Teenage Runaway: What Can Parents Do?

For a parent, a runaway teenager can be incredibly worrisome, frightening, overwhelming, and frustrating when they develop a pattern of running away. Is there anything you can do? How can you help keep your teen from running away?

Whether it’s the first time or the fifth time, those emotions are sure to be running high. Be sure that you have support from your parenting partner, another family member, or a close friend.

What Do You Do When Your Teenager Runs Away?

What should your first step be if your teen runs away? It can be challenging to think clearly, so be sure you’re leaning on your family and friends for support. Follow these guidelines to help:

• Step one should be to contact the police. There is no need to wait 24 hours like many television shows and movies imply.
• Reach out to your family, friends, and others your teen may turn to. Your teen’s friends may know more about your runaway teen than you think.
• Police may search within the immediate area surrounding your home. However, they may be less inclined to do this if your teen has a history of running away.
• Reach out to members of your community via social media channels so that you can spread the word.
• Put up flyers and establish a network of family and friends to help distribute the flyers while also conducting searches of places your teen may go to when they run away.

Remember that when your teen is found and returns home, you may encounter a fair amount of anger and aggressive behavior. It can be helpful to immediately reach out for help from mental health professionals so that you can address the behavior before your teen makes a run for it again.

Why Do Teens Run Away From Home?

There is any number of reasons that your teen may run away. That said, some common reasons are seen across the board in teen runaways. Some of these reasons point to there being one or more types of abuse in the time, while others are more about the teen wanting to break free from a restrictive environment.

Some of the reasons teens may run away could include the following:

• Running away from an abusive or neglectful home.
• Arguments with parents about boundaries and consequences.
• Running away to be with a romantic partner.
• Substance use and abuse.
• Running away after being rejected when coming out to parents.
• Fleeing home to avoid the consequences of behavior or something parents may be angry about.
• Leaving home to avoid going to school where they may be bullied or face other challenges they can no longer deal with.

While abuse is a common reason, it’s important to note that teens don’t always run away because there is abuse in the home. Most are fleeing their home to avoid the boundaries and perceived restrictions on their freedom.

What Are Teenage Runaway Laws

You may wonder if there are any laws surrounding teen runaways. Laws can vary drastically between cities and states, so it is important that you research what might apply to you, your teen, and the situation you find yourself in.

Generally speaking, there are few or no laws that state a teen runaway is committing any kind of crime. If they are caught by law enforcement, there’s not much that they can do to keep from being returned home.

In most states teens need to be returned to a parent or guardian, or consider emancipation. Yet other states may fine teens for running away, or courts may mandate that they be sent to a juvenile detention center after being caught running away several times.

There’s no one-size solution for any teen or set of behavioral problems. If your teen has a history of running away, and your best efforts haven’t done much to keep him at home, it may be time to consider another solution.

At Liahona Academy, we provide a secure and stable environment that can work with runaway teens to help them understand why they’re running away and work on a plan to halt this behavior. At Liahona, we evaluate each teen and work with them and their family members to find the middle ground that’s an essential part of healing and moving forward in a positive direction.