Video Catalog > Mental Health

This timely drama about four teens who consider running away on Christmas Eve is a candid, honest depiction of problems facing today's young people. Some of them can cope; others either contemplate suicide, run away from home or simply ignore the situation until it nearly destroys their lives. The story is told in flashback by the narrator, "Speed," who is on a bus home after a year in New York City. Speed's family is poor and his father was an alcoholic who died from drinking; his mother blames Speed. Speed introduces us to: Tony, whose ambiguous sexual preference is the subject of his father's drunken wrath. Mo, a girl who is unable to ward off her stepfather's incestuous advances. Kevin, the "golden boy" whose parents give him everything but love and attention.

Though the characters come from different economic and racial backgrounds, they form a bond of friendship based on the need to survive in their dysfunctional families. Running Home takes the viewer inside each teen's home and explores the range of abusive behavior he or she must endure. Their painful stories are based on the experiences of runaways and counseling clients and there are no happy endings. Parents, educators, and teenagers will find valuable lessons in this production.

Color, 58 minutes, VHS

Price : $150.00

Awards: Emmy, Blue Ribbon, AFTVF