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FOR ALMOST EVERY person, the teen years can be a difficult
time. School, social and extracurricular activities,
jobs, and responsibilities in the home can make the average
adolescent’s life hectic and overwhelming. For teen
runaways, however, these problems seem insignificant.
Rather than worrying about keeping up their grades in
school or doing their chores at home, teens on the run must
concern themselves daily with finding food and shelter.
Rather than holding down an after-school job, they must
panhandle or steal to make money in order to eat, and if
these methods do not succeed, they often turn to drug dealing
or prostitution.
Every day, teen runaways are concerned for their physical
safety and must develop methods to protect themselves
from violent assaults such as rape. When they do
find themselves wounded or sick, their health care options
are often extremely limited. Since life on the streets involves
hardships that the average teenager never has to
face, why do so many teens choose to run away from
home each year?
There is no easy answer to this question. Teens leave
home for a wide variety of reasons, including trouble in
school, arguments with their family, or problems that arise
due to their sexual orientation. According to Laurie
Schaffner, author of Teenage Runaways: Broken Hearts
and “Bad Attitudes,” runaways “may leave on impulse,
protesting a family quarrel over a rule or an isolated incident.”
1 But the main motivation for running away seems to
Introduction
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be neglect or abuse at home. They decide that their only
chance to survive is to run away, but what many of these
teens learn is that they are no safer on the streets than they
were with their parents or guardians. The dangers they face
are often more harrowing than anything they would face at
home; yet when they weigh their options, many of these
Although a life on
the streets involves
tremendous hardships,
many teen runaways
view leaving home
as their only chance
for survival.
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teens often choose to stick it out on their own—believing
they have at least some control over their lives—rather
than return to an environment where they know they will
be abused.
Many teens begin their lives on the run with the mistaken
assumption that they are embarking on an exciting
adventure. Once they hit the streets, however, they
quickly discover that their lives are neither glamorous nor
thrilling. Though they may meet many new and diverse
individuals who seem to be trustworthy, these people are
Teen runaways rarely
seek the help of care
facilities or counseling
programs. Most
contend with the
difficulties of runaway
life on their own.
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often interested in manipulating them into dealing drugs
or entering into activities such as prostitution, pornography,
or substance abuse. Runaways rarely find the freedom
they seek. More often than not, they find themselves
trapped in dangerous circumstances beyond their control.