When I was a kid, I often complained that my parents were overprotective. I couldn’t go here or there, I couldn’t do this or that, typical kid stuff. They worried about many things, including my getting kidnapped. Since I was invincible, I didn’t like being restricted for my own protection. Neither did I want to view every stranger as potentially evil and worthy of distrust.

Time and parenthood tend to change things. After tonight, I find myself wanting to buy a shotgun and post 24-hour watch around my sons.

Tonight I attended a benefit screening of Playground, a documentary about child sex trafficking. While certainly not a pleasant way to spend my Friday evening, seeing this film opened my eyes to a very dark world that is all around us but rarely mentioned.

Using a mixture of expert commentary, statistics, personal stories, and haunting artwork, Playground introduced me to a world where children are regularly kidnapped, abused, and forced into prostitution and pornography. It’s easy to assume that such things only happen in Thailand or Cambodia, but they are just as real in America. The market for this industry in America is huge. The forces fighting back are understaffed, underfunded, and undersupported.

Why don’t we talk more about this topic? Many of us simply don’t know it’s such a problem. Many would prefer to discuss happier topics like football or American Idol. Sadly, many of us have been victims ourselves or know someone who has, and we don’t want to dredge up painful memories. After the film ended, one of the speakers said that one in four girls and one in six boys are abused in some way by age 18. In a class of 30 high school seniors, that’s roughly six of them. Let that sink in for a minute.

How can you help? I’m struggling with the same question. My first step is to spread the word via this blog and other means, shining a bit of light into this horrid darkness. You can also learn more and possibly even get involved through the following websites:

• New Friends New Life – A Dallas-based organization that helps women, many of whom were trafficked as children, leave the sex industry
• Traffick 911 – A Fort Worth-based organization that fights child sex trafficking in the US, particularly in Texas
• Love 146 – Another organization that fights child trafficking and exploitation worldwide

Child sex trafficking is a complex problem with many facets and no single solution. Knowing the enemy is the first step toward fighting back.