Home life...

[Guest]

My home life hasn't been well...
Up until four years ago, I had lived with my mother. My step-dad, who under legal rights, was not allowed to punish me physically. However, it was done, and in my eyes, it was enough to be abuse. I figured the best idea would be to move in with my dad.
After moving in with my dad, things felt better.. only for the time being. My dad and step-mom point out every flaw in me. I used to cut, so I could ignore them. But I made a vow to stop cutting, and now it's becoming too much.
My parents have called me a "fa****" because I am bisexual, and they call me a failure because of my grades.. I told my parents it was too much but they kept going on. Along with the pressure they give me for not being good enough, I know that my dad is having an affair on my step-mom. It has crossed the line.
At the moment I feel like walking out the door and not coming back, and leaving an envelope for my step-mom of emails my dad has sent and received.
My plan is to do this tomorrow...
What should I do?

[ccsmod8]

Re: Home life...

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us at the National Runaway Switchboard at this time. We are a 24 hour crisis line for runaways and at risk youth. We wish to help in some way and we are glad you shared your story with us. It sounds like you are in a tough spot right now. You certainly do not deserve this sort of treatment from anyone, especially the people you entrust with your safety and protection.

We certainly empathize with your situation and wish for you to call us for support and resources if you find the time. We can be reached 24 hours a day at 1800RUNAWAY. We are confidential and anonymous. We empathize with not feeling stable since you are not use going from parent to parent. You do not deserve what your stepdad did to you. It sounds like you were able to think through what was the best scenario for yourself to avoid the life you had with mom, hoping things will work itself for the better with dad.

Regardless of legal rights, abuse is something that is considered in many states to be an unwelcome act committed by any family member. Every state has their own approach to investigating these matters at home. We imagine this was not an easy thing to go through. Have you ever thought about reporting this to the proper authorities? We do not define or investigate abuse but we take seriously the implication that someone has committed such acts against an innocent child. There is the time to take into account when it comes to sourcing out the urgency of danger but we do not avoid our responsibility as mandated reporters either.

However, we do not force procedures on our callers and do not tell them what to do. We are here to provide support and resources to help deal with your situation at home or a help create a safe plan for if you decided to leave home. We see you have tried various ways to cope with the stress and have realized that certain methods work but have strived to find other others to cope. We can also locate local resources for you if you are looking for other means to work out your feelings also.

There seem to an important issue that's pending for you and you are torn with what to do. Are you ready to make that decision? What are your expectations for what will happen if you were to tell your stepmom about what you know? What are your expectations for when you tell it to her? We are here to talk about all this with you. These are all major milestones in your life. We hope to hear from you soon. We bid you good luck. Stay strong.

-NRS