Page 2-B
Counseling Centers, Emergency Homes Seek To Aid Growing Numbers Os Runaways
By Lis Skillen
The door slammed. “You
never listen to me/’ Sheila
screamed over her
shoulder. Her parents, used
to the screaming by now,
didn’t answer. They figured
. she’d come back. She didn’t.
In 1940, white suburban
teenagers on the run
• numbered less than 100,000.
Last year, the same U. S.
runaway estimates bor
dered on one million. And
today, at least half of them
m 1
A FAMILIAR SCENE—This mock picture of a young lad
alongside a road is a growing scene. He could be a runaway.
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are girls. State and national
runaway centers, shelters,
counselors and hotlines are
cropping up to meet the
needs of this mobile
generation.
Why do they run? William
Springs, psychologist for the
Baptist Children’s Homes of
North Carolina, says the
majority of runners take off
because they are unable to
verbalize feelings in their
home situation. “As the
ability to verbalize
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Rachel Kinlaw, extension
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With this technique, dairy
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Promoted
Marine Sgt. Henry C.
Morring, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Henry C. Morring of
Route 3, Edenton has been
promoted to present rank
while serving' with Forces
Troops at Camp Lejeune.
A1973 graduate of John A.
Holmes High School, he
joined the Marine Corps in
July, 1976.
decreases,” Springs said,
“the need to act out one’s
feelings increases.”
According to the
psychologist, individuals
have one of three basic
predispositions—a child can
react to a problem by
fighting back, or he might
decide. to throw a
monkeywren'ch into the
home or school system, or
he will escape. “The
psychologist’s word for
running is psycho motor
acceleration,’’ Springs
explained. “Actually,
this form of flight is
no different from escaping
through drugs, sex or
drinking.
“But there are different
kinds of runaways,” he
added. “Not all Os them
desire to escape.”
Mike Lantz, graduate
student in social work at the
University of North
Carolina, agrees. In com
pleting his thesis, “A
Typology of Runaways,”
Lantz breaks runners into
four categories: driftaways,
marginal runners, non
runners and the crisis kids.
The driftaway, Lantz ex
plains, is the child with no
close family ties; he just
gradually moves out. The
marginal runner is
youngster who takes his
bike to the comer and waits
for someone to come get
him. The child who runs into
himself, who withdraws
from those around him, is
the non-runner. The crisis
kid puts distance between
himself and home.
The National Runaway
Switchboard in Chicago
adds to the list. Funded by
the U. S. Department of
Health, Education and
Welfare’s Office of Youth
Development, the hotline
received 200 calls last year
from “throwaways.”
Kicked out of the house by
his parents the throwaway
is cut off. His only alter
native is to start moving.
Lantz’s crisis kid, then, is
the one who actually takes
off with a purpose.
The- purpose, however,
can be confusing. Is he
running from something or
to something? “I don’t think
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any child wants to disappear
from the face of the earth,”
Springs said. “But I think in
a lot of cases, the child runs
to get out of an intolerable
situation at home.”
Perhaps, also, the
psycholigist adds, the
runner has a fantasy about
the [dace he’s going to.
Springs cites as an example
the heyday of the hippie,
when hundreds of young
people congregated in
[daces like San Francisco.
They were simply moving
into another society, he
says, hoping for the love and
acceptance they couldn’t
find at home.
Lantz supports this.
“Running is a fad,” he
stated. “It’s the cool thing to
tell your friends that you
took off one day. It’s also
becoming a culture. I think
a whole underground
runaway society has
developed. How else can a
North Carolina child,
inexperienced and without
money, disappear for
months and be living in
California undetected?”
There is surprisingly little
information about runaways
available in North Carolina.
Robert Stump, coordinator
of social work for the
Children’s Homes, notes
that numbers are hard to
collect. “Any runaway
figures that you see are
shaky estimates at best,” he
said. “However, there was
an area study done showing
three pockets in North
Carolina that runners
frequent.” According to
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Stump, the coastal area,
especially around Cherry
Point and Camp Lejeune,
hold a number of female
runaways. The piedmont
college area, Durham and
Orange counties, is also a
favorite stopover for
teenagers on the run. And a
few months ago runaways
could be found in and around
Morganton and Shelby.
The NRS toll-free number
serves 48 continental states.
Last year North Carolina
ranked 14 in number of calls
from runaways to the
switchboard. Sixty-two per
cent of the N. C. callers were
from somewhere in the
state. Only eight other
states had a higher per
centage of internal runners.
Reaching these teenagers
is not easy. The Baptist
Children’s Homes operates
four emergency homes
where a runaway can check
in for the night. However,
the child must agree to let a
BCH social worker get in
touch with his parents
within the. next 24 hours.
After that, with his parent’s
consent, the child may stay
at the home up to ninety
days while a plan is worked
out for his future care.
Andee Gable, supervisor
of the Charlotte Emergency
Youth Care Center, notes
that the majority of children
staying at their home have
had a history of running. In
these cases and in the cases
of the runners that have
signed themselves in for a
night, the home situation
has been poor. “Generally,
things haven’t been going
well at home or at school,”
Gable noted. “Their parents
don’t know good ways to
handle them, so when the
pressure is' on, an
arguement blows. That’s
when the child splits; he
can’t communicate, so he
leaves.” *
Gwen Phillips, house
mother at the Bur
lington Emergency Care
Home, remembers
teenagers that have come to
their door. Two runaways
signed themselves in. The
police brought three or fbtir
more. “Most of the time
they are .scared inside,”
Phillips said. .“But the
majority of them are-willing
to talk about themselves and
their lives.” In one
situation, the runaway’s
mother came and signed her
in for a few weeks. “She
didn’t want to,” the
housemother noted, “but the
girl wouldn’t stay home so
there wasn’t much else for
her to do.
In situations like these the
Baptist Children’s Homes
encourages family coun
seling. To get the child and
his parents or parent living
together in an improved
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situation is always our
goal,” Psychologist Springs
stated, ‘jjft may take some
time to work this out, but
I’ve seen it happen and I
know it’s a realistic, goal.”
Jones Picked
For Training
SAN ANTONIO, Tex.-
Airman Lonnie W. Jones,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Braxton
L. Jones, Route 1, Tyner,
has been selected for
technical training at
Sheppard AFB, Tex., in the
Air Force missile electron
ics field.
The airman recently
completed basic training at
Lackland AFB, Tex., and
studied the Air Force
mission, organization and
customs and received
special instruction in human
relations.
Airman Jones is a 1976
graduate of Chowan High
School.
Eight of every 10 veterans
enrolled in apprentice or on
the-job training programs
under the GI Bill, normally
complete courses of in
struction, the Veterans
Administration reported.
Thursday, November 25, 197-6
More than half of college
level trainees under the GI
Bill received bachelor’s
degrees, the Veterans
Administration reported.
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