i just turned 16 in April and my lifes become a mess. Me and my parents never see eye to eye and right now the situation is that i have 2 pending court cases. One for posession of a bladed object in a public place and the other robbery. This makes me look so bad but i have never carried and im disgusted at myself but even before all this, my parents put me down, call me fat, sometimes they hurt me and i get scars or scratches. Today my mum said that i should be caged like the animal I am, i am on bail but i have GCSEs but im planning to leave today but my mum might take my phone so im unable to contact anyone. What are my options now? (I definetely want to leave and wish to live alone without family contact). thanks and sorry to ramble...
Sam
Hi there,
You can leave home without your parents permission at 16. Leaving home is a very big decision to make and its important that if you choose to leave you have somewhere safe to stay.
There is information available from an organisation called Shelter who can advise you on your practical rights and what you can do to find a place to live. Another suggestion would be to contact your local council to see what help is available to you locally including things like housing benefit. Find out more about your rights.
From the way you describe things to me, you have a lot going on like the difficult relationship with your family, wanting to leave home, GCSEs, and the pending court cases. You dont say what support you have around you or who you are able to talk it through with. It could be that there are people in your wider family that could help, or an adult at school you trust. Talking to an adult about things can be hard and we have some advice about asking an adult for help which you might like to check out.
It also feels like things might be difficult for you if you dont have a phone. You can contact ChildLine by any phone free of charge, including from a phone box, landline, or mobile. You can also have a 1-2-1 chat online or email a counsellor.
If you would like to talk things through more, it might be good to talk to a counsellor at ChildLine who can support you more with the situations you find yourself in.
Take care, Sam
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