Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Bhopal Childline rescued 642 children, mainly teenagers from October 2023 to October 2024 who ran away from their homes in the city, officials said. According to data provided by Childline, 162 children aged between 14 to 17 left home due to academic pressure or after falling in love with someone online.
The data revealed that 118 children who ran away from homes to explore Metro cities and hustle-and-bustle there. About 128 children left house after getting scolded by parents for not paying attention to studies or owing to other mental woes. The numbers raise concerns about the threat social media poses to teenagers in the city.
“Fortunately, the rescued kids who had run away due to online romance did not fall prey to untoward incidents such as flesh trade or human trafficking,” Childline officials said.
Teens belonging to elite families merely 4% As per the data, the teenagers belonging to the elite families, who chose to elope from their houses during the mentioned period are merely 4%. Due to the fact that they are from affluent families and have easy access to money such as credit cards and debit cards, they do not flinch before taking such extreme steps.
Parents must monitor social media activities Psychiatrist Dr Sanjeet Diwan said, “Children have easy access to social media and chat with any unknown person. So, it is parents’ responsibility to monitor their activities. Awareness programmes should be organised at schools.”
