[WARNING: Serious post]

Many of my chi’ren* are “missing” from social media today to recognize the multitudes who are missing because they have been stolen from their families and sold into slavery.

Yes, I’m being completely serious. Slavery. It’s real and it’s all around you.

Today, Drudge linked to this article on CNN Money: “Pimps hit social networks to recruit underage sex workers.”

Of course, to be clear, “recruit” here should actually be “abduct” and “sex workers” should be “sex slaves.” In case you have any doubt about that…

One 17-year-old solicited on Facebook allowed Strom to pick her up in his car at her home, but when he spelled out what he expected, she told Strom she wanted out. In response, he “slammed her head against the window of the vehicle,” forced her to ingest cocaine… That night, he took her to an apartment complex and rented her out to 14 men. The encounter netted Strom $1,000.

If you don’t think that’s “abduction” and “sex slavery”, you need a new dictionary.

I see to it that my chi’ren know that the internet is dangerous. They know that their Facebook profiles need to be private. Even then, they are never to post their phone number or address. They are never to talk to strangers online. And they know if (and I do) catch them doing any of these things, I will rage all over them (and inform their real parental units).

Do your chi’ren know these things? I know the list of things to “talk to your children” about is getting longer every day, but you can not let this one slide!

Set the rules and stick to them. Your child’s cell phone and computer are your property, not theirs. You can and should view their browser history, text messages, and contact lists often. Require that your child add you to all of their social networks (including Twitter and Instagram).

They may hate you for it now, but they’re teenagers. They’re supposed to hate you. That’s why there are folks like me in their youth group! They love me! And when they come to me crying about their horrible parents, I’ll pat them on the shoulder and give you a thumbs up behind their back.

* “My chi’ren” is how I refer to the young folks who have grown up in the Glenview Baptist Church youth program. I love them all as if they were my own and if you mess with them, I will find you and it will be a bad day.