Author’s Note

A few years ago, the school district where I teach put together a video in conjunction with JustAskVa.org to warn teenagers, parents, and educators about teen sex trafficking. The public service announcement outlined the methods traffickers used, profiled the types of girls they victimized, and discussed where it was happening.

Traffickers often look like the homecoming king or the captain of the football team; the girls they traffic don’t have a “type”—they could be the girl next door, or the girl down the street living in a wealthy neighborhood; and the trafficking is happening within the schools. Girls are being recruited by other girls who work for the traffickers. A trafficker (a pimp) might be that straight A student from math class or they might be a gang member.

Although my first novel was about sex trafficking, I focused on international rings or connections between prostitution and pornography. After watching this documentary, I followed up with more research and found many news articles pertaining to teen sexting scandals, high school prostitution rings, and parties sponsored by traffickers for the purpose of sexual exploitation. I couldn’t believe how many news stories I found. It seems sexting is epidemic, and in-school trafficking is on an upward trend.

Just this year, a former student of mine—the homecoming princess of the junior class—went to a party where she was given miscellaneous, crushed-up drugs to snort. She later mixed that with anti-anxiety medication. She made it home, climbed into bed, and never woke up. This party took place in a wealthy neighborhood, and the parents were home at the time.

Drug use and sex trafficking go hand-in-hand. As a teacher in the public schools, I have seen and heard far too much to delude myself that these things don’t happen. They happen every weekend, in every state around the nation, in every socio-economic demographic. We live in a time where kids are sacrificed on the altar of busy lives, high-powered jobs, and dissolution of the family unit. Many teenagers have no moral code and think everything they do is up to chance; nothing they do matters.

Even so, there are some kids who stay above the fray. They have a sense of right and wrong, a need for God in their lives, and an obligation to serve others. I’ve had the privilege of knowing some of those wonderful kids. They remind me that God is on the move amongst today’s youth.

For more information on teen sex trafficking, sexual exploitation or pornography addictions, check out these resources:

Just Ask Prevention Project

http://justaskprevention.com/

Polaris Project

http://polarisproject.org/

National Center on Sexual Exploitation

http://endsexualexploitation.org