Situations concerning grade school children all the way to teens running away from home have been documented for decades. It has been a constant plague for millions of U.S. families who don’t have concrete answers on how to bring it all to an end. The problem itself after being studied by numerous children and health services as well as universities, found that the problem is deep rooted. It can be commonly traced back through family history. In most general medical cases it has been classified as an ongoing psychological cycle.

In fact there is some reasonable evidence that suggest parents who were run aways themselves, are more than likely to have their own children who will eventually run as well one day. Researchers have offered several explanations. First, the parents who were raised up in dysfunctional and disruptive families saw that form of interaction with their parents as a working model. They may in turn unintentionally continue and pass this ill fated pattern on to their own children. Or parents who were abused may go on to abuse their own also. Statistically it is known that the majority of runaways come from families with higher rates of physical punishment and abuse. The possibility of a child who know that their parent ran away from home themselves, may see it as an alternative and appropriate response to their own problems. After all, the parent might have survived and went on to lead stable productive lives.

Why are so many young people deciding to take dangerous chances by running away from home? Each year an estimated report of about 800,000 children in the United States alone are reported to be missing and another 500,000 of all these children are runaways. Unfortunately there are no exact statistics available to date. Some experts are confident in saying the figure is much higher, closer to two million. Runaways come from a wide variety of backgrounds. They are white, black, Native American, and every other ethnicity. Some come from poor families, while others maybe from a more comfortable and quite secure surrounding.

Children and teens alike are very impressionable. Most of the time they act mainly on impulse. Any type of problem he or she may encounter that is too overwhelming, could trigger them to run. There may be constant fighting between the teen and parents over a variety of issues. They may include the teen’s unruly behavior, grades, friends, clothing staying out too late, and flat out disobedience. There could also be physical, emotional, or sexual abuse involved as well. Other factors may also play a role. A teen maybe taunted or bullied at school. Or they could be struggling with sexual orientation issues.

Many runaways find themselves in almost inescapable situations and up against incredible odds. Take for example Nicole Clark of Ashland, Oregon. At age 14 she ran away from her group home in Medford, Oregon. Nicole spent two weeks sleeping in parks and under bridges. But that way of life was too inauspicious and stressful. Later she found herself accepting a tricky offer from a young guy for a place to stay. They eventually had sex and soon became a couple until the day he threatened to kick her out if she did not agree to have sex with his friends for money.

The 14 –year-old Nicole agreed and that fear of having no choice lead to the first exchange of money for sex. And it also opened the door to a downward spiral of prostitution which lasted for about 14 months. She finally escaped that life last year from a pimp who she said locked her up in his garage apartment for months. “Where was I going to go?” said Nicole, now 17 and living along the interstate under paths.

“I didn’t know the city and the police would just send me back to the group home,” Nicole said explaining why she didn’t cut off the relationship with her first boyfriend who became a pimp and why she did not flee prostitution when she had a chance. “I’d also fallen for the guy. I felt trapped in a way I can’t really explain.”

About a third of teens who run away or are thrown out of their homes each year engage in sex for food, drugs, or a place to stay according to a variety of studies published in academic and public health journals. The statistics on runaways and throwaways are astonishing to say the least. It is reported that kids between the ages of 13 and 17 years old will run away at an 86% chance. One out of seven children will run away before their 18th birthday. And what’s more alarming, is that girls make up 74% of runaways while boys make up 35%. Many of them are homeless.

This is where innocence meets the precarious unforgiving streets. Both male and female runaways find themselves up against all kinds of blinding obstacles. Many of them eventually turn to stealing, panhandling, dealing and abusing illegal drugs, and engaging into the world of pornography. For shelter they may stay with total strangers, spend nights in bus stations, and sleep in old abandoned buildings or on stair wells. Lamentably thousands never get a chance to get themselves off the streets.

Which brings the next story in from a former child runaway named Carissa Phelps who told her story on ABC’s Good Morning America. Her nightmare began at the ingenuous age of 12. She ran away from home and began living on the not so pleasant side of the streets of Fresno, California. Unable to really take care of herself, Carissa was preyed upon and immediately taken advantage of by men. And by 13, she was heavily into prostitution, violence, rape, and homelessness.

“It’s the streets, Phelps said. If you see any guys, you go with them, you hang out. You’re a runaway.”

Now in a much more secure peaceful place in her adult life at age 31, she recalls all the horrible memories of her former existence. Carissa was one of 11 children but ended up running away. Trying desperately to get away from an abusive stepfather and a mother who neglected her, she naively ran straight into the arms of more danger.

“I had to leave home,” Phelps explains. “It was very abusive and there were too many children in one house. Ten brothers and sisters and my stepdad was beating up my brothers and trying to exploit my sister, and I just thought, I’m gonna get out of here before he does it to me.”

Carissa moved from one group home to another and then eventually landed in juvenile hall. Later she would meet a prostitute and that’s where her first encounter with a pimp came about. He introduced Carissa to a world where she was sold for sex, raped, and sold for crack cocaine.

“I was a target to be sexually exploited,” she said. They very much understand your psychology and that you’re vulnerable and they exploit you, very slowly tell you things like I love you and I’ll be your boyfriend, and they’re 24 years old and your 12, or they’re 40 and you’re 12.”

About 325,000 children are reported as being sexually exploited in the United States annually. Of that figure, 121,911 ran away from home and 51,602 were thrown out of their homes by a parent or guardian. Among runaway and homeless youth, approximately 30% of shelter youth and 70% of street youth engage in prostitution in order to meet their daily needs for food shelter, drugs, etc. An estimated 40% of girls who were engaged into prostitution were sexually abused at home, as were 30% of the boys.

The estimates of how many children that are actually involved in prostitution varies. More solid numbers do not exist, in part because the Department of Justice has yet to study the matter even though Congress authorized it to do so in 2005 as a part of a nationwide study of the illegal commercial sex industry. Many experts in the field such as law enforcement, officials in government, and welfare advocates say that data is limited on the matter. They believe the problem of prostitution among children has grown and the internet has helped it become big business.

All around the world children running away and living on the streets has become a global state of emergency. Such as in Great Britain, where a reported 100,000 children are succumbing to the same gravely fates that so many U.S. kids who run away suffer as well every year. In Great Britain a seven month investigation conducted by the Children’s Society provided an in depth picture of life as an underage runaway and warns that an acute lack of hostels place children at risk. Further research shows one in four first time runaways are under 11 and one in seven are physically or sexually assaulted.

Britain’s government has just begun to fund the research into the problem. And one major problem right now is that there is a shortage of refuges. This translates into many runaways who often become reliant on others who exploit their vulnerability. The Department for Education and Skills provides seven pilot schemes offering emergency accommodations to children under 16, but their funding is due to end. And the grotesque stories are mirrored to the ones told by runaways here in the U.S. There was one account where a child was abducted and locked up in a drug dealer’s flat for four months. Another story had a young girl who was physically and sexually abused by her stepfather. She ran away and was put into a care home but she hated it and kept running away. Later when she turned 13, the young girl was introduced to heroin and crack cocaine. She eventually began to sell drugs and her body to feed an unsavory habit. And the horror stories coming from Britain’s runaways go on forever.

And just recently here in the U.S. another high profile story of a runaway turned prostitute surfaced. In New York 51 year-old Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was arrested for statutory rape. It was reported that the 16 year-old runaway involved had not been seen by her family members in weeks. She was brought to Mr. Taylor by a pimp where he allegedly paid her $300 for sex. Currently Mr. Taylor has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of third-degree rape and patronizing a prostitute. His trial is scheduled for July 13th.

What’s happening is simply children who fall into prostitution literally disappear. After years of abuse, trauma and neglect, the kids also tend to trust no one. The longer they are on the streets, experts say, the more likely they are to become involved in crime and uncooperative with the authorities. Basically in most states under aged girls working as prostitutes are handled as perpetrators rather than sexual assault victims. For example, if a 45-year-old man has sex with a 14-year-old girl and no money changed hands, she would likely go to counseling and he would get jail time for statutory rape. But if the same man left $50 on the table after having sex with her, she would probably be locked up for prostitution and he would probably go home with a fine as a “John”.

In 2005 the “High Risk Victim” unit was launched in Dallas, Texas. Juveniles who ran away from home four or more times within a year, got flagged under the program’s procedures. Nearly 200 juveniles would fit the description yearly. If one of those kids were to be picked up anywhere in the country, they would be brought back to the unit. At that point an investigation into that child’s background would be conducted. If girls were arrested for prostitution, they would probably be uncooperative. So they are charged with minor offenses like truancy or picked up as a high risk victims. Speaking to them while their guard is down, would later lead to trust. That would allow officers and social workers to then discuss their involvement in prostitution. Repeat runaways are not put in juvenile detention but in a special city shelter for up to a month, receiving counseling. Three quarters of the girls who get treatment do not return to prostitution.

In 2007, Congress nearly approved a proposal to spend more than 55 million for cities to create pilot programs across the country modeled after the Dallas system. But after a dispute with President George W. Bush over a larger federal budget, the plan was dropped and Congress never appropriated the money.

So where do we go from here? Remember the U.S. Department of Justice estimated that there are between 100,000 to 3 million runaways that are prostituted in America every year. Those types of statistics are unacceptable and above all extremely dangerous. Our children are crying out for help. They are being picked off one by one and thrown into an adult world in which they are not equipped for. These neglected and abused young people are being cheated out of their lives. Many don’t have a chance to live out their childhoods.

What could be more devastating to an innocent child to have his or her dreams stripped away from them? For any kid, life should not be a constant darkness with no where or no one to turn to for help. If you are or know any runaways who need help, here are several programs that can assist. Covenant House-toll-free 800/999-9999; National Center for Missing and Exploited Children-800/843-5678; National Runaway Switch board-800/621-4000; The Runaway Hotline-800/231-6946.

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Email Gregory Brooks: bgregory13@yahoo.com

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