Street Kids: The Tragedy of Canada's Runaways

Tony Barclay is a retired juvenile corrections probation officer and a
former public-health research associate at the University of Toronto.

This book was written as a follow-up to a successful CBC documentary on
the subject. It is based on a series of interviews with young people who
are or were living on the streets of Canada. To this basic material, its
author has added her own extensive research.

The book’s strength is that it presents a picture of the life of
young street people as they see it. The interview material is authentic
and shocking. Readers cannot help but feel pity and shame that such
lives are lived in our great cities. The accompanying pictures add to
the words’ stark reality.

But Webber’s analysis of the problem seems less successful. In her
view, the traditional agencies have failed completely. This is certainly
the stance taken by the young people interviewed. Webber feels that the
existence of so many who have not been helped is, in itself, a
condemnation of what has been attempted. Few would disagree that the
present facilities for helping the homeless, particularly when they have
drug problems, are inadequate.

Certainly the views expressed are supported by many other observers and
some committees that have looked into this problem over the last few
years. (The book’s bibliography is extensive and impressive and would
make a useful reference for anyone interested in the problem of street
youth.)

In summary this is a serious, disturbing, and useful attempt to open up
one of the most distressing problems of life in Canada today. The book
raises many of the basic dilemmas we face in trying to help street
youth.