Page Topic: Runaway

Troubled Teens Help - Runaway...

This is the most sought upon subject out there. So many troubled teens today see running away as a way to escape their everyday lives and family situations. However what they don't realize is the harm they are running into. No matter how bad family life may be at home there is always a way to remedy the current situation teens are in by an outside intervention. Running is not the answer. Here are a few statistics of teens that runaway from home and also a few survival stories of teens that have ran and wished they didn't. Take a look and if your teen is a runaway or thinking about it please call us and let us intervene with a boardingschool or military academy to get them headed in the right direction.

The facts tell an impersonal tale: approximately 1.5 million U.S. troubled teens run away or are sent away from home yearly, 68% are between the ages of 15-17, 35% had run away before. Behind the statistics lie stories waiting to be told of lives changed by the runaway experience.

On the Other Side of the Streets I am writing this because I know how lucky I am to have gotten out on the other side... I hope that somehow.. some day I can help just one kid who may think leaving home is a good idea. I was 15 when I left home. There were many reasons that I am sure most teens go through, but when I had an experience with date rape and told my mother who said it was my fault" what did I expect" I decided to bolt. I figured I could take care of myself better than anyone so I left. The problem is once you get out on the street you realize that it isn't that easy. You cant get a job because you cant give your name, you cant eat without stealing or hooking. You become a shell of a human, you go from worrying about the guy in 5th period thinking your a dork to worrying if you are going to get raped or worse. I slept where ever I could find a place to flop. I spent many a night behind a local grocery store and would get up really early in the morning before the delivery trucks would come. I would raid the dumpster to get the day old bread or the bruised fruit to eat. I would use local fast food places to wash up in ( as best as you can anyway). I hooked up with a small time drug dealer and began to work for him delivering drugs. I was sexually assaulted by a customer. I remember thinking how can I get out of this without going home and admitting defeat. The turning point was the day I got arrested for shoplifting at the grocery store I was sleeping behind. When the police arrived they asked me if I would like to spend the night in jail. I just looked up at him in utter defeat and said it would be better than where I slepted last night. I spent a few days in Juvi, which is no picnic either... if you think the streets are bad... do a sleep over in Juvi! A few days later I met with my "case worker" he was very nice. I was placed in a foster home and my parents were contacted. After some negotiation I was allowed to go and live with relatives. I completed high school and went on to college. I am now married and a mother of two beautiful girls. I would die if either of them went to the streets. My mother and I haven't spoken in several years. That is ok with me, I was later told that she has what the shrinks call a narcissistic personality disorder. Basically it means that it is impossible for her to worry or feel anything for anyone other than herself. I could have told them that! My point is I know that life is hard at home at times but there has to be SOMEONE you can tell,,, a friends parent that you trust! The street cares less about you than the parent(s) that you are leaving.If you are being abused tell someone... anyone! I beg anyone who even thinks about it to really think! The streets are hard and once you are out there NO ONE will care if you live or die. I thank God every day that I made it through because now I love life.

My mother got cancer when I was 14, so my parents (mother and stepfather) sent me to live with my aunt and uncle in Wyoming. I hated every day I was there, but somehow I made it through an entire year and returned to live with my parents the next year. I suppose part of me never forgave my parents for sending me away. When I returned home, my mother was still bedridden in recovery from her cancer and her doctor advised her that my stepfather should take over the "parenting role." Since my mother wasn't around to see anything I did, it gave my stepfather complete control over my life. My stepfather would lie to my mother about me and my mother would believe him (And why not? Wouldn't you believe your spouse?). One time, I spoke to my mother and explained that he was lying to her and she said something I'll never forget: "I won't believe that this man lied!" (Motioning to my stepfather). That's when I knew that I had to get out. The next time my stepfather made up a story about me (the next day), I yelled back at him and he told me that if I didn't like the rules, I could get out. I DIDN'T like the rules so I left. I was 15 at the time. I went to live with a friend and his parents for the first few months. I got a job at a burger joint down the street and I worked as many hours as I could. A couple of months after I left, I went drinking with some buddies and ended up being arrested and charged with a minor in possession of alcohol, so I had to go to court. Of course, a notice was sent to my parent's home, so my father showed up in court. He spoke to the judge and made up more lies about me (he actually lied on the witness stand) and, to make a long story short, I was sentenced to 30 days in juvenile detention. Before me, the most anyone in my county had ever gotten for a minor in possession of alcohol was 7 days in juvy. I felt it was unfair to have to serve 30 days, but what really upset me was that there was another guy in juvy that had 20 days.FOR RAPE OF A CHILD. I learned a hard lesson in juvy: life is not fair. When I accepted that, things started to get better in my life. When my time in juvy was up, my stepfather refused to pick me up, so I ended up as a ward of the state. I was put in a foster home pretty close to some of my friend's houses so I got to hang out with them and be a normal kid again. The lady that I lived with just took the $500 that she got from the government every month, gave me half of it, and said "you're on your own!" We slept in the same house, but that was about it. I got another job and went back to school. I graduated from H.S. on time and since I was a ward of the state, I got free tuition to go to college. At college, I majored in the hardest thing that I could find: Chemical Engineering. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. At 21, I graduated with a 3.95 GPA and had plenty of great job offers making a lot of money, but I turned them down and took the MCAT to go to medical school. I am now in my 2nd semester of medical school and am loving life. I am with the woman of my dreams and I have a bright future. I never speak to my parents anymore and that's fine with me. All they ever did was doubt me and hold me back. I'd like to talk to my mother (who made a full recovery from her cancer), but then I'd run the risk of having to see my stepfather again. That's enough to keep me away. Running away was the best thing that I ever did. If I hadn't done it, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Advice: There is one piece of advice that I give away every chance that I get. Through everything that happens, stay in school. Education is what got me out of the mess that I was in. Kids these days (I still consider myself a kid, I guess) often choose to do badly in school to fight back at their parents. There is NOTHING that could ever shackle you more to them than giving up on education.

There is help out there so please don't wait until its to late. We have staff standing by waiting to assist your teen in their time of need and no one is alone. Please call us at (866) 698-3362 or (866) MY-TEEN2 we are awaiting your phone call.