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The article explores the attitude toward school and academic competency of young people who decide to run away from home. Every year 1 million young people run away from their homes. These young people run to escape abuse, violence, or conflict. They leave home in search of a safer and better world. The reported pressures that encourage a young person to run away include poor communication between a youth and his or her parents; a youth's fear of abuse, neglect, or sexual exploitation by his or her parents; unreasonable demands or restrictions placed on a youth by his or her parents; disruption within the family system independent of conflicts with a youth; and school-related problems. The act of running away disrupts the educational experience of a young person. If the behavior becomes chronic or if the youth decides to stay away from the home permanently, his or her chances of getting an education become very small. Often young people experience academic problems before running away, and in some cases these problems are the reason the young person decides to run.

The 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 included a provision that reverses the long-standing federal policy of increasing access to higher education. The Drug-Free Student Aid Provision denies federal financial aid to any individual who admits to having been convicted of the possession or the sale of controlled substances. The criminaIization of certain offenses and the exclusion of others seem to be accompanied by an unstated racial and socioeconomic bias. The fact that people of color and individuals of a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be convicted of the possession and sale of controlled substances means that the adoption of this public policy will disallow college access to the very individuals who benefit the most from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]