Riverside, CA -- (SBWire) -- 04/27/2015 --There's no way to sugarcoat the facts; over one million predators are online at any one time, and the nation's youth have never faced greater risk of very real harm. In fact, 70% of teens lured into prostitution and sex trafficking were accessed, groomed, recruited or sold through the Internet.
First contact is often made through social media, chat rooms and online games; seemingly-innocent portals of fun that feed predators' illegal behaviors with a constant stream of young people to prey upon. Most adults don't understand the psychology of these predators, but a powerful and urgent new book is about to expose all.
'Seduced - The Grooming of America's Teenagers' exposes how predators use the internet to exploit children, while providing a wealth of simple actionable tips any adult can use to keep their young dependents safe from harm.
Synopsis:
Human trafficking Is the fastest growing crime in America. Three out of four cases involve U.S. citizens, mostly our young people who have been lured, tricked or forced into prostitution or sextortion.
We are at a unique time in history. We have a generation of young people who have never NOT known the Internet and we have generations of parents and grandparents who are techno phobic. Some are techno impotent. Young people live in a secret world where they hold all the power and parents are challenged to find ways to empower their children to learn new technology while finding ways to keep their child safe from predators.
Today we hand our young people devices that opens the door to over ONE MILLION PREDATORS. Never before has there been so much competition to influence your child's morals, spirituality, sexuality, gender identity, self-image and decision-making. That used to be the role of the parent.
Sometimes the results are catastrophic as a girl finds a new found friend on the internet. She gets mad at her folks and sneaks out to the mall and he turns out to be a pimp. This is called Sex Trafficking. Sometimes a guy meets a cute new girl playing video games and she wants a nude photo of him. It turns out to be a 59 year old pedophile and he begins to receive offers for sex from men or threats of black mail. This is called Sextortion. Sometimes it simply opens the door to chat rooms with people we would never allow in our living room. These activities look harmless and sometimes take place in their bedroom or in the back seat of your car.
In the past 12 months the Internet has expanded dramatically introducing video chat rooms, live media streaming and global chat rooms in online gaming. Apps such as Kik, Tinder, Burn Book, and video chat rooms like Omegle, ooVoo and MMORPG's (massive online gaming chat rooms) innocently introduce our children to total strangers. SEDUCED: The Grooming of America's Teenagers is all about how social media and online gaming is used to Access, Groom, Recruit and Exploit our young people.
"The problem is nothing short of terrifying," explains Singleton, who travels throughout Southern California speaking and lecturing on the subject of sex trafficking. "Homeless, foster and runaway youths are still at risk but – for the first time ever – children are no longer safe sat in their own homes, surrounded by their families. It often starts with an innocent chat or interaction, but can quickly evolve into something far more sinister and deadly. Worst of all, predators are masters at scaring their victims into keeping everything secret, so parents rarely become aware until it's too late."
Continuing, "This book attempts to get to the root of the problem from a psychological perspective, examining the catastrophic juxtaposition of a child's desire for love and approval against a predator's direct intention to exploit it. Most adults are not techno-savvy, so this book explains exactly what the problem is, how it came to be – and what we can do to mitigate risk."
Since its release, the volume has garnered a string of rave reviews. For example, Susan Figueroa comments, "Opal Singleton is a dedicated advocate in the fight to end child sex trafficking both domestically and abroad. With her vast knowledge of the subject, she has trained and educated thousands in this fight. This book is an empowerment tool for parents and grandparents who need to understand what it means when a child is handed a smart phone. The FBI suggests that at any given time there are more than one million predators online. These predators may be seeking to lure your child. I highly recommend this book to enlighten you about how they access, groom, recruit and exploit kids!"
'Seduced - The Grooming of America's Teenagers', from Xulon Press, is available now: http://amzn.to/1GbnXqa.
For more information on the author, her speaking schedule and the invaluable work of Million Kids, visit: http://www.millionkids.org.
About Opal Singleton
Opal Singleton is the Training and Outreach Coordinator for the Riverside Human Trafficking Task Force. She has worked with parents and victims of child sex trafficking for many years. She is President and CEO of Million Kids and works with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Opal has trained tens of thousands of government agency personnel, school administrators, corporations, civic groups and faith based organization about how to keep a child safe from sex trafficking. This book and her presentations are based on real cases where young people were groomed and recruited into exploitation. It is eye opening, empowering and urgent.
