Teenage Runaways

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Teenage Runaways "How does it feel, to be on your own, with no direction home, like a rolling stone?" -Bob Dylan Lois Stavsky quotes, "It can't feel good. Especially when you're only a teenager, barely past the years where life should be a comforting cocoon, and just before the age when you are ready to take on the world." (Stavsky xiii) In most states, a runaway is a young person under 18 who leaves home or a place of residence without permission of parent or legal guardian (Connors 18). All different kinds of children run away; there is no one "type." Runaways can be younger, but the average age is around 15 or 16, which is 47%. Most of these are girls, 57% (18). These kids come from all kinds of life backgrounds. What causes a teenager to runaway? There are many reasons for this question. Broken homes, broken bodies, and broken spirits have driven many of these kids to the streets. Some kids leave home because they feel that they have to. Some feel that they have no choice but to run away. Many leave home because of family problems. Some examples are divorce or separation, new marriage, new baby, death, financial problems, or even as little as minor disputes at home. Another reason for teenage runaway is peer pressure, such as sex, drugs, and friends. Many teens are even kicked out of their own homes by parents and/or legal guardians. Teenagers leave home in order to get away from child abuse, also. There are three main types of child abuse, physically, sexually, and emotionally ("Runaways and Throwaways, general"). Child abuse also includes neglect, molestation, and even non-accidental injury. Sometimes this can get so severe that the risk of running blindly into the unknown seems less threatening... ... middle of paper ... ...n be better than living out on the street, homeless, with no where to go at night. Be thankful for what you have right now. There are hundreds of teens the same age as you who don't have a warm bed to sleep in, who don't get a full meal a day, or even get to wash and bathe properly. So, the next time that you think that running away would be the "answer", then think again, this time about this question: "Is it really the answer, or just another easy fix?" Sources Connors, Patricia. Runaways: Coping at Home and On The Street 1989: 18-24 Madison, Arnold. Runaway Teens 1997: 29-38 Stavsky, Lois and Mozeson, I.E. The Place I Call Home: Faces and Voices of Runaway Teens 1990: 1-21; 166 "Runaways and Throwaways, General" Microsoft Corporation, 1997-2000 *http://parentingteens.mining.com/parenting/parentingteens/library/weekly/aa 040798.html*

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