There are many reasons a tween may choose to run away from home. A child may become stressed due to family issues such as divorce, while another might run away as a form of rebellion when he doesn’t want to follow the rules. No matter what the cause is, it is a very scary situation, especially if the tween doesn’t quite understand the danger of the situation. However, as a parent, there are certain things that should be done to handle the situation. Consider the following steps.
Find Out if the Tween Really Ran Away
First and foremost, make sure the child has really run away from home. A tween may run to the other parent’s house (in the case of a divorce) or a friend's house when he is upset. Call friends and family members as soon as the child is missing. Consider setting up a calling chain so multiple people are making calls all at once to speed up the process.
When a Tween Makes a Break
If it is determined that a tween isn’t at a friend's house or family member’s house, immediately call the authorities. A policeman has many more tools at his disposal to handle runaway situations. He also has a statewide network of officers that can help with the search.
Provide the police with a current picture of the child, as well as fingerprints, if possible. Also give him a list of friends and family in the area. Just because a tween isn’t there now doesn’t mean he won’t show up later. In addition, a tween's friend may also tell the police things he wouldn’t tell you.
Make a list of places the child may have gone. Include the place he may have wanted to go and was denied, if there was such an argument before the child's departure. If a tween has always talked about going to a certain place or has a specific place he feels holds importance, it should be considered. For example, if a child loves the local museum or library, it should be checked out.
Look to see what the child took with him. This could be a clue of where he is headed. For example, if he took a tent and lives near the woods, he may be anticipating camping out for the night. Also look to see if any money is missing from the tween’s savings or from the parent's own stash of cash. This will tell how far he can afford to pay to go. If the child took fifty dollars, it can be assumed that he couldn’t get far by cab.
If the child has access to a computer or cell phone, check for recent activity, especially on the tween's favorite websites. The policeman should be able to help with this step once he knows where to look. Unfortunately, today there are many predators online, and a tween may have easily befriended one. If messages have been sent with a meeting place, the police might be able to intervene. Text messages on a phone could also provide clues once the police have access.
Contact the child’s school to see if there has been any recent changes in behavior and friends that the parent is not aware of. In many cases, a tween may hide the fact that he has joined a new crowd that has not been approved by the parents.
While all of these steps can be helpful in bringing a child home, the prevention is the key to this situation. Stay involved in the tween’s life, and openly communicate together often. Know who the tween's friends are, where he goes, and what he is interested in. Keeping an open dialog with the child may be able to prevent him from wanting to run away in the first place.
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