Editor: Missing teens is a regular headline of late. The regularity at which teens go missing is cause for much discussion and concern. Thankfully in most cases they are safe in another home, having voluntarily run away from the place of abode.

In our discussion several reasons account for these teens to voluntarily leave home.

Amongst the many reasons is the fact that their home is not a safe environment. They many times don’t feel comfortable and safe due to several reasons, which are: Abuse (physical and sexual). As a result a child feels very uncomfortable, unsafe and so resort to escape any abuse which takes place over a period of time. In some cases, sadly, but true the abuser is a blood relative and the child’s mother denies it is happening. So even when the child reports it to the mother the child is also verbally abused. Therefore that child feels unwanted, unloved, threatened and the home becomes unsafe. So the child then resorts to running away.

Social issues such as sex and even desire for a different lifestyle out of the norm may be a factor. In some of these cases, the child may not be allowed the privilege to do as was earlier mentioned and so the child runs away to somewhere he/she considers comfortable and with more freedom.

Mental illness has many sides to it, it can be an illness not brought about by any known factor at home, but by medical issues. In some cases mental illness may be as a result of the home environment where the child becomes depressed due to many issues at home including but not limited to abuse and neglect by parents. In some cases the child may have issues unresolved but no one takes the time to listen or show concern.

When this occurs the child feels abandoned and unwanted and so may decide to leave home.

With the few factors mentioned above it shows in most cases an unhealthy home environment. This puts a lot of blame for missing teens many times on the parents and the homes which the teens reside.

Parents therefore ought to be more trustworthy with who they have in the homes and in some cases be more attentive to your children. It is important that parents listen to their children, while not being over protective as this can also contribute to negative behaviour which can cause the child to leave home. To the mothers, please be careful as to who you bring into your home as your partner this can have a negative effect on your children and can contribute to some of the factors mentioned which can lead to a child leaving home.

Finally, let us not brush aside the evil device of iniquity where in cases contribute to the child leaving home. Therefore, it is important that prayer for and with your child be made. Sadly, only few parents do that. Christ needs to be back in the home and this will help minimize the negative effects on the home and can help make the home a comfortable place. Also in these days and times of so much influence, the real help in keeping our children safe is Christ.

More can be said, but for space I will not say more. I trust that our homes become healthier and Christ-centred and so minimize the many missing teens that are occurring so regularly. May God bless our homes and SVG.

Kennard King