Runaway Youths

Runaways continue to represent a significant social problem. In 1998, approximately 86 percent of the runaways in the United States were between fourteen and seventeen years of age. Calls to the National Runaway Switchboard indicate that 3 percent of calls are from throwaways, 1 percent are from homeless youth, 22 percent are from runners from, 10 percent are from potential runaways, and 61 percent are runners to. Nearly 74 percent of this population is female, a marked difference from the male domination of the earlier waves of runaway behavior and activity (National Runaway Switchboard 1998).

Most runaways are white and from two-parent households. Topping the list of motives for running away is an unpleasant family dynamic (40%), followed by issues with peers and school (15%), and abuse (8%). Almost 35 percent of these kids have run away before, and only 40 percent have crossed state lines (National Runaway Switchboard 1998).

One out of every seven children will run away at some point, and some five thousand of these children will fall victim to assault, illness, or suicide each year (National Runaway Switchboard 1998). For this reason, there have been many attempts, both public and private, to assist these children. The National Runaway Switchboard (NRS), for example, was created in 1971 to give "help and hope to [runaway] youth and their families by providing non-judgmental, confidential crisis intervention and local and national referrals through a 24-hour hotline" (National Runaway Switchboard 1998). Also, a plethora of homeless shelters and other nonprofit crisis organizations designed to assist the runaway population have Seeking refuge from the materialistic culture of the 1960s, a wave of runaways—predominately male—loitered U.S. streets. TED STRESHINSKY/CORBIS originated in the past thirty years as the reality of the horrors associated with this runaway lifestyle have become evident.

Covenant House, started in 1972 by Sr. Mary Rose McGeady, is a privately owned chain of shelters for runaway youths with locations throughout the United States. Here, any homeless child or adolescent can receive room, board, mental health care, and a number of other crisis-related services (Covenant House 2002). Also, many communities sponsor independent runaway shelters for these at-risk homeless children. Although some house children only temporarily, many others are designed to integrate these children into society by teaching them basic life skills and providing them with assistance in obtaining apartments and other living accommodations.

Young runaways, like this girl, are at risk for becoming involved in drug abuse and crime since they are unable to find jobs. ROBERT ESSEL/CORBIS