Posted: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 5:00 pm
To the Editor:
Regarding the article "Not every teen has someplace to call home" in the March 8 Democrat Herald edition, I have a few thoughts.
Being the mother of a girl, age 14, who is bipolar and ADHD, I can tell you that teens do not always run from bad situations.
The girls that wrote the story said, "We have gained a large amount of respect for runaway teens." This may be part of the problem. People think they are helping when a teen runs away, by providing a place for them to go. My daughter is constantly running away and people are providing her a place to hide. She does not run away because she is in a bad situation; she runs because she can't always have her own way. She does not like following rules such as cleaning her room, not staying out all hours, and being respectful to others.
I know that there are many children in Lebanon that would like to have a home like hers. We, as parents, don't drink, don't do drugs, work hard, have a hot dinner at the table every night, help with homework, do laundry, clean the house, provide for all necessities, and above all, we love our children.
What I don't understand about all of this is that for some odd reason, people think it is OK to harbor a [runaway] child. We spend many a restless night wondering where our daughter is and is she all right. Or even worse, is someone going to find her on the side of the road one day? We report her as a runaway to the Sheriff's department, and are told if we hear anything, or if she comes home, let them know. The one thing I did find out from the Sheriff's office is that it is a crime to harbor a runaway. A child cannot be at someone's house without the parent's permission.
My daughter will make up stories and lies to get people to feel sorry for her and let her stay there. Well, there can be serious consequences to believing her and harboring her, according to the law. I know she can be very manipulative and persuasive, but calling parents to find out what is going on, or even calling the local police, may save parents the heartache of not knowing what is happening to their child, and trouble for those doing the harboring.
So if you have a child right now in your home that you are not sure if they have the parent's permission, please, please call. My daughter has now been missing for almost a week and we have no idea where she is. Please respect us as parents trying our hardest to raise our children; it is not easy, especially if a child has emotional disorders.
Judy Smith
Lebanon