rebec

Afriend of mine has a sixteen year old son that left the house today because he was not going to follow any rules. She is confused and does not know what she should do. I suggested she call the police and get her son back. He is a minor. I believe she could get in trouble with the law. If I would have been harder on my son in his teen years he may not have turned out to have difficulty with alcohol ect... Today he is married and a functioning alcoholic. I hope he gets in recovery someday and I am sure his young wife may insist someday, when she gets sick and tired you know. Any input on this ladies son would be appreciated. Thanks

Seren

I think probably Winnie, Freedom, and Impurrfect will be able to help you a bit more on this one. Since the boy is a minor, the police will likely have to be called.

I'm so sorry to hear about what your friend is going through right now. I'll be praying for a quick and peaceful resolution!

Hugs, HG

Freedom1990

Call the police. My youngest daughter was really struggling at age 15, and had taken off frequently. I reported it to the police every time. She knew I couldn't stay awake 24/7, and was climbing out of her window in the middle of the night.

After enough times, the state finally stepped in and she was made a ward of the state. She spent 17 months between lockup and a foster home. She found out home wasn't so bad after all.

We both grew from that experience.

winnie12

Every state is different on runaway laws - a few wont do anything if they are 17 but at 16 she needs to file a runaway report. some police wont do much others will search for the child - if they dont search up front then she has to push it. So call the police and then go to juvenile court and talk to them about filing an unruly child (its hard to get but can put a little fear in them if they know they may spend a night in jail.) She is legally responsible for anything he does. In my state until my AS is 18 i'm legally responsible for him - he can leave home with my permission at 17 but i'm still responsible if he gets in a car drunk and kills someone. So she should call the police and report him runaway - anyone harboring him can be arrested. But typically at 16 they are going to run out of places to run to and run out of money and come home on their own. Its a long hard road when they start refusing to obey house rules so the best advice i can give is for her to be a parent not a friend, set up boundaries and consquences, be loving but tough and always always follow through on what she says she will do.