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Threats and runaway attempts

Teenage runaways

It seems that runaway cases in Quebec are on the rise. Often, it’s young people seeking release and autonomy who run away. For the most part, they reappear after a few days, but others vanish into thin air sometimes permanently.  

What is a runaway?

Running away is when a person expresses, by words or behavior, their desire to “flee” the family home. The person takes some belongings and money and leaves home, without saying where they are going. 

There are two types of runaways: 

  • Spontaneous: For a young person, spontaneous running away occurs after a problem, an accident, or an overly intense emotional experience at home. At that point, they will leave on a whim, thinking that running away is the only way out of the “problem”.  
  • Planned: a planned run away is less brutal than spontaneous running away. More often than not, it’s when a young person wants to be more independent, to do things for themselves. It’s an act to meet an unmet need. 

Young people can also run away repeatedly. It’s in such cases that we can speak of threats to run away, because at the slightest annoyance, the youngster can threaten his parents if he doesn’t get what he wants. These recurrent runaways are known as chronic runaways. It can be used as a form of power and manipulation towards his parents. 

Some causes of child/adolescent runaways   

The reasons why a young person runs away from home can be many and varied. Here are a few reasons why a young person might run away from home: 

  • Personal factors: the runaway population often includes young people with mental health problems, substance abuse problems, psychological problems and sometimes sexual orientation problems. 
  • Family-related factors: young people are driven to run away because of problems within the family, such as physical, psychological and sometimes sexual abuse. They may also feel neglected by the family. 
  • Parents’ personal factors: sometimes a young person wants to run away because their parents’ situation (precarious employment, disparities in education levels) does not allow them to flourish in the family home. 
  • Factors associated with the environment: when the runaway is linked to two environments, such as social networks and the circle of friends, and the young person doesn’t fit in. 

There are a number of warning signs of a runaway, including:

  • Accumulation of money and personal belongings hidden in the room
  • The young person will talk to his parents about running away, in anticipation of their reaction
  • Problems at school 
  • Family problems 
  • Alcohol or drug abuse 
  • Sudden change of friends 
  • Isolation 
  • A change in lifestyle 
  • Angry behavior
  • Depression 

Consequences for runaways

When a young person runs away from home, they automatically put themselves in danger, no matter where they are at the time. 

It would seem that the most common risks during a runaway are running out of food and shelter, alcohol abuse, excessive drug use, bad encounters with gangs that can lead to stealing, delinquency and pimping. 

Girls as well as boys can fall into the net of a pimp. But it seems that it’s the girls who are most affected by this trap. Young girls who run away from home are potentially very vulnerable and naive. Due to lack of money or exploitation, they often turn to prostitution. 

“The first 7 months of 2017 represented a record for runaways in Quebec.”

“According to the Missing Children’s Network, 30% of teenage runaways are victims of sexual exploitation.”

Source : Selon les chiffres de Réseau Enfants-Retour 

Sources

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