MILLION KIDS EXPLOITED - WHY KIDS RUN AWAY - PART 2

Running away is a serious problem. According to the National Runaway Switchboard, an organization that takes calls and helps kids who have run away or are thinking of running away, 1 in 7 kids between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away at some point. And there are 1 million to 3 million runaway and homeless kids living on the streets in the United States. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has stated that they believe that 1 in 6 kids who run away are at risk of being a victim of sex trafficking.

For nearly ten years Million Kids has operated the Million Kids Missing Kids program to assist parents in locating and the return of runaway and missing kids. We have sent out hundreds of thousands of flyers and been involved in the location or return of many missing teens.

Over the next two broadcasts of Exploited: Crimes and Technology program we will explore why kids run away and what parents can do to intervene. This week we will look at what kids are running “from”. There can be many factors that kids want to escape from. Perhaps they are being bullied at school, or the home is not safe from sexual or physical abuse, or the homelife is unstable for the minor, and sometimes it is because they are dealing with issues of abandonment, drug and alcohol use, or feeling the family unit is not stable.

The second part of this series we will examine what kids are running “to”. This can often be a fantasy relationship whether real or perceived, a new friend that is influencing them, or they are being groomed a new online relationship. Some kids fantasize about a life of freedom living on the streets and going where they want without supervision which works until reality sets in. Other teens hook up with people they have met on a dating site or video game chat room and just want to see what the person is really like but unfortunately they disappear.

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