Can i legally stay at my friends house and go on independent study for a week or two?

[Unregistered]

My parents and I have been having issues for a couple weeks now (their divorced) and my mom took my phone away a week and a half ago. They expect me to do all of these impossible things and their literally over reacting about every little thing i do. on top of that i just moved and im trying to focus on school and both of my parents are nagging on me to join swim again and get a job and all this stuff even though ive told them all i can handle is school right now. so my friend suggested i talk to me counselor about going on independent study for a couple weeks and she can pick m up after school tomorrow and i can stay with her until im ok to go home. i wanted to know what would happen if i were to do that? she is home schooled and she is a great friend ive had since we were very little and i know very well and trust with everything. my parents are triggering multiple anxiety attacks a day with me and its getting super hard for me to concentrate at school. i need an answer asap please!! i cant take this anymore

[ccsmod15]

Can i legally stay at my friends house and go on independent study for a week or two?

Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out to us here at NRS. It sounds like you have a lot going on. Moving to a new place can be very frustrating and cause a lot of stress on everybody involved, especially if there is already a decent amount of stress in a situation. It might sound trivial but trying to talk to your parents and telling them how you are really feeling about everything might be an option if you are comfortable with that. Sometimes people don’t know that what they are saying/doing is hurtful or frustrating until it is brought to their attention. If this is not the case there is the option of staying at your friends like you had suggested. There could be a couple of issues with that all depending on how the situation is handled and whether or not your parents are okay with it. If you go to your friends without your parents knowing and they then file a runaway report this would give the police permission to go out looking for you and when you are found they would take you back to your legal guardians, assuming in this case your parents. If your parents felt so inclined, they could press harboring a runaway charges against anybody who you were staying with while you were away without their permission. These charges vary state to state and sometimes might not even be an option. What they are is simply charges against somebody who is helping shelter a runaway without that child’s parent’s permission or knowledge. To get more information on those it is best to reach out to your local police department, they would know best and we are not legal experts so anything we say may vary. Another option to reach out to would be the Child Help USA, they are an information only hotline but should be able to give some information on your situation.
It definitely sounds like you have a lot going on and that can be very frustrating and stressful. It is great that you have friends and a counselor who are there and wanting to help, having a good support system during stressful times is a very important thing. If you ever need anything, want to talk, or get some resources please feel free to reach out to us here at NRS. We are always more than happy to help you in any way that we can through our toll free 24hr hotline or on our online live chat.
Best of luck,
NRS