VERA 8 – Reading – 2

„Street children“ are children who have run away from home, or have no home and live on the streets. Most of them are between the ages of 10 and 14 years. There are a number of reasons why children are on the streets – poverty or war are the main ones. Perhaps their families have thrown them out, or they have no family left. The children live in old buildings, in parks, under bridges or in boxes. They are often hungry and have health problems. Few of them go to school, some of them seil things on the streets, some of them beg, and many of them live from crime to survive. There are over 100 million kids who live like this all over the world, most of them in big cities – and not only in poor countries, but also in rich ones such as Germany and the USA.

With about 11 million, India has the most street children and thousands of them die there every year. Most street children in Brazil are killed or die of drugs or illness before they are 18. Some kids organize their own gangs so they are better protected from the dangers on the street. Others, who are small and weak, are taken and sold to work in factories. There are many organizations that try to help these children. One of the main ones is UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. They have special programmes that help the children with food, medicine and a place to stay. (252 words)

Is my child OK? Is Sally still at her friend’s house? Tim always forgets the time! Where is he?

All parents ask questions like these from s time to time. When you have a teenage sonor daughter, it’s normal to worry. But no teenager wants a phone call from parents when he or she is with friends. It’s just embarrassing if you have to explain to mum or dad in front 10 of everyone where you are!

Now you can find your child and be a cool parent with the „Ping“ Mobile Tracking Service. Ping uses your child’s mobile phone. It’s cheap. lt‘ s easy. You don’t need any extra hardware or software. And it works with almost all mobile phones and mobile phone networks in the UK.

How Ping works First, you must register with the Ping service. They will want to know some personal details like your address etc., your mobile telephone number and your child’s mobile phone number. Then you will get a password. Only you can use Ping to find your child – so it’s safe to use.

When you have registered, you can then find your child’s mobile at any time. Of course, your child’s mobile must be switched on. The service can only work if your child agrees and has her or his mobile phone on. (294 words)