Today's Youth Want Someone to Talk to When Looking for Help

Report on Runaway and At-Risk Youth Reveals That Establishing Trust is Key

CHICAGO, May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Despite the heavy use of texting by today's teens and young adults, nearly 80 percent of runaway and throwaway youth prefer speaking to a real person when they need help, according to the report released today, "Why They Run: An In-depth Look at America's Runaway Youth" presented by the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS).

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The report includes expert studies, NRS crisis caller trend data and results from a comprehensive research study compiled for NRS by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) that consists of one-on-one interviews with runaway and throwaway youth. It reveals that e-mail and texting would not convey urgency or a youth's needs effectively. Youth interviewed believed that establishing trust is key and that it is best determined by hearing a person's voice.

"Even though teens mainly use social media and texting to talk with friends, it is not the preferred way to provide solutions when runaway and at-risk youth are looking for help, according to the recent study among runaway and throwaway youth," said Maureen Blaha, NRS executive director.

Additional results from the comprehensive research among runaways and throwaways, reveals:

• Nearly 35 percent resort to panhandling, the single-most popular means of obtaining money.
• Two-thirds of street youth report having cell phone access some of the time.
• More than half report that friends know where they are, while 26 percent report that parents and 25 percent report that siblings know their whereabouts. Only 13 percent said that nobody knew where they were.
• More than 70 percent of the youth interviewed described their leaving home as occurring on the spur of the moment.
• Youth commonly describe a significant family conflict that has led to their departure.

"This report provides much-needed and accessible insight into today's youth culture and a wide array of information that should be helpful to anyone trying to conduct outreach to this sometimes hard to reach runaway population," said Jim Lewis, senior program office, Chicago Community Trust, which provided funding for the NORC research component of the report.

For more information on NRS and to download the full report, visit www.1800RUNAWAY.org.

SOURCE National Runaway Switchboard