the lives of Brazil's street children but it is also clear that higher scales of aid and intervention is also required to create long term solutions.

More recently, media highlights have encouraged the general public to donate to the children of Brazil such as charities like 'children in need'. Media highlights results in further donation whist the popular celebrities becomes a role model to the children of Brazil, teaching them to be positive to their communities and never give up on their dreams. The ranks of the celebs-turned activists have a new member in pop star Shakira. According to a Reuters report, the singer will address a summit in El Salvador of Ibero-American leaders, including the presidents of Brazil and her native Colombia, over the need to feed and educate poor children, especially amid a global economic slowdown. (www.djocean.wordpress.com). The presence of vast numbers of unsupervised and unprotected children is a phenomenon that is common throughout Latin America, and in the street children more visible, and reviled in Brazil to the world. Estimates of their numbers in Brazil have ranged from 7 to 17 million, but more informed assessments suggest that between 7 and 8 million children, ages 5 to 18, live and/or work on the streets of urban Brazil. Accounts of drug abuse among street youths in Brazil are common and rates of child exploitation and labour describes Brazil's children's childhood as an unpleasant experience that needs fast solutions.

References

L.M. Whiteford and L. Manderson (2000:3) Global Health Policy, Local Realities: The Fallacy of the Level Playing Field (Directions in Applied Anthropology: Adaptations & Innovations) Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc,US (31 Mar 2000)

H. Penn (2005). Unequal Childhoods: Children's Lives in Developing Countries (Contesting Early Childhood) Routledge; 1 edition (24 Feb 2005)

Brazilian Sex trafficking : www.womensenews.org/story/prostitution-and-trafficking/050619/brazil-tries-stem-tide-sex-slavery (revisited13.12.2009)

www.djocean.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/shakira-fights-for-children (revisited13.12.2009)

Dimenstein, G (19991) Brazilian war on children 1991. London: Latin America Bureau

Jubilee Campaign (1998). �Brazilian Street Children Briefing Paper. www.jubileecampaign.demon.co.uk/children/bra9.htm (revisited 13.12.2009)

Maldonado, M & Belsey, M (1996) 'Culture Heath and the Media'. World Health Sastry, N (1996). Community Characteristics, individual and household attributes, and child labour survival in Brazil. Demography, 33

Sastry, N (1997). What explains rural-urban differentials in child mortality in Brazil? Social science & medicine 44 no 7

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world (revisited13.12.2009)



www.nationmaster.com/red/pie/cri_mur_com_by_you-crime-murders-committed-by-youths(revisited13.12.2009) LUSK, M.W. (1989). Street children programs in Latin America. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 16:55-77.

Lam, David & Daryea, Suzanne (1999). The puzziling contradictions of child labor, unemployment, and education in Brazil. Journal of Family History, 23no3,

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