Why teenager run away from home

Teenagers are more likely to run away from home than an adolescent child. Many people think about running away just to leave there problems behind in turn they create new and more complicated problems. As a teen I ran away for a day it was not a long period of time before I ended up back at home. But since my parents were divorced I ended up moving from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to live with my mother. From there my life seemed to go downhill because my mother did not care what I did. To this day, I still dislike my stepmother for saying the hateful things she said to me for me to leave the house. Since I left her house I have not spoken with my father for nine long years. A lot has happened in those years that he knows nothing about.

One choice can change the rest of your life for better or worse but you make it what it is. Become the proactive parent your teen needs you to be so you are able to support them and encourage them to great and prosperous things in their lifetime. There are many reasons why a teenager may run away they include but not limited to; death of a family member, problems at school or problems at home. Words of advice become your teenager’s friend along with being their parent.

When a family member dies it starts a chain of events in a teenager’s life. The teenager is not likely to talk about it unless they can confide in someone. That someone should be their parent or parents. That family member could be a parent, sibling, or a grandparent anyone that the teen had been close to for a portion of their life. If the teenager doesn’t have that contact with someone they may resort to running away. After a teen runs away their life starts a tail spin they have to do many different things to maintain their basic necessities. It starts out small with stealing then it leads to drinking alcohol and the use of drugs to joining a gang and most devastating and detrimental to them is having sex for money. Once you start having sex for money it becomes very hard to break the cycle. You get set in a routine since you know how much you can make and how often you can have the repeat customers. The drug use will continue and get worse the longer you keep having sex for money. You will feel the need to do drugs before you can handle having sex with a stranger.

One of the bigger reasons why teens run away is problems at school. Those problems may deal with their companion, peer pressure to failing a class. Teens deal with stress in everyday life just like an adult would have to deal with it. At school teens try to fit in to a certain groups or a click so they feel they are part of something. A football player is an example of a teen fitting into a group. If the teen does not make the group they may resort to running away. Peer pressure is where a group of people convinces you to do something that you may or may not feel like doing. A teenager may also run away from home for getting a bad grade on their report card for even on just one test that they didn’t study for. Running away is a better option than suicide. Some teen resort to killing themselves over a name that someone called them at school before running away even comes to mind.

The most popular reason why teens run away from home is due to problems at home. I have rarely agreed with a rule my mother has ever set for me to follow. “If you don’t make good grades you’re grounded no phone and no computer.” My parents’ divorced when I was a young child and would argue over who would have me and when the other parent would get to see me. Nobody ever asked me how I felt or what my thoughts on the situation were. I think every teen in the world has told their parents “NO” at some point in their life. Teens don’t like rules they feel that they should be able to do what they want. Teens may also run away from home due to their parents having financial problems. The teen may think if I was not here maybe the problem would go away and their parents would be able to pay the bills.

The birth of a new baby into the family could also be seen as a stressor. If the teen has been the only child and use to getting all the attention they may act out if a new baby was welcomed into the family. Abuse or violence whether it is physical, mental or even emotional going on inside a home will lead to your teenager running away. The teen may feel that the parent or parents act that way because of something the teen has done or may have said to start the argument. Anger is the strongest emotion to manage because it is so strong. When I get really upset and mad I have to walk away from everything and have some me time to rethink about what happened and how it happened to address the problem in a different way after both sides have cooled down.

There are ways for your teen to deal with their emotions before they resort to running away from home. They should be able to use words expressing their emotions and feelings instead of violence. If playing outside, listening to music or simply taking a nap clams you’re teen after they get upset encourage them to do those things. After everyone has had a chance to calm down address the problem by talking about it not arguing about it. In order to keep your teen at home and talking to you about their problems you should be a proactive parent. Spend time with your teen and show them that you are listening regularly to their fears and concerns.

Take what they have to say seriously. Be a nonjudgmental parent. As a parent confront trouble signs directly, firmly and calmly. Discuss your concerns and consequences of continued bad behavior. If you have more concerns talk with a professional either a social worker or a therapist. There is also a phone number you can give your teen if you feel that they still want to run away from home along with a website they can visit to talk about their problems before they resort to running away from home. The phone number for the National Runaway switch board is 1-800-RUNAWAY. http://www.1800runaway.org/ is the website you can also give them so they can get more information before they make the ultimate decision to run away.