Britain’s Street Children
A Lee
tries to block out memories of his childhood. He was one of five children born
to a drug dealing father and heroin addict mother in the Northwest of England.
His father was sent to prison when he was young and his mother turned their
home into a “dosshouse for junkies”
as he puts it. Lee and his brothers and sisters were often beaten: he remembers
being locked in a cellar for days. His elder sister tried to look after the
others, get them dressed, fed and off to school, but was only a child herself.
B When
he was 13, social services finally intervened. Lee wanted to live with his
grandmother, but instead he was placed in foster care. It was then that he
started to run away, sleeping in sheds and cars. When he ran out of clothes he
stole luggage from trains. “I was walking around in clothes that were twice the
size for me,” he laughs. He shoplifted for food, and then quickly moved onto
robbery and burglary to get cash.
C
Sometimes people would find him asleep in the morning. He used to run as
quickly as he could. One homeowner who found him in her shed used to invite him
in for “bacon butty” – though she always called the police. Time after time Lee
was taken back to the foster home, only to run away again. On occasion he stayed on the run for months. He saw gangs of youths
hanging around, but he was never attacked, or propositioned. “I could handle myself. I wasn’t scared of that. I
had a knife. And I was a loner,” he says.
D After
two years, he was arrested for robbery, convicted, and sent to a Secure Unit. Released, he was allowed
to go and live with his grandmother, where his siblings were. It wasn’t long
before he was back in prison though: he found two teenagers breaking into his
grandmother’s shed, and attacked them.
E Now
21, Lee is unemployed and pessimistic about his future. His primary education
was disrupted; he only spent two
weeks at secondary school. He can barely read and write. Lee was one of eight
young people who I met in one middle sized town in northwest England.
bacon butty – krajíc chleba s máslem a šunkou
be propositioned – dostat nabídku
dosshouse – noclehárna
on occasion – občas
Secure Unit – výchovný ústav
to disrupt – přerušit
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1
Lee was a loner
2
Lee started to run away
3 In prison
4
Lee’s family
5
Lee’s life today
2) Read the article and answer the questions.
1
What is the article about?
2
What was Lee’s family like?
3
When and how did social services intervene?
4
What crimes did Lee commit?
5
What is his life today like?
3) Explain the following words.
1
heroin addict
2
junkie
3
to shoplift
4
gang of youths
5
robbery
4) Answer the following questions.
When
and why are children institutionalized? What are typical crimes they commit?
How can they be punished? When do children become criminally responsible?
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