solvent-abuse-pakistan

Section three
from where these children have largely migrated
are shown in Table
3.1.2
Table 3.1.2a. Major cities from where
children influx into Lahore & Peshawar
LAHORE
3.1.3 Religion
96.4 % of the children interviewed were
Muslims. Of the remaining 3%, 12 were
Christians and 1 child was reported to be a
Hindu. Two children did not know about their
religion. The figures reported are in accordance
with national data.
3.1.4 Family Information
PESHAWAR
City n City n
Faisalabad 10 Mardan 8
Gujranwala 10 Swat 7
Sheikhupura 3 Charsada 5
Karachi 3 Rawalpindi 4
Sialkot 3 Kohat 4
Seventy two percent (72%) of the
respondents (300) were not currently living with
their families. Of all the homeless children, 9.3%
(28) did not know about their families. Out of the
remaining, only 2% were in daily contact with the
family. Almost one third were meeting the
family at least once a month while a
substantial percentage 43.6% had contact
almost once every six months. 2.3% had lost
complete contact with their families. The
graphical presentation of the responses is
given in Fig 3.1.4a.
43.6
Fig. 3.1. 4a
Fre qu en cy of Fa mily C on tac t
daily
once or tw ice a w eek
once or tw ice a month
more than a monthbut less than 6 months
no contact
2.3
2.2 7.6
Further information regarding
parents, and immediate family members was
obtained. A high proportion of children were
reported to belong to large families. The mean
family size (immediate members) was
reported to be 8.89 ± 2.45, with more than
38% of the children belonging to families
having 10 or more immediate members.
Analysis of the birth order of the children
interviewed revealed that 53.6% were middle
born, 15.2% were elders while the remaining
22
30.4% were the youngest.
Further information regarding the parents
depicted that almost half of the children
reported that their parents were living together.
Approximately one third of the children
belonged to single parent families. Thus either
one of the parents was deceased or otherwise
there was a marital disruption in the form of
divorce or separation. Further details are
provided in Table 3.1.4a.
Table 3.1.4a
Parental Marital status
Marital status n (%)
Currently living together 205 (49.3)
Single parent 132 (31.7)
Both parents died 50 (12.0)
No information 29 (6.9)
FGD's indicated that children complained
about their parent's attitudes as indifferent
towards them. A few statements as per
verbatim are quoted to give a clear perception
of their relations with parents;
“my parents abused each other and in the
end verbally and physically abused me as
well”. According to another child “my father
always demanded good grades in school but
never gave money for stationary and books. If
I was not doing good in my school, I was
forced to work for living”. One of the child
informed, “My father abuse drugs and under its
influence used to beat us”.
Information generated from the FGD's
showed that the upbringing of most of these
children was done in the parenting fashion
”,
called “rejecting-neglecting parenting style
Most of the children further complained of
larger family size and scarcity of resources.
They were of the opinion that their family
expenditures were more than their monthly
earning, and their parents were always
pushing them to contribute to the family
income and share some of the financial
responsibilities. Children also reported their
family as a disrupted unit, in which the parents
were always quarreling with each other and
releasing their aggression and anxieties on
children, infact cursing their existence.
3.1.5 Educational Qualification
Results of the analysis regarding
educational attainment has shown that overall
76% (316) of the total children interviewed
never went to school. The situation was found
to be the worst in Quetta, where 90% of the
children never attended school. The mean
16
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