Juvenile courts are set aside for children. The goal of these courts is to help children who are in trouble, not to punish them. A juvenile is any person under the age of 18. A few states set the age at 16 or 17. Children may have to appear in juvenile court if they are chronically disobedient, truant, or if they run away from home. These acts are not crimes, and the youths who engage in these behaviors are called status offenders. A status offender is a youth who is judged to be beyond the control of his or her parents or guardian, and may be turned over to the authorities. This is a young person who continually creates problems in his or her family, school, and community. A juvenile delinquent, on the other hand, is a juvenile who has been charged with breaking the law. He or she may have dropped out of school, may be a member of a gang, may have trouble with alcohol or drugs, and so on.