# Legalizing Runaways and Child Labor **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 22, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294 "2009-08-22T07:26:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/21 "2009-09-03T04:48:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > From what I see, they turn to begging and adopt the homeless lifestyle. I have not seen any hooking. I am sure that a few do turn tricks, of course. Nearly all female runaways turn to prostitution. I think the number was something like 80% have been picked up by a pimp within 2 weeks of running away. I can look up the specific number, if you wish. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/22 "2009-09-03T05:16:54Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Nearly all female runaways turn to prostitution. I think the number was something like 80% have been picked up by a pimp within 2 weeks of running away. I can look up the specific number, if you wish. Sure, I’d like a cite. From a reputable source. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/23 "2009-09-05T16:33:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure, I’d like a cite. From a reputable source. I’ve had a bit of a time finding the exact statistic. I’ve ended up finding out where it once came from, which is [here](http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/nismart/04/), but the data is no longer on that website. The statistic itself was “one out of every three teens will be lured toward the sex industry within forty-eight hours of leaving home.” [From here (PDF).](http://www.1800runaway.org/pub_mat/documents/FrontlineWinter_08.pdf) I found two nice compilations of data that you might like. Unfortunately I’m dyingly falling asleep right now or I’d go through and point out some items: [http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/203946/page4.html](http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/203946/page4.html) [http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/~restes/CSEC\_Files/Complete\_CSEC\_020220.pdf](http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/~restes/CSEC_Files/Complete_CSEC_020220.pdf) (PDF) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/24 "2009-09-05T21:28:54Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’ve had a bit of a time finding the exact statistic. I’ve ended up finding out where it once came from, which is [here](http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/nismart/04/), but the data is no longer on that website. The statistic itself was “one out of every three teens will be lured toward the sex industry within forty-eight hours of leaving home.” Well, that is scary, but one out of three is not 80%, and “lured toward” is not “brought into” and “the sex industry” is not always prostitution. One teen but 18 girl did tell a story about doing a few of those 'flash for cash/ girls gone wild" things for some fast cash. Now, that is “the sex industry” but it’s not as bad as human trafficking in pre-teen prostitutes, either. I don;t doubt there’s a lot of it going on, but since I do work with the homeless around here, most of the older teens I have seen turn towards begging. Of course, Silicon Valley is not a hotbed of street hookers and pimps either. The PD _here_ has a handle on that sort of thing. Mind you, the homeless lifestyle isn’t very fun and can be dangerous too. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/25 "2009-09-05T21:32:21Z")
That stat doesn’t mean that 1/3rd of girls end up as prostitutes, it says nothing more nor less than that 1/3rd have been brought into the sex industry within 48 hours of running away. The other links, I believe, give statistics on how many boys and girls end up as prostitutes. Of course there are other threats besides this one. Between working a modern blue collar job and living out on the streets, children would likely be safer with the job. I’ll look up fishermen’s death rates and homeless children’s to see how they compare. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/26 "2009-09-10T14:25:50Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > No. Put them in government run orphanages and then conscript them into the Army or Peace Corps if they don’t have much other oppourtunities or college once they’re eighteen. The all-volunteer Army has worked a heck of a lot better for us than a conscript force. As for the Peace Corps - the way that organization usually works, they’ll place _one_ volunteer in a village, ostensibly with a specific mandate (teach English, build sanitation, whatever) but really to fulfill as many of the locals’ development needs as possible. A Peace Corps volunteer has to be independent, flexible, and very, very tough - this is not a gig conscripts could do. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/27 "2009-09-10T14:53:38Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > The all-volunteer Army has worked a heck of a lot better for us than a conscript force. As for the Peace Corps - the way that organization usually works, they’ll place _one_ volunteer in a village, ostensibly with a specific mandate (teach English, build sanitation, whatever) but really to fulfill as many of the locals’ development needs as possible. A Peace Corps volunteer has to be independent, flexible, and very, very tough - this is not a gig conscripts could do. Besides, we have that little thing called the 13th Amendment. Conscription for military service to defend the country in time of war, along with jury service, is not held to be against it, but it’s very much arguable that compulsory servitude of any other sort would be. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/28 "2009-09-10T23:42:27Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > The all-volunteer Army has worked a heck of a lot better for us than a conscript force. As for the Peace Corps - the way that organization usually works, they’ll place _one_ volunteer in a village, ostensibly with a specific mandate (teach English, build sanitation, whatever) but really to fulfill as many of the locals’ development needs as possible. A Peace Corps volunteer has to be independent, flexible, and very, very tough - this is not a gig conscripts could do. Then the Domestic Labour Corps for things like building roads, providing social services in inner cities, and so on: a Domestic Peace Corps that is to say. > [@Polycarp](#): > > Besides, we have that little thing called the 13th Amendment. Conscription for military service to defend the country in time of war, along with jury service, is not held to be against it, but it’s very much arguable that compulsory servitude of any other sort would be. We had conscription in the 1950s and 60s when there were no wars. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/29 "2009-09-11T02:29:40Z")
> [@](#): > > We had conscription in the 1950s and 60s when there were no wars. I will grant that the…actions…in Korea and Viet Nam were not CALLED wars, but they were, for all intents and purposes, wars. The people who served in them were soldiers, and they came back, those who did come back, very changed. The conscriptions were very unfair. You need to go back to your history books, or get better history books, if you don’t think that there were wars in the 50s and 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/30 "2009-09-11T23:12:28Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I will grant that the…actions…in Korea and Viet Nam were not CALLED wars, but they were, for all intents and purposes, wars. The people who served in them were soldiers, and they came back, those who did come back, very changed. The conscriptions were very unfair. > > You need to go back to your history books, or get better history books, if you don’t think that there were wars in the 50s and 60s. Yes I understand there were the Korean and Vietnam Wars. However there was the draft between the wars such as between 1953 (the end of the Korean war) and 1965 (the beginning of the US troop deployment in Vietnam). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/31 "2009-09-11T23:41:11Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’ll look up fishermen’s death rates and homeless children’s to see how they compare. I’ll just note that I haven’t been able to find mortality/death rates for runaway and homeless children. Fishermen seem to have a rate of about 1.15 per 10,000 per year. [Cite](http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2008/04/federal_cites_danger_of_commer.html) Prostitutes seem to have a mortality rate somewhere in the territory of [391 per 10,000 per year](http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/159/8/778). I think we could assume that the rate for runaways is probably closer to prostitutes than to fisherman, in which case we would certainly rather runaways be working in the US’s most dangerous legal profession than out on the streets. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/32 "2009-09-11T23:42:36Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Runaways often turn to prostitution as work, in the US. This is because as runaway children they can’t find legal work I had to stop there. I can’t imagine your grasp on the issue gets better as the post goes on. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294/33 "2009-09-11T23:59:56Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I had to stop there. I can’t imagine your grasp on the issue gets better as the post goes on. Well I’m glad you’ve joined the discussion. Your post has clarified many points for me and everyone else reading the thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalizing-runaways-and-child-labor/507294.md?page=1)