Can I run away and still go to school?

I really wanna runaway because my mom and dad hit and scream in my face. And i have nowhere too go please help

[ccsmod4]

Hi,
Thanks for reaching out to the National Runaway Safeline.

It sounds like you are in a tough situation and may be looking for some options to help cope with everything that has been going on. It seems like the relationship with your mother has been strained due to past and current issues.

If you were to leave home without permission from your mother she might decide to call the police and make a runaway report. If found by the police you most likely would be returned home. Also anyone found to have aided or harbor you could face legal charges.

The situation sounds very frustrating for you. We’re glad you reached out. It is also important that you remember to exercise self- care.
It is times like these that it might be a nice comfort to have a listening ear.
NRS is here to listen and here to help.
We would be glad to speak with you about strategies or options that might help you to cope better with your situation.
We want you to know that we are here as support to help you through this challenging time. Sometimes having a space to vent and explore options may often bring out a solution previously not thought of.

We can best help by phone or chat as NRS is unable to respond more than twice by email or bulletin for assistance. If you would like to talk more about your situation and we can help specifically, please call or chat soon.

Our contact information is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929); www.1800runaway.org (click on the chat button).

You did a wonderful job reaching out today. Good for you.
We look forward to hearing from you.


Take care,
NRS

Can I run away from my home and go to a friends house and stay there? I don't want to stay at home but I will miss my sisters so what do I do, I don't have a phone because I got it taken up, things are pretty hard for me right now and my mom doesn't understand me at all and we were close but things are so bad between us right now and she wont let me talk to her or anything. I have been wanting to run away for a long time now, but I don't want to miss out on my little sisters lives, I'm not able to hang out with friends or anyone right now because i got in trouble. Please help me, I don't know what to do anymore, I'm 14 years old I live in Texas.

[ccsmod15]

Hi there,

Thank you for writing to us here at National Runaway Safeline (NRS). We understand it takes great courage to reach out, and we appreciate you sharing a little bit about what’s going on. We want you to know that we are here as support to help you through this challenging time. We can best help by phone or chat as NRS is unable to respond more than twice by email or bulletin for assistance. If you would like to talk more in detail and share more about how we can help specifically, please call or chat soon. Our contact information is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929); www.1800runaway.org (click on the chat button).Another option would be to reach out to your caseworker to see how they can help. Or you can call us and we can reach out to them if you'd like. It's totally up to you. We are here 24/7 and are confidential.

By law, you do have a right to schooling and an education, even if you were to somehow find yourself homeless. However, usually a school will want to have guardian or home information for you, so running away and still going to school is at the least bit somewhat complicated. If you chat or call us we can talk more about the situation.

If you are at risk of any danger or feeling unsafe, we encourage you to reach out to 911 or seek emergency assistance immediately. We hope to hear from you soon!

Be safe,
NRS

I'm in foster care, and I don't wanna be here I want to run away but I'm a honor student and I wanna still go to school.

[ccsmod13]

Hi there,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us here at NRS and we appreciate you sharing a bit about your situation. Reaching out for help was a great first step to getting the support you may need. Having a solid plan for leaving is definitely important to make sure you can stay as safe as possible.

Generally, you do need a guardian to enroll in school, but there can be exceptions to this. You do have a right to an education even if you are not living at home or if you are experiencing homelessness. Your right to an education is protected through a law called the McKinney-Vento Act. You can go to the website for the National Center for Homeless Education (www.nche.ed.gov) to find the McKinney-Vento Liason for your school district. This person would be able to give you more information about enrolling in school without a guardian and any issues you may run into.

We hope this information helps! We truly want to be a support for you during this challenging time. If you want to talk more about your situation and brainstorm some possible options, we are here 24/7 to listen and help as much as possible. You can contact us directly by phone at 1-800-786-2929 or through live chat at 1800runaway.org.

Good luck and stay safe,
NRS

I doubt anybody is going to reply to this but i’ve been stuck on this for a while. I’ve been planning on running away for a while now, one of my best mates offered for me to stay with them in a different city once i actually run away, i was wondering if i was able to enrol in a school there without a guardian applying? I’m still pretty young and i don’t want to lose my chances at a proper education. The people i’ll be staying with are a lot better than my actual guardians and i was wondering if it’s possible to transfer schools without my guardians consent.
I know you guys won’t have the actual answers, but even just a link to some information would be extremely helpful. Anything is helpful at this point.

[ccsmod3]

Hi there and thanks for reaching out on our forum! It sounds like you are seriously considering running away due to a number of things including not feeling like your parents like you. We can only imagine how that feels, especially with so many states still following "shelter in place." We would be happy to explore your options with you and can also provide some information about attending school as an unaccompanied minor (which can include runaways.) There is something called The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act can help youth who fall under a federal definition of homelessness which in some cases includes youth who have run away and are now living without a parent/guardian. More information can be found here: https://nche.ed.gov/mckinney-vento/ and they also have a section on COVID-19.

To continue a discussion with us, please visit our Live Chat link so we can talk one-on-one here: https://na0messaging.icarol.com/Cons...d=254&cc=en-US. Best of luck!

-NRS

Hi I want to run away but I still want ti do sone sort of online schooling any thing I can do.

I have been thinking of running away because I have messed up really dab quite a few times and my parents do not like me at all. They send me outside AII the time and say that they can not deal with me. So I want to run away to help my family and me but I want to do it without them knowing and I want to still go to school but I can not go to physical school because its closed but I have looked at free online school and I think it might work. I want to know that I can do school because I want to get a job when I am 18 so please help.

[ccsmod8]

Hello there –

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to reach out to us here at the National Runaway Safeline. We are always here to listen and here to help in any way that we can. It can be very frustrating not knowing what to do or what your next step might be from this point on.

It sounds like you might some specific questions that you want to ask us or maybe find a place to vent about what you are feeling right now. It’s hard to talk to just anyone one about what has been going on. Now we do offer a service that is basically a Conference Call where the parent/guardian, the youth, and us would be on the phone talking about what has been going on. This way there can be a mediator in between keeping things calm and productive. If you’d feel more comfortable with doing that, just know that it’s always available. It might be a great way to talk about what you are going through and where this feelings might be coming from or to maybe build on your relationship and make it better. So maybe that might be an option for you and your parents. Something constructive so that it certainly opens the lines of communication, but that services is completely up to you.

We hope to hear from you soon!

Hi, i want to run away from home because I made this really big mistake and i packed for everythigng and wrote them a letter. what should i do, i do not have enough money saved up to run away and I cannot get a job because i am only fifteen.

[ccsmod3]

Hi there,

Thank you for writing to us here at National Runaway Safeline (NRS). We understand it takes great courage to reach out, and we appreciate you sharing a little bit about what’s going on. It seems there is a lot that you are faced with right now and you’re feeling like leaving is one of your only options. It seems you want to know some information on runaway laws.
While we are not experts on the law, 18 is generally the age that an individual may leave home without parent permission. If you are under 18 and leave home, your parent/guardian may file you as a runaway and you may be returned home. Also, those you stay with may run the risk of being charged with harboring a runaway. For more specifics on the law, the local non-emergency police or legal aid may better answer legal questions.

You also mentioned some things that raise concern for your safety and well-being. If any harm or abuse is happening at home, you have the right to report it. We are not experts on the issue, but generally once it's been reported, social services will either decide whether or not to take the case and further investigate. If they do take the case, they will send out someone from child protective services to do an investigation (interviewing people in the household) and from there they will decide the level of danger within the household. It generally ranges from no danger (the youth stays in the home, some services are given, and the case is closed), moderate danger (they will provide family services with possible temporary displacement) and high danger (they will remove the youth from the home and offer certain services).

If you feel like this is an option you want to explore, you may find this website helpful: https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse/. We can also help you to file a report if that’s the route you are considering.
We are here as support to help through this challenging time. We can best help by phone or chat as NRS is unable to respond more than twice by email to assist you. If you would like to talk more in detail please call or chat soon. Our contact information is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929); www.1800runaway.org (click on the chat button).
If you are at risk of any danger or feeling unsafe, we encourage you to reach out to 911 or seek emergency assistance immediately.
Be safe,
NRS

Hi my name is Josseline and i'm planning to run away with my friend but before we do we are going to save up money for food pads and stuff like that we have a 26 year old friend who could help us the reason we are running away is because are moms don't like us and they abuse us also they have done things you wouldent even imagen i don't live with my dad but i have a step dad the are always fighting and my mom only cares about my siblings shes always treating me wrong she never lets me do nothing she treats me like a slave and i cant handle her doing that any more im so unhappy all i want is to be able to live in peace i wish my mo was nice to me because all she cares about is her self shes physically perfect and it makes me sad because she always brings me down she always hits me and says that im a hoe and stufflike that just because i wanna go out and have fun i understand that im kinda young but i deserve to be happy and she wont let me what can i do ?

[ccsmod15]

Hey there, thanks for reaching out to NRS.
It seems like home has been complicated and changing for a while now and it’s understandable to feel confused and isolated like that. Every youth deserves a chance at a happy childhood and support from their parents.
If you were to run away there are things in place to make sure you can still go to school. There is a law called the McKinney-Vento act that guarantees a youth’s right to get an education despite their home circumstances. So even if you were at a shelter somewhere you can get transportation to a school close by. If you have questions about that you could talk to a school counselor about your options, or call us to get a reference for your local homeless outreach officer. However your parents can also choose to file a runaway report if you left. This would mean police would have your information and if they find you would bring you home.
Hopefully this information has helped clear things up a bit. If you have other questions, or just wanted to talk you can reach out to our hotline at 1-800-RUNAWAY or use our online chat option.