Effect of Street Hawking on Moral Upbringing of Under-age Children in Yobe State, Nigeria

Abstract

Street hawking as a form of child labor has become a global issue of concern to countries across the world predominantly Africa. In Nigeria precisely north, street hawking has been on the rise day after day. This study examines the effect of street hawking on the moral upbringing of under age children in Yobe State, Nigeria. The study is anchored on Marxian theory which is a strand of conflict perspective. This study is survey research which utilize both primary and secondary data. The primary data was obtained through the distribution of questionnaires to 113 respondents and 3 FGD groups consisting of 6 respondents per group in the 3 selected LGA’s (Bade, Damaturu and Potiskum) while secondary data was obtained from official records from Ministries, NGO’s, articles and journals. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. The findings of the study reveal that poverty, unemployment, low income, illiteracy, insurgency, family break-up, large family size, divorce, broken homes and children staying with relatives are among the causes of street hawking which affects children moral upbringing. The effects of the street hawking range from bad behaviors, moral laxity, use of vulgar languages, truancy and exposure to sex at early age. Based on these findings the following recommendations were made; government through its agencies and NGO’s should be involve in the fight against underage street hawking, religious and traditional rulers should be involved in sensitizing members of the communities on the effect and dangers of underage street hawking and government should create a welfare scheme to cushion the hardship faced by unemployed parents and family with large size.