Runaways and Minors

[finn]

Experience and the ability to learn from it is what makes a person mature, in which age is a definite factor. Females tend to be a bit more wise than their male counterparts though, and they do get put through more, though there are exceptions here and there. Before anyone gets up in my grille, I know generalizations are unfair on people, but I judge people individually, and I'm a pretty good judge of character most of the time.

 

[Labea]

i never lied to anyone i traveled with about my age, nothing was misconstrued. i wasnt so much babysat as i was used, for sex, spanging, rides, i mean we all know a girl can make a dirty boy look good. god knows my ol' partner wouldnt of made it as easily without me. I never begged or even kindly asked to go with anyone, i was invited both times, and upon sizing up the situation, the firsts descided to ditch and hitch their way out of CO and leave me to fend for myself. i didnt go back home. i found my own fucking way. i guess maybe i didnt make that clear in my previous post on this thread.

 

[Ravie]

you go girl! tell em whats up!

no but realy it is hard being a girl alone out there. you never know what your going to have to deal with next.

 

[mkirby]

As someone who had her first homeless experience at 14, I can tell you that it really does depend on the person when it comes to kids.

My situation is that my Dad's a junkie and has never been around...and my Mom's really depressed and psychotic so she ended up kicking me out. And sure, I wasn't too sad when it happened, but I had been waiting during that time to leave until I had a stable place to live, or at least a decent group of kids to leave with.

I've met all kinds of kids in all kinds of situations, and a twelve year old who's smart and not an asshole is going to to a lot better than a thirty year old idiot.

I think the whole age thing really only becomes an issue when you get into the law, because yeah it really would suck to be stuck in the foster system.

Also in terms of the whole finishing high school thing...educationally you'd learn more on the streets than in high school. If you're talking about the possibility of having a career or whatever, there's always the GED or a generic community college high school diploma, both of which are accepted pretty much universally.

 

[katiehabits]

Also in terms of the whole finishing high school thing...educationally you'd learn more on the streets than in high school. If you're talking about the possibility of having a career or whatever, there's always the GED or a generic community college high school diploma, both of which are accepted pretty much universally.

CHEERS to that one. i tried going back to school after traveling and lasted 3 days. i felt like i was wasting my time.

 

[vince]

all i can say is i generally dont care how old anyone is, i just hate some of pity stories i hear. i myself was never a runaway, i have/had to much respect for my mom to do it, but i think its really annoying to run into the 15 year old "punk" kid who prides him/herself on how "punk" he/she is for being out at 11 at night with a sleeping bag and how "mean" their parents were (meaning their parents didnt make him/her that pasta they wanted or whatever fucking bullshit). i mean if someone is legitamatly going through abuse by all means fucking escape from it, no one needs to tolerate it. i just get annoyed from some of the stupid shit 15 year old "punks" tell me justifying "why they belong on the streets" and "how hardcore they are for doing it."

i would have amillion times more respect for kid that just said "i wanted to travel" or "i just really want to see new york" or whatever runaway or not rather than the transparent sap story. i get annoyed with anyones obsession with needing to appear toughend, its really annoying.

 

[Ravie]

beautiful explaination.

 

[Ravie]

its okay. i know plenty to buy my ass booze. and i like to keep it short because its hard using a broken keyboard... thats also why i dont deal with punctuation.

 

[stove]

HAH Arrow: I dunno about that being a guy's dream. I dated a deaf woman once...No talking at all, kinda awkward (till i learned to sign). But yeah, your explanation hit square in the middle, and ravie's response was...succinct.

 

[Ravie]

BLARGH! to all of you! what are you going to do now huh? now i'm on a computer that works! feel my typing fury!!!

 

[shua]

I almost left home a couple times when i was 14-15
the small city im from wouldnt even exist if it wasnt for the train yard it has, and since me and my friends would always hangout in the park right beside the trainyard, i met alot of travellers. Which of coarse inspired me to hit the road. I ended up staying at home till i turned 16 and got kicked out of my house. My parents have let me come back home to get a job and save money once every so often but its definitly not permanent. Alot of the travellers ive met hate minors, but because im not an idiot i get along with most of them. I still run into the odd guy who will barely talk or look at me just because i am a minor. But thats cool, if they dont want to associate themselves with a youngin thats there decision. I imagine when im older ill treat some minors the same way.

 

[Ravie]

i already treat minors like shit and i'm 17. i'll give advise and help em out and share stories, but i wont see them get wasted, act dumb, or disrespect. It's a right of passage to kinda treat em like the lower ranks. it toughens em up! I graduated early but i still get fucked with by friends haha

 

[Beer Mortal]

Ive ran away countless times to get the point across that i hate my mother as a person , shes not a good parent at all and can barely take care of herself let alone me. (my father never was around)
Therefore i left, i came back voluntarily and the next time i left she got the point and let me move in with grandparents
my nana considers me an adult already so i already make my own decisions and take care of myself, i just live under their roof
but i like to go places and would love to travel when i turn 17, (i graduate highschool at 17)
right now im 16 and legally if im caught leaving by the police (not my parents or grnadparents)
then they will take me back home, the times i left home i was smart enough to avoid cops and take care of myself and stay safe
so i dont see why it would be bad to travel with me , i know im a minor but im smart enough to avoid the drama and just travel normally.
i hate running away the first few times because i was alone and young and no one wanted anything to do with my situation, it helps to have support but i guess i could understand you dont want trouble with the law,
but if the person can hold up their own weight and stay low casually then why say no?
im not a 'adult' but im much more mature than i look and i act like it too.
id definately like to find a group or someone to travel with once i graduate, because im not attending college because they dont teach or give degrees or even offer the things im interested in.
itd be nice to just see some interesting things instead of staying home or getting a part time job and lazing around
(sorry for the long post, but this topic interested me)

 

[shua]

Alot of my buddys still fuck with me, the ones ive known since i was only like 15. I just call them losers for being 25 or something and hanging out with a 17 year old. Alot of them like to wrestle with me and shit when were drinking, and half the time i win. most of the time i find when your young and you meet a new group of travellers, if you look young or someone cracks a joke about you being young, there gonna rag on you and almost see what they can get away with. once they find out that your not a little weekend warrior thats gonna be puking his guts out sleeping within an hour then its all good. Ive grown up my entire life being the youngest so im used to hangin out with older people. I look and sound alot older then i am too which helps i guess.

Youngins should just sit back and observe, and soke up every bit of info possible. As smart and "mature" as we all may be, we got alot to learn.

 

[Ravie]

amen to that! oh, and if someone isnt comfortable traveling with you because of your age, so what. find another minor or someone that just doesnt give a fuck. it's not that hard to find i promise! everyone ive traveled with never wanted to travel with me at first, but after hanging out a while they got to know me. it's way better to show then you can handle your own than tell em. actions mean everything, words dont.

 

[shua]

it's way better to show then you can handle your own than tell em. actions mean everything, words dont.

exactly.

 

[Beer Mortal]

good point,
thanks for the advice

 

[shua]

no problamo.
you seem like a pretty legit chick, you should be fine.

 

[Nym]

I had a few encounters with minors and all were bad!! They were all leaving home becuase they didnt get along with their parents and pretty much wanted to be rebelious, but I knew that they would be back home to mommy and addy when they started to get cold or hungry. The erally bad thing about most of them is they attatch themselves to your hip! They want to go everywhere you go and do everything you do its annoying as fuck. but Im sure there are some cool ones ot there somewher, but I really prefer traveling and drinking etc with older folk.

This is true. Traveling with minors can be all bad. I started off as a runaway and was in and out of juvie all the time, till finally i became an adult. But i see now that i too would rather travel with people me own age. \but i have traveled with some smart kids, so its not ALL bad i guess.

 

[bobNkamille]

i have had run in with minnors a few times. I dont like to assume about kids stories so i ask them about it I would NEVER travel with a minor nor would i get drunk with them. But I'm there for them if they really do need a "older" person to talk to. In SLC alot of the kids regardless of age still seemed to be stuck in the age of 16 and although annoying most of the time. I understood they are just confused and need some one to look up to.

I think it's a terrible idea to drop out of school. I dropped out in my senior year of high school not cause of my parents or i hated school because i was working 2 jobs taking drivers ed at a completely different school and then going to my school for the 4 hours i had to. Just to make rent (i moved in with my friends who were 19-20 when i was 16). I just need to go get my good enough degree (ged) someday but fuck it im havin fun right now

oh the reason i moved out at 16 was my mom was abusive. Not like oh she slapped me like she kicked me in the face abusive not this shit kids think are getting beat by there parents when they get smacked for being little ass holes. And i was trying to stay sober and being around meth addicts all the time makes that a difficult task.

but you know kids aint to bad, Maybe that the mom nature in me speaking