Come up with concrete strategy to remove child beggers from the streets

In 1969 Elvis Priestley sang ;In the ghetto', a song written about street children. It was an instant hit. But people didn't listen to the message. They listened to the music. If we don't listen too, we will soon face the music.

There are so many children begging on every traffic light. We have become immune to them. We turn away when we have no change to give, check that our car doors and windows are safely closed, and then drive away without a thought.

These kids always put me in a moral dilemma; to help or not to help. I feel guilty when I don't give them money and guilty when I do because I know that they are being used by their parents to collect money for them.

This is leading to an industry of beggars. Many parents deliberately put their children on street corners and come around regularly to collect whatever money they have collected. I fear that this will become like India where an award-winning film called 'Slumdog millionaire' highlighted how such kids are used to beg.

The more pitiful the kid, the more likely you will give them money. That's why you see very young kids carrying babies - those babies are sympathy props.

'Slumdog millionaire' even showed a kid whose hand was cut off because handicapped children attract more sympathy. How low can mankind fall? Could this happen in Kenya? Absolutely yes.

I was driving and passed a young girl in the street flirting with another street boy. I could see a baby coming along soon. I doubt whether she even understands the implications of having sex at that age.

I am sure a paedophile in a nice car flashing a Sh1,000 note would be irresistible to her and the inevitable would happen. I feel so helpless and depressed when I see these street children whose numbers are increasing on our streets.

Have you ever stopped to think what these kids are thinking about us in our warm cars as they beg in the cold and you turn away, or look busy to avoid looking at them? As they see our kids in our warm cars in their neat uniforms being driven to school. What do they think?

I have been reading a book called, 'The boy who was raised as a dog', written by a child psychiatric. This disturbing book shows how childhood trauma and abuse affects and shapes people to their adulthood.

Netflix has a show called 'I am a Killer' and every single one of these killers admits they were abused or faced trauma as children. What do you think these kids on the streets are facing and what will be the consequences?

What can we do? The number of children begging on street corners is increasing. I have read of some governors who have picked up these children and sent them off to homes, but they soon return.

This is because no action is taken against the parents who put them in the streets to earn money. It is an active, profitable and illegal activity. The children are the innocent victims of their parents, and we should go after the parents. Simply removing the children won't solve the problem.

Society needs to do something about this. There are some things that we must do as a society that we cannot do as individuals. How many street children can I help individually? The more we give them, the more we encourage the trade of keeping children in the streets.

The parents who use these children to beg for them should be arrested, and these kids put into homes and sent to school.

You and I should give such homes as much support as we can. As you enjoy on your Christmas vacation, please reflect on this. Let's do something about it.