Runaways Typically Blame Family Problems

By Jessica Stollings

Family News in Focus, March 29, 2006

The National Runaway Switchboard received over 102,000 calls last year, 45 percent involving youth. Their motives for leaving varied, but Mareen Blaha, Director of the switchboard, says family issues, by far, top the list.

“It there’s a situation going on in the family like a divorce, or sometimes re-marriage kids are feeling like, ‘where do I fit anymore? Where is my place in this new family?”

Or, it could be a deeper issue like abuse or death and, more often than not, it’s a culmination of events that influence kids to run. Blaha urges us to keep one thing in mind.

“Kids that run away from home are not bad kids but they are kids running from bad situations.”

Deborah Brady is with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“I really think that kids run away from home because they don’t know how to cope with being at home. They don’t know how to fix their problems.”

And, mistakenly, they think nothing bad can happen to them. But once they see dangers lurking around the corners, the game takes on a new level; one where they have to pay to play.

“Most children are back within three days, returning of their own accord, or being found on the streets by their parents or police and they’re returned home.”

She recommends open communication and respect in the home, starting at an early age. If you, or someone you know, needs more information on a runaway, you can contact the crisis hotline number at 1-800-RUNAWAY, or visit the website at www.1800RUNAWAY.org.

Taken from the Family News in Focus web site, a Focus on the Family web site. Copyright © 2006, Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used with permission.