Greg's Corner

Are traffickers targeting your kids through social media?

When an a news article or blog post asks a question in the headline the answer is usually no. However, with this blog post the answer is actually yes, but with more context then these type of articles would normally give. Recently, the tabloid-ish New York Post recently ran an article entitled “Sex traffickers are using social media to target children.” The Post article seems to imply that with Backpage’s closure, pimps and traffickers are turning to social media to recruit new victims. While I’m sure that there has been an increase in traffickers turning to social media, this is nothing new.

Pimps and traffickers have been targeting children on social media since at least the days of MySpace. More recently, traffickers troll apps like Instagram and Snapchat in order to approach potential new victims. Usually these culprits promise their victims lives of wealth. Sometimes they’ll tell their victims that they could be models or singers, or they’ll approach their victims romantically then proclaim to be their boyfriend when they’ve told other victims the same thing.

So what can parents do to prevent their kids from falling under the control of a pimp? One of the best thing to do is monitor your child’s social media accounts. Question any comment or message left by someone that you think is inappropriate. If your child can’t identify someone on their friends list as someone they know in real life then that friend probably doesn’t need to be on their friends list. You may also want to consider holding on to your child’s devices at bedtime, this way no one can be messaging your kids at night away from the eyes of parents.

The most important thing you can do is talk to your children and let them know that there are people online who are looking to take advantage of them and how they can recognize the signs. In most cases, all it takes is a little parental diligence to keep your kids from ending up in the hands of these modern-day slave traders.