Quote Originally Posted by Westenders View Post
It's difficult to ignore the children though, child poverty is a huge issue in Jamaica, and is not as stand out noticeable because of the poverty affecting a lot of Jamaicans.

My own view is that, as I do not not know the real reasons the child is selling stuff to raise money, it may be genuine, it may be to fund a parents drug use, it may be them doing what they need to do to help feed the family.
I nearly always buy off the children, as even if I've only helped one out of ten children that day eat a meal, then I'm happy with that.

I don't view it as begging, they are selling something, even if it is not anything I want- in my view they are demonstrating entrepreneur skills, and is better than committing street crimes, which is very common in other struggling countries, and our own countries too.

In the Uk, children have a safety net provided by the welfare system and social services, Jamaican children are not as fortunate.

Many of you won't agree, but I'm not ignoring children for the sake of a couple dollars.
I couldn't agree more. We always buy candy bars or a few bracelets. It might be a few dollars to me, but it might be a meal to that family. It's hard for me to say no to those beautiful children.