Do you know who your child is talking to online? Chances
are, even if you keep a close eye you don’t. It’s very easy to brush it off, to
tell yourself that you don't have any reason to worry, your child is ‘good’ and your kid ‘would never talk to a stranger’. Or maybe it’s
simple to believe they are just making ‘friends’ from out of town, or possibly
out of state. You may believe that your child is ‘too innocent’ or possibly ‘too
smart’ to be involved in anything dark or dangerous. You keep a good home, you
give all the love and attention they need, they get good grades, they visit
their grandparents and still go to Girl Scouts.
None of this matters.
The sad truth is, many children fall prey to very charming,
very innocent seeming, very persistent predators. These hunters no longer need
to snatch kids off the street, they can lure them in from the comfort of their
living room sofa. They win them over with compliments, or a shoulder to lean
on. They make promises of a luxurious life that maybe a parent can’t provide. They
convince them they want to take care of them and love them like nobody has.
Even if a young girl – or boy- has a wonderful home life with love all around
them, some may find this very enticing.
“Jenny” comes from a stable household. She plays sports and
studies hard. Her best friend has recently gotten herself a boyfriend and Jenny
is finding herself alone in much of her spare time. She surfs online. One day
she gets a friend request from “Rob” who saw her picture and thought she was
pretty cute. She thinks he’s a good looking guy, and chatting is innocent
enough, right? It doesn’t take long before Rob hones in on Jenny’s loneliness and
picks up on her weaknesses. She doesn’t feel quite pretty enough, so she hasn’t
had a boyfriend yet. Rob sees to it that he fills the void, showering her with
compliments and telling her everything she hoped a boy would one day say to
her. She’s beautiful, she’s sexy, he would love to have a girl like her.
One day Jenny has a fight with her dad and Rob is there for
her to cry to. He suggests she come visit him, take some time away from her
family, her strict school schedule. She has a little bit of birthday money
saved but it isn’t enough for the bus ticket. Rob makes all of the financial
arrangements, and before anyone realizes she’s gone she is hundreds of miles
from home.
She meets up with Rob and he is everything she’d hoped. He’s
handsome, he’s sweet, he will take care of her. They head to a hotel for their
first night together and although still charming, he is putting pressure on
her. Pressure to be ‘his girl’. When she resists, he becomes angry and she says
she wants to go home. But you see, she has no money, she is dependent on Rob
now and Rob wants the money back that he spent for her bus ticket to get her
there.
Rob has an idea for her to make some quick cash. She starts
to cry and says she wants to call home, her parents would send her a ticket,
but you see Rob can’t allow that because then he will be in trouble. If she
doesn’t do as he says there will be consequences to her and possibly to her
family. He reminds her that he knows a lot about her, like where her little sister
goes to school.
Just like that, Jenny is trapped. Jenny now belongs to Rob.
Jenny is 13.
“There are 100,000- 300,000 underage girls being sold for sex in
America today. The average age of entry into prostitution is 12-14 yrs old. 1
out of 3 teens on the street will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of
running away from home. Minor victims are sold on average 10-15 times EVERY
DAY, 6 days a week. 55% of internet child porn comes from the US. 1 out of 5
pornographic images are of a child.”
CHILDREN ARE NOT PROSTITUTES THEY ARE VICTIMS AND THEY ARE
SOMEBODY’S CHILD!
These are not bad kids. These are not ‘loose’, ‘wild’, or ‘screwed
up’ girls and boys. These are confused, scared children who are victims.
Please not only pay attention, but WARN YOUR CHILDREN. So
many people feel this can’t happen to them, or they believe this is something
that happens in another part of the world. This is happening HERE to OUR KIDS.
Sit with your child. Go to youtube.com and search American
trafficking and watch. Be disgusted. Be sad. Be outraged. Be terrified.
For confidential help and information 24/7, call the US National Human
Trafficking Resource Center: 1-888-3737-888
