One simple reason is addiction to drugs.

Street children feel that using drugs will solve their problems which obviously is not the case. At the most, drugs take away their hunger pangs in the street-life and also it takes them away from the harsh reality for a short period of time. Then, bang! back to the same situation that they left behind before getting intoxicated.

 Drug abuse by street children of Nepal includes alcohol, cough medicine, heroin, marijuana, and dendrite. Dendrite(industrial glue) and marijuana are the most used amongst those.

 In the context of Nepal, marijuana is still used in rural areas of the country to mostly treat digestion issues in farm animals, but recreational marijuana is illegal. Meanwhile, dendrite is easily available in stores. Something the street children can easily buy and at a cheap price. The way dendrite works and why it is preferred by street children is because it affects a part of their brain and makes them forget physical pain and hunger.

Patience and acceptance of how these children are and their situation would play a key role in their transformation, followed by showing them an example of a life led with meaning and purpose. A life from which they can get inspired and start seeing their own value, what their potential is and where they can be. It would not be an easy task to change somebody’s perspective but could be definitely rewarding at the end.