Abstract
This study aimed to find out and compare the self – esteem of school children and street children. For the purpose of this comparative study a sample of 100 children inclusive of 50 school going children of both gender having family background and 50 street children of both the gender who left their family were selected though stratified sampling method. The index of self-esteem by Walter W. Hudson was found to be the most suitable tool to measure the self-esteem levels. This study concluded that the self-esteem of school children is lower than the self-esteem of street children. Street children were having high self-esteem. There is no gender difference in the Self-esteem of street children. The self-esteem of the street boys is higher than that of school boys. The self-esteem of the street girls is higher than that of school girls. The self-esteem of school girls is higher than that of school boys.
Keywords: Self-esteem, School children, Street children.
