Mister Poll: Runaways please respond

I am currently a runaway as defined by the laws of the country where I live. That is, I do not have the legal right at this time to be living on my own without the supervision of an adult family member or court appointed guardian.

This describes my situation perfectly.

I am now an adult but was once a runaway.

I am still a minor living at home now, but I have been a runaway in the past.

I am making serious plans to run away soon.

My life at home is miserable but I would never run away.

The following statement best describes how my home life was when I left. Please pick the one answer that best describes your case.

Believe it or not my home life was good; I just wanted the thrill of a life without rules.

A nightmare of abuse of all kinds.

I would still be at home if my parents had not thrown ME out.

My home life was ruined when I did something SO bad that I knew I had to leave before being thrown out.

I was so afraid of neighborhood bullies that leaving seemed the only rational way to avoid injury or death.

My home life was all right I guess, but I left to be with my boyfriend or girlfriend.

I had a drug problem so profoundly controlling that I left to do nothing but get high.

My parents or guardians are religious freaks; I want nothing to do with their absurd God.

I was so humiliated by something I did or was accused of that I felt leaving was my only option.

How old were you when you left?

I was 10.

I was 11.

I was 12.

I was 13.

I was 14.

I was 15.

I was 16.

I was 17.

What sex are you?

I am a male.

I am a female.

Now that I am homeless I find shelter ...

In abandoned buildings.

Under highways or some other manmade edifice.

I crash with friends who have apartments, etc.

I go to shelters built to house runaways.

Some non-threatening adult lets me sleep over.

I campout in the nearby woods.

Please pick the one that best describes your use of illegal drugs.

I am constantly getting high on hard drugs.

I do not use drugs; I drink alcohol constantly.

I do drugs AND drink all the time.

I neither do drugs nor drink alcohol of any type.

Please pick one only in answering this question: Since I have run away I have suffered from hunger ...

On a nearly constant basis.

Far more often than I ever did at home.

About once a week.

I have never suffered from hunger.

As a runaway I have engaged in criminal behaviour just to survive.

This describes me perfectly.

I do not HAVE TO engage in criminal behaviour; I choose to do it because I like it.

I occasionally need to commit crimes to survive, but usually I can avoid breaking the law.

Believe it or not I have not broken any laws so far at least.

As a runaway I hang out with ...

only other runaways.

a mixture of runaways and local kids.

only local kids.

I do not hand around with anybody; I keep to myself.

What race are you?

I am a white person.

I am an African American.

I am an Asian.

I am a Latino.

I am of mixed race.

Since I have run away my attitude about the police has been that they are ...

dangerous and scary.

not bad as long as I do what they require of me.

much better than where I ran away from.

instrumental in helping me in significant ways.

Since running away I have had to perform sexual acts against my will.

Unfortunately this describes me perfectly.

No, I have not been abused sexually.

I have had to become a prostitute.

This describes me perfectly.

No, I have not needed to sell myself.

I love being a runaway.

This statement describes me perfectly.

I HATE being a runaway.

I do not like it but I cannot return home.

If I could do it all over again, I would (please choose only one.) ...

have stayed home even if my parents were demons.

have left just like I did.

have stayed with nearby relatives and not run away at all.

have tried to get some agency to help me.

I have run away to a local ...

much bigger than where I am from.

the same size city or town as where I am from.

to a smaller location.

To a much smaller location than where I am from.

I have run away to a place that is

in the same city in which I lived when I ran away.

to a place 25 miles or less than where I ran from.

to a place 100 miles from my home.

to a place a thousand miles from my home.

To those of you adults who ran away as children, how has it affected your life?

It has ruined it; I should have never run away.

It was wonderful. I would not change a thing.

Are there informal networks of runaways waiting to help new runaways negotiate the mean streets?

There are not enough runaways to have a network.

Yes, new runaways can expect to find information on how to survive from fellow runaways.

I have been given the names and likely locations of runaways in one city from runaways in another.

I have been seriously harmed by fellow runaways who saw me as a victim because I had no one to help me.

Social worker types have helped me survive, but I still intend to remanin a runaway.

Since I have runaway I have contacted my family fairly regularly by telephone or e-mail?

No, I have never contacted my family-not even once.

This statement perfectly describes what I have done.

I have contacted my family once to tell them I am still alive, but never have I contacted them again.

Every blue moon I will contact my family.

Though you may not be involved in any crime whatsoever, please answer the following based on what you have observed.

I can say with certainty that I have seen my fellow runaways commit many crimes.

We may not commit crimes, but we make a racket all night long.

I know of runaways who have raped and/or murdered local people

Runaways often join or act in concert with local street gangs.

The one thing that keeps me from returning home is ...

my parents and I detest each other.

my parents are all right, but my siblings are awful.

local thugs will injure or kill me if I go home.

the local police have arrest warrants for me.

I simply cannot go to school day in and day out.

the sexual abuse at the hands of one or more of my family members will start up again.

family, what family, my "family" is so dysfunctional that we are virtually not a family at all.

Since becoming a runaway I have never tried to get a job.

This statement describes me perfectly.

In fact I am a runaway and I have a job.

I have tried to work, but no one will hire me.

In an above question I asked how old you were when you ran away, so now I would like to know your current age.

I am 17.

I am 16.

I am 15.

I am 14.

I am 13.

I am 12.

I am 11.

I am 10.

To those readers of this poll who finally returned home, for how long did you run away?

I ran away for under six months.

I ran away for six months.

I ran away from six months to a year.

I ran away from a year to a year and six months.

I ran away from a year and a half to two full years.

I ran away for more than two years.

As a runaway I am able to answer this poll because I a using a computer at ...

a friend's house.

a library or other public building.

a home built to serve runaways.

As a current runaway I avail myself of the help of shelters built to serve runaways ...

quite often.

on rare occasions.

never.

on a daily basis.

I am able to keep tabs on my parents and siblings back home by staying in contact with friends in the area of where I used to live.

This statement describes my situation perfectly.

I have no idea of what my parents and siblings are doing.

Someone in my immediate family (father, mother, sister, brother) knows exactly where I am and keeps in contact with me but does not tell anyone else that they know where I am.

This statement describes my situation perfectly.

I have no contact with anyone in my immediate family whatsoever

I am an adult who ran away as a youth and I now have my own children to worry about. Given my current situation and my experience as a runaway, I am afraid, very afraid, that my own children will run away someday.

This statement describes me perfectly.

No, I am not afraid that my children will run away because I know what to do to keep them home.

I am worried but I know from personal experience that parents have little control over whether their child or children will run away.

If you are currently a runaway, how long have you been away from home?

For under six months.

From six months to a year.

For a year and a half.

For almost two years.

For two full years.

For over two years.