If I get kicked out..?

[Unregistered]

So, I've been dealing with a lot of problems lately. I'm more of a "rebellious" child you could say, and I've been skipping a lot of my classes. Why I skip is because I don't get to go out at all, I got out about twice a year, and that's just to go to target. I have talked about this with my parent, but no changes about going out have been made, and it's been like this since I was little. All the absences end up showing on my report cart, and he's going to find out I skipped classes. There comes the physical abuse problem, which I'm quite frightned of...Anyways, another problem is that I ended up having sex with my boyfriend of 8 months. My dad has previously told me that if he finds out I had sex, he will kick me out of the house. I have skipped with my boyfriend many times (he hasn't ever pressured me into doing anything, I gave full consent..well as much as a 15 year old could) and once he finds out I skipped, he will ask who it was with. He'll end up putting 2 and 2 together, and I might get kicked out. My friend has said that I could stay over her place...but I just don't know what to do. What will happen to her parents? If I got kicked out instead of ran away, is there a difference in harboring the minor?

[ccsmod11]

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to us. It sounds like there’s been a lot going on in your life and you’re concerned about what might happen. You mentioned skipping classes because you don’t feel you get a lot of freedom, concern about physical abuse, getting kicked out and what might happen to whomever you stay with. We’re not legal experts, but we will do our best to give you information to help you decide how to handle your situation.

It sounds like you’ve been feeling really locked up and skipping classes as a result. We are sorry to hear that you haven’t been able to get through to your parents about your concerns, and that now you have an added concern about being physically abused. It’s not ok for anyone to physically harm you. If you feel that you are unsafe at home, you can always reach out to your local child protective services. If you do not feel comfortable reaching out to child protective services, you can also tell a trusted adult at school. Most adults at school are called mandated reporters and they would have the ability to report any instances of abuse that you tell them. If you would like to call them yourself, we can provide you that contact information, and help you make the call if you’d like us to.

You also mentioned concerns that you would get kicked out if your dad finds out about your being sexually active. We can’t speak to how consent might play into your situation with your boyfriend, but from what we understand regarding getting kicked out, there is a difference between getting kicked out and running away. If you want to stay at home, you can reach out to your local police department and let them know that you have been locked out. There are several states that have laws preventing or penalizing a parent for locking out a minor child. If you decide to leave home, your father will have the right to file a runaway report, and the police would then have the ability to look for you and return you home. You would have to speak with your local police department via their non-emergency number to find out how harboring a minor (or harboring a runaway) might affect someone who is offering you shelter, and how that would differ if you were locked out.

We hope that with everything that’s going on, you have been able to keep yourself safe. If you would like contact information for child protective services, your local police department, or even if you’d like to call just to talk to someone, we are available by phone 24/7 at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786.2929) and by chat every day from 4:30pm-11:30pm CST. Remember that we are here to support you in whatever you decide to do.

Best of luck,
NRS