On the third day of May last year, Julian Maldonado and his wife was convicted of forcing a runaway minor to engage in prostitution, which resulted in the teenager contracting hepatitis and the human immunodeficiency virus. The man was jailed for 10 years, with his spouse getting eight. The case also highlighted the growing problem of runaways, something many countries have been grappling with.
Minors run away from homes and care facilities for many reasons. A small minority do so because their parents or other legal guardians chase them away, and refuse to allow them back, particularly for those teenagers who engage in criminal activities. Others are victims of abduction, either by absent parents, or by strangers. The large majority make a decision to leave on their own for a variety of reasons.
Going by data made available by the American government, there were slightly over one and half million runaways in 1999. Most fall into the fifteen to seventeen year old age bracket. Very few were below fourteen. While kids from any socioeconomic background can run away from home, the large majority come from lower income and working class backgrounds. Experts speculate that the pressure of dealing with resource constraints may be underlying this fact.
The same information shows that kids from foster and group homes are more likely to take off as compared to those from more normal backgrounds. Older children from group homes and similar facilities are also more likely to take off than those who are younger; the chances of this happening are higher in the period after placement. Kids with such backgrounds will run away further away as compared to those who live with a parent or guardian.
The image many people have in their minds of children who have escape from home is of someone fending for themselves on the streets. Strictly speaking, this is not true; most teenagers take off to the home of a friend or relative they can trust. A very small number do end up homeless, and it is this category that gives headaches to law enforcement agencies, as they are most likely to end up in the hands of criminal gangs and other unsavory characters, and are likely to end engaging in criminal activity themselves.
While policemen and women are concerned about runaway teenagers, they do not give as high a priority as they should to such cases. Most police officers hold the perception that a large number of parents are unable to keep their children in check, and expect them to play that role. Also, many children who run away never want to go back home. If they are forced to do so, they are most likely to take off again.
Most police stations do not have the kind of facilities that can handle teenagers that have run away, since they are designed to process criminals. Because law enforcement agencies have competing demands on their time and resources, they have to choose between such cases and more serious threats.
Teenagers who run away from home generally suffer from depression, have a poor self concept among other problems. They are more likely to abuse drugs, join criminal gangs, engage in unlawful behavior and so on. These stem from their backgrounds, and are best solved there. That is the only way to stop predators like Julian Maldonado.
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