I want to run away. Ive just turned 17

[Curly]

Ever since I was little I've been wanting to run away. My mother told me a story that when I was 3 years old I packed my Barbie suitcase with cookies and my jacket. I left the house and went all the way down the road not afraid of anything just me and my stuffed bunny. They later got me because it was night out. My father use to be a heavy drinker. Whenever he was drunk he would beat me and insult me. Out of my other 2 siblings, he would beat me the most and he tells me almost on a daily on how I'm a failure. He is now sober but now just threatns me saying how when I'm asleep he will beat me so hard I won't wake up. My mother is aware of all this but she does nothing. Once he was going to hit her and I was like 6 and I pushed him away from her and I lost a tooth. I do my best to behave I take AP classes I am going to enlist into the military once I turn 18. Having my own parents call me a failure and threatening me brings me down. I have no family that lives near so I can't live with them. I honestly want to run away or live with a friend. Can I do that? Without my parents permission? As a 17 year old living in Texas.

[ccsmod5]

re: I want to run away. Ive just turned 17

Hey there,

Thanks for being able to reach out to us here at the National Runaway Safeline, it seems like you have been through quite a bit in your life and we’re glad that you are reaching out to us to see what your options are. We want to start off by letting you know that no one ever deserves to be treated in this manner and we are here to support you and talk to you, 24/7.

We are sorry that you are experiencing this type of abuse, if at any point you feel unsafe in your home, please remember that you are always allowed to call 911. If you are interested in filing an abuse report, we can potentially help you with this. There are a few ways you can go about filing an abuse report:


• Contacting your local police department. If you are being abused, you can contact your local police department and an officer can come out to your home and a case worker can potentially be called to the home and file an abuse report with you.
• Contacting the Child Help USA hotline at 1-800-422-4453, there are counselors available there 24/7 who will be willing to talk to you about the abuse and would be able to give you more information about filing a report and what that looks like.
• A school counselor/social worker or teacher are typically mandated reporters, which means that if you disclose any abuse to them, they would be mandated to file an abuse report.
• If you were to give us a call at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) we would also be able to file an abuse report with you. Typically we would contact your counties Child Services agency and walk through that process with you.

No one ever deserves to be treated the way you have been, we’re sorry you have to experience this. Always remember that you matter and we are here to help you in the best way we can.


There are some things you might want to consider if you ever decide to run away, we have listed some questions for you below to help you brainstorm:

• What else can I do to improve my home situation before I leave?
• What would make me stay at home?
• How will I survive?
• Is running away safe?
• Who can I count on to help me?
• Have I given this enough thought?
• What are my other options?
• If I end up in trouble, who will I call?
• When I return home, what will happen?

Unfortunately, we are not legal experts here which means we would not be able to accurately tell you what would happen if you were to run away or if you can, but we can speak generally about it. In most states, you are still considered a minor, which means that your parents are able to file a runaway report and if you are found, you would typically be forced to go home. Running away is not necessarily illegal, but it is a status offense, which means that you are not allowed to do it because you are a minor. Another legal aspect you might want to keep in mind is that if a runaway report is filed and you are found staying with another family, the family you are staying with can get into some legal trouble. Most states have a law called “harboring a runaway” and the charges for that can vary from fines to jail time. As I mentioned, we are not legal experts, but this is what we generally know about most states. The best way you can find out is by either reaching out to your local police department or reaching out to a legal aid which we have provided you with below:

LEGAL SERVICES OF NORTH TEXAS
Phone number: 214-744-5277; 888-529-5277
9:00am-12:00pm Monday to Friday

If you would like to speak more about your options or if you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-RUNAWAY. We are available 24/7 and are here to help you in the best way we can. We also have a live chat session, every day from 4:30 PM to 11:30 PM CST. We wish you the best of luck in whatever it is you decide to do.

Stay strong,

NRS