A number of months ago, there was a news story and video of a woman attempting to load a number of items and a child into a car on a windy day.
When it was the child’s turn to go in the car, the lady turned to assist the little one only to see the baby and stroller quickly rolling away unattended towards a busy street with fast moving traffic.
Just as the stroller got to the sidewalk, an angel of a man who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, caught the wind-propelled child before tragedy could claim its victim.
The man said he wasn’t a hero, just lucky enough to be able to do what anyone would have done if given similar circumstances.
So, would you, assuming the circumstances were yours at the time, have attempted to catch the child and stroller before it met certain heartbreak?
If you answered yes, or would have at least tried, keep reading – this story is for you. If you answered no, keep reading – you need a story like this.
In our world, there exists a diverse number of good and bad characters. Count yourself as one of the good and prepare yourself to made aware of opportunities to save the lives of innocent children from around the globe.
Some of the bad characters choose to traffic innocent children. It is a big business with an estimated 40+ million victims overall, including 10 million children. (Data is from https://ourrescue.org)
Human trafficking is second only to illegal drugs in the United States as the largest illicit industry. Children are trafficked for a number of various forms including forced marriage, armed militia (child soldiers), sex-tourism, begging, migrant farming, pornography, sweatshops, domestic labor, and begging.
Of those several forms of human trafficking, the U.S. sees about 72% of detected survivors being handled for sexual exploitation.
There are approximately 70 million child sexual abuse material (CSAM) files as of 2019 and almost 55 million of those files involve children under 12 years of age.
CSAM refers to content created in the form of photos, videos, live-streaming, and digital images as well as computer generated images that are indistinguishable from a live human.
It is a fact that child sex trafficking has been reported in every state in America. In Utah, just in 2021, 78 human trafficking cases involving 118 victims were reported. Of those 78 cases, 82% involved sexual exploitation. (https://htcourts.org/utah/#)
As of 2020, the internet is the primary location for all forms of human trafficking. The internet is also the chief place to learn to fight human trafficking and to protect our loved ones and neighbors around the world.
In the recent non-Hollywood independent film, “Sound of Freedom”, a true and innocent scenario is played out that causes a man to lose two of his children to traffickers while it is his understanding that he is helping his kids to further their talents and to earn respect along life’s journey.
The Child Rescue Coalition (https://childrescuecoalition.org/educations/), has a number of educational ideas available for parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, and concerned individuals that want to learn what can be done to combat this alarming trend of child abuse in various forms.
Here are Ten Tips from experts:
1. Have access to their passwords – extremely helpful if someone goes missing. Easily adapted to remaining in a sealed envelope “in case.”
2. Monitor their online activity with apps or software. Potential issues of concern are flagged, giving you a sense of peace.
3. Sign a two-way family contract that outlines expectations for everyone.
4. Agree that no devices are allowed in the child’s bedroom, especially at night. This helps keep predators away from your loved ones.
5. Don’t ‘friend’ others not personally known to you or your children. Fake profiles are all over the web – and can be found in social media.
6. Have open dialogue with the children. Don’t avoid certain subjects because they are uncomfortable in nature. Let them also approach you with subjects that is of concern or creates curiosity for them.
7. Pause before you post online. 39% of teenagers report posting online and later regretting. Parents could also learn from this little tidbit.
8. Common area charging of devices. This allows kitchens and living rooms to serve as open areas of device monitoring.
9. Online games must have parental control settings. Nearly 60% of kids in the 8 to 12-year-old range play online games not intended for children.
10. Employ a weekly device check of all devices. Don’t have a scheduled day and time, vary it a little bit to get honest evaluations.
Everyone must realize “God’s children are not for sale” as was expressed in “Sound of Freedom.”
Like many things in today’s world, we must become vigilant in preserving our freedoms. Let’s pitch in and help make this world better for everyone.
