Okaz newspaper Rarely does one stop at a traffic light and not see children begging in the streets. I don't know how these kids manage to live and who takes care of them. You see them day and night roaming the streets and wandering near shops asking for help and sometimes begging passersby to give them money. When you look at their faces, you see nothing but innocence. They are victims. “Who sent them to the street to beg?” I always ask myself. Curious, I decided to ask a 7-year-old child who hailed from an Arab country how he ended up begging in the streets. “My father makes me beg people for money,” he said. “Why?” I asked. “So that he would let us live under his roof. If we don't give him SR50 a day, he won't let us stay with him.” When I asked him what his father does, he said he stays at home with the boy's mother and sends his kids out to earn him money. Child beggars are literally being deprived of an education and rights other children have. I pondered over their future. Where will they end up with no education under their belt? I've seen them day and night and at times in cold and hot weather. They roam the streets. Some people, out of pity, give them money while others yell at and shun them away. They look miserable with their unkempt hair and dirty clothes. Their future is unknown. What should we expect from them in the future? Will the schools take them in and show them the path to success? Will the country suffer the consequences of their evil deeds in the future if they decide to take the wrong path? Finally, who will be held responsible for these children on the Day of Judgment? No doubt, their future is murky and they might pose threats to the country given the fact that their number has been on the increase. __
