Why Do So Many Teenagers Run Away From Home?

Too many teenagers run away FROM something, rather TO something. "Many teenage runaways leave home in search of safety and freedom from what they consider abusive treatment, whether physical, sexual, or emotional" (Anon 814). Running away from home is usually a quick decision. It may be a sudden decision. It may have developed in the mind for sometime. All too often, teenagers who run away don't want to return home.

SOME DETAILS.

"Some leave to escape a mother's death or a stepfather's sexual molestation, but many teens feel they are running away from parents who don't want them. Although stereotypes portray an anxious mother and father hovering near the phone for news, the National Network of Runaway and Youth Services says that about 40 percent of this country's homeless young people have parents who actually locked their children out of the house. These children, often called "throwaways," may come from families who just can't deal with adolescents, or don't have the money to support their family" (Goodman 1992 1). Ms. Goodman (1992) also says that drug and alcohol abuse by the teens is a big reason why they leave. "Forty-four percent leave because of other long-term problems such as drug-abusing, alcoholism, or stepfamily crisis" (Goodman 1002 1). In other words, it is not always the parents' fault.