THE TEENAGE DREAM

In Britain, many teenagers dream about leaving home for a more exciting life as soon as they turn 16, but the reality can often be much harder than they imagine. Here are what two teenagers who left home told us:

SARAH: PULLED

It was one evening in April that Sarah decided to leave home. It was not that she disliked her home; as a family, everyone got on quite well together, but in the small Dorset town of Crewkerne, there wasn’t exactly a lot to do. Besides, Sarah didn’t actually live in Crewkerne, but in a village where there was even less to do. She was fed up with school, too. Her parents liked the village life. Her father, a businessman, was always travelling, and her mother had a part-time job in the town. Her elder brother was away at university.

‘I just wanted to get out,’ says Sarah. ‘I felt trapped, and it was so boring. So I decided to come to London. For the time being, I’m selling beads, but I’m looking for a proper job, too.’

Sarah is one of the lucky ones. Her parents are giving her some money until she finds a job, and she lives with two other girls in a flat in Hampstead. She’s artistic, doesn’t smoke and can talk intelligently. She’ll probably get a job quite quickly.

‘I’m glad I left home,’ she says. ‘I’m 18 now, and I’m in charge of my own life. I go home quite often, but I prefer living my own life.’

DARREN: PUSHED

Darren claims that he was pushed out of his home. ‘I lived with my mum and two brothers in Bedford, but I couldn’t stand it anymore. My mum didn’t have a job and was always shouting at us. I was in care for three years. Then I went back to live with my mum. In the end I just decided to quit. I don’t want to go back; not for a while, anyway.’

For the last year, Darren has been living in a hostel for the homeless, and at the moment, he’s doing a training course to become a builder.

‘There’s plenty of work in the building business in London right now,’ he says, ‘so I should get a job quite easily. Then I’ll get myself a proper place to live. I’d like to have my own place. A proper home of my own, so to speak. I can’t say I’ve really ever had a home before.’