While problems such as poverty and substance abuse
can be among the factors that drive kids to run away, an
abusive home environment appears to be the most common
motive. Children who grow up in a home where they
are subjected to physical violence, sexual abuse, verbal harassment,
or emotional manipulation often crave escape.
Such experiences are the impetus for a teen to run away,
sometimes from situations that are so dire that the dangers
of the streets are not recognized by the teen who simply
wants out. Author Peter Slavin writes,