I need help

[Unregistered]

I am 17 years old living in New York State. I live with my two parents and siblings, I have a sister who's one, another sister who is 13 and a brother who is 20. Honestly I'm not sure how to explain everything but I will try my best. I am the real life Cinderella. I am on summer vacation, when return to school I will be a senior. During this summer, without having school to help me get away has been horrible for me. My daily schedule is to wake up, do my chores and watch my 1 year old sister while my mom does whatever, I watch her everyday of the week, and I babysit on weekends so my parents can go out with their friends, I occasionally get lucky and get to leave the house for a night, while I am gone I am constantly checking my phone to make sure my mom hasn't messaged me paranoid that she may have and I would receive bad treatment for whatever is going wrong with her day. To put things shorter I am daily responsible to my 1 year old sister, by force. I do love her very much but I am too young to feel like a mother. I feel completely trapped. Not only am I faced with the responsibility of being a teenage parent to my sister, not being a provider, but as a caregiver, but I face the same verbal abuse I have had my entire life. I have been called a little **********, I have been cussed at. My point is that I can't take the abuse anymore and I don't know what to do. I'm not a parent and I don't deserve the abuse, I have no idea what to do, somebody please give me and idea or something

[ccsmod7]

Re: I need help

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your story with us. It sounds like you are going through a lot and home has been a difficult and stressful place for you. You mentioned that this summer has been extra hard because you are out of school and don’t ever get a break. It sounds like there is a lot of verbal and emotional abuse going on and it’s also difficult because you have become the primary caretaker for your younger sister. It’s understandable you are fed up with this situation. Have you spoken with anyone about this or ever thought about reporting this with a teacher or even a counselor?

You’re certainly in a tough spot. At 17 in most states you are considered a minor so if you left home your parents may have the right to make a report or have you returned, but the police don’t always make a youth return home if you are close to being 18. Have you thought about what you would like to do when you leave the home? It may be a good idea to think about what you would like to see for yourself. Thinking about jobs or further education and also if you have a safe place to stay and somewhere you could go is certainly going to be important.

Do you feel there is anything that may make living in the home a better situation for you right now? There is always someone here to support you if you would like to talk through this a bit more. Our 24 hour hotline is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929). You can also contact us through our live chat from 4:30p to 11:30p CST. We can help find resources such as counseling services in your area. We even have something called a parent/youth conference call where we can help mediate a conversation between you and your parents and help advocate for your situation. Our services are confidential and anonymous. There is always someone here to listen and here to help. Take care.