Runaways and Minors

[Ravie]

So Ive noticed there's been alot of minors talking about leaving home because of certain circumstances and problems at home. And this site lacks "that one" thread for minors to check out and ask questions. I honestly think its okay for a minor to leave home if they are intelligent and can't handle their living situation. What are your views on Runaways, being around runaways, traveling with them, or drinking with them?

 

[Dameon]

I see way too many people saying they want to run away for stupid reasons. "My parents are making me do my homework," or "my dad yelled at me once" or "my chores are too hard" or just "I don't get along with my parents." It seems to me that most of the time, the desire to run away is generally a product of nothing more than teenage angst. There's definitely exceptions, like abusive situations and home environments where parents are smoking meth and shooting heroin, but most runaways are just suburban kids who think it'd be cool to run away and get on the road.

As far as I know, being on the road as a runaway is very tough. People will take advantage of runaways, and things will happen. Anybody considering doing it should carefully consider whether it's going to be worse for them at home. If they're not getting beaten and raped at home, they're crazy to take off by themselves and increase the chances of those things happening dramatically.

I don't hang around runaways, or travel with them, and I definitely don't drink with them. I've hung out and drank with a minor or two, but I don't like to do that often either, the exception being certain friends. I'm not going to be the one that gets a ticket for contributing to the deliquency of a minor because they start stumbling around and puking all over the place.

 

[finn]

There are some really good reasons for leaving home as a minor, but I'm not really sure how many runaways actually have one. A lot of kids who come out to their parents are kicked out, a fair amount ironically end up joining the military. I also find that the kids who leave home for a good reason are pretty bad at choosing good people to be around, because their upbringing has warped their sense of who is a decent person versus who is simply a slightly better person than their insane and evil parents. After a few bad experiences, it's typically hard to gain their trust, because they get suspicious of everyone. The kids who leave because of angst, are typically spoiled, will steal from everyone indiscriminately, don't tend to have any real life skills, and complain a lot about everything. Of course, that's my experience.

 

[BrokeWhiteBoy]

Everyone under the age of 35 needs to be put out to pasture!

Uh.... I am 18/19, so therefore :thebird: I disagree. Anyone under 18, or with the mentality of a minor, or just flat out morons should be. Fair enough?

 

[zarathustra]

wwwwww

 

[Ravie]

yeah i was a runaway for about 2 years but i was really smart about it. I'm very logical and my mentality is years ahead of my age. I left because my mom went crazy on my and choked the hell out of me. Do i regret it? Fuck no! I learn more things on the streets then i could have ever learned in a school or from parents. Even bad experiences are over all good ones because you learn so much from them. But i have come accross mooching idiots that are runaways. They get drunk and loud and normally get caught by police pretty fast he was only 15 i think. i still have a pack from a kid i squatted with who was pretty...dim. he got caught and shipped back out to Ohio to his mommy. He left his stuff at the squat by its self too...which was also stupid. Good kid, but he still had the mentality of a 12 year old and his road dog baby sat the whole time even though they where about the same age. I just hate being discriminated over my age and I think that it should be based on respect and maturity.

 

[BrokeWhiteBoy]

I guess sarcasm really doesn't transfer well to the internet.

It does. Don't mind me though. I will most likely be posting while decently drunk on occasion.

 

[Labea]

I guess sarcasm really doesn't transfer well to the internet.

this is news?

 

[Ravie]

Hmmm, well I feel this thread will be helpful to alot of people that check it out(wich as ive seen alot ARE minors) Lets just start giving tips eh?

-Be respectful and never steal from anyone who doesnt deserve it.
-Never travel alone
-When a cop asks you for birth date and name, lie your ass off. cops arent god. they dont know all.
-DONT LEAVE UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO!(life or death or something actually serious)
-Be nice to people(that are nice to you) because it will come back to you.

 

[dirtyfacedan]

"2. When catching a train or hitch if someone was there before you let them get out first."----True! I've walked up to people and been right fucking confrontational because of this. Who the fuck do they think they are?

 

[Birdy]

I can relate to this thread in a lot of ways. I'm just now learning about catcing out and hitching, I have yet to do any of it(not to fond of the idea of hitching), but I look forward to turning 18 so I can do all this. I'm only 16 now and sure I would LOVE to get out there and catch a freight and just get out of this little town, but no matter how many fights I get in with my dad and how pissed off I get and want to leave, I think I am WAY better off soaking up the good things I have until I do leave. And I really can't devistate my dad with leaving and him worrying about me and what not. I'm one of those kids who have a lot handed to me and unlike most kids I appreciate every bit it. I mean fuck I'm grateful for being able to take a shower every night and hop into a warm bed and goto school the next day, but I've got that little bird in my chest flapping it's wings and dying to get out in the open. I've noticed that a lot of my wanting to leave feelings come from feeling like I don't fit in with society. And I'm not talking about high school, I'm talking about the feeling of dread I get when I think of having to pay to live.

But then again I can understand where kids are coming from with a broken home. My mom is the biggest mind fuck ever. A day with her feels like a week in hell. She just tires me out mentally and thank god I have my dad or I'd probably be on the streets already.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you've got it made at home, and don't really have any problems, it's better to just wait it out until you get older. That way if you get tangled up with the law you can't be shipped off to home against your will (or like in my town get shipped to the loony bin for running away).

 

[SanePsychotic]

This thread is quite interesting. I'm 16 and don't plan to leave home until I'm 18. I work, I go to school, and I have a decent home life. It's just that my parents and I have some disagreements as to what I should do when I get out of high school. Which is why I've been reading up on all of this. I understand completely why people wouldn't want to travel with minors - we're more trouble than we're worth. If you've got a bad home situation and you'd be better off leaving then that's the only time I think you should leave before you're legal. But if you're like me and are just feeling constrained by society and whatnot then you need to stay.

 

[BrokeWhiteBoy]

Aww fucking shit your user icon hurts to look at...

I guess you are getting old. I sat there staring at it for like 5 minutes just watching it. I like it.

 

[finn]

I guess you are getting old. I sat there staring at it for like 5 minutes just watching it. I like it.

I don't know man, five minutes? It sounds more like you were having a seizure...

 

[Labea]

.... anyways

I ran away in the summer of last year, a few of you may know my story. I got picked up by the cops, and I dont think I could be happier that I got sent to Alaska, of all places, cause it really is a freaking amazing place to live and its very traveler-friendly.

So I ran away from home I didnt even know why at the time. My parents didn't have the time or the money to take care of me with 3 other babies. And I went stir crazy and saw too many of my peers having the time of their lives on the road, passing me by in Denver. I jumped at the first invitation I got to travel with someone who had some real experience. And I didn't have the time of life. I was limited cause of my age. Got ditched a few times, just because of my age, and not being able to hop out anywhere. I couldn't find any decent people to travel with. I don't regret it though, I got everything out of it that I wanted to. I proved myself, in a way. I've come such a long way from there, I'm not even the same person. But I have no problem waiting until I'm 18. Its already been over a year since I was sent here. I have a better idea of what I'm doing now

I'm not saying you should do this. Not everyone gets a good outcome.

If anyones got any specific questions, feel free to ask. Not sure if this was helpful, but maybe I can offer some more advice.

 

[Ravie]

yeah, i figure, if your a minor and want to travel, TAKE CARE OF YOUR FUCKING SELF. NO ONE is obligated to babysit. when i left home i never asked anyone for anything, and thats how i earned respect. I never got ditched, and never got screwed over by other travelers because they respected that i didnt lie to them about my age and i had a game plan if it came to the worse. Kids, please, if you HAVE TO leave home, dont go looking for a road mommy.

 

[SanePsychotic]

Aww fucking shit your user icon hurts to look at...

Ha, really?

I guess you are getting old. I sat there staring at it for like 5 minutes just watching it. I like it.

Woah, five minutes? I would get bored staring at it for five minutes. But cool.

 

[urse]

well, i ran away almost exactly this time last year. i was 17 at the time and left for a plethora of illegitimate reasons. i tried to be smart and careful, but i ended up getting taken advantage of by a few people who could tell i was young and naive. i found myself in situations where i was degrading myself and doing some pretty awful things. shit sucked for a while then i met this guy who let me crash at his apartment for a few weeks. it was a shit hole and i got really sick. sick enough that he took me to the hospital. not good when you're a missing person and a minor. blah blah blah, i ended up in the system and i had to move back in with my parents, which wasn't really a big deal because they didn't care much about what i did. turns out i had some funky parasite by the way. from eating shit food and staying in shit holes and not taking care of myself. though it wasn't a good experience, i learned a lot from it. i don't regret anything that happened and i don't wish it were something else. as much as i thought i knew when i left, i now see how stupid and naive i was. but there wasn't really another way to learn the things i did. i'm rambling. the biggest lesson i learned here is to never overestimate/underestimate what you're capable of.

 

[mylon]

Hmmm, well I feel this thread will be helpful to alot of people that check it out(wich as ive seen alot ARE minors) Lets just start giving tips eh?

-Be respectful and never steal from anyone who doesnt deserve it.
-Never travel alone
-When a cop asks you for birth date and name, lie your ass off. cops arent god. they dont know all.
-DONT LEAVE UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO!(life or death or something actually serious)
-Be nice to people(that are nice to you) because it will come back to you.

i dunno about that lying about your identity bit. every time i lied about my info as a minor it never panned out. either it didn't show up in the system, or the person it matched was like 80lbs heavier than me. a couple friends even told me i could use their identities if i was being questioned for non-criminal purposes but that didn't work out either, because as i just described, i was a scrawny sonofabitch.
in total i lied about my identity three times, and got called on it every time. the last time it happened i ended up getting a charge of "providing false information to a public servant". they tried to charge me with obstruction as well but the court decided that was double jeopardy. anyway in the long run it worked out okay, didn't get any more convictions after that and now that and everything else on my record is sealed.

i'm not saying don't ever lie to cops. if you're confident you can get away with it, go for it, but realize you can get in more trouble if you fail. also if you're getting busted for something major, UTILIZE YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT. i could start a whole thread about that and how it has saved my ass. maybe some time i will.

 

[Ravie]

Thanks for the advise meatroll. I've lied my ass off about my identity but I didnt think that was considered criminal activity. But I'm a great liar so i got away with it probably over 50+ times.