<p>The growing presence of children living and working on the streets in Nigerian cities reflects broader patterns of urban inequality, social exclusion, and governance challenges. This study examines how urban residents interpret, respond to, and propose solutions to the phenomenon of street children in three southwestern Nigerian cities—Ibadan, Akure, and Osogbo. Guided by symbolic interactionism, the study adopted an interpretive qualitative design to explore residents’ meaning-making processes and everyday interpretations regarding street children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifty adult residents selected through purposive sampling, and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings indicate that residents largely attribute street involvement to structural conditions such as economic hardship, family instability, migration pressures, and limited access to education. Participants also identified cultural expectations, weak social protection systems, and exposure to substance use as contributing influences. Residents’ narratives reflected a range of socially constructed interpretations, from sympathetic and protective attitudes to stigmatizing and judgmental perceptions, demonstrating how public meanings shape community responses and policy preferences. Many participants supported interventions combining poverty reduction, family support, educational access, rehabilitation services, and community sensitization. The findings suggest that streetism extends beyond an individual child welfare concern and is deeply connected to wider urban conditions, including inequality, governance limitations, and socially negotiated perceptions of vulnerability and disorder. Addressing the phenomenon therefore requires coordinated socioeconomic and community-based interventions that respond to structural vulnerabilities while also engaging the social meanings and public attitudes surrounding street-connected children.</p>