Definitions ARE important. This is not a cryptic problem limited to economic graphs of ups and downs.I'm intrigued. Not with the story. I know the story all too well. I was one of those kids. \"The Life\" is anything but unfamiliar. The so-called story is compelling enough. But so are the responses to it.Run. Away.The kids are right. Typically, the mainstream response is simply more twisting in the wind. It's so easy to say: it's terrible. Duhh. Sure, it's terrible. So is the superficial level of awareness. It's not so easy to confront the dynamics of the problem. The kids are right who tell me that no one wants to really dig too far down. It's dangerous.For one thing, males are stereotyped in most reporting as the perpetual criminal element. Illuminating. I would argue they are often enough also young boys -- who are not criminal in any way but are victims -- who are trafficked but trafficked cloaked in far more secrecy than the girls. I would also argue that culture will never make any real dents in the quid pro quo of child-sexual slavery until it can confront the reality that this sort of sickening prostitution is not characterized by a black and white concept limited to race or gender. Girls are trafficked with impunity. So are boys. We just don't want to look too closely.To slot this as a problem of social services alone is the forest for the trees. Sure, these are runaways up against the wall of prostitution. But this is also the heart and soul of human trafficking in Western society; it is most definitely not limited to those \"advanced\" places. Institutions are involved.The \"problem\" certainly has social service angles. But it's never perceived as related in any way to culture and religion.Oh, no, not religion. Yes, religion. How do you think the problem is so easily able to slip back and forth between political and geographic boundaries. As long as we continue to see this as a problem for social workers, we can conveniently avoid the real tentacles which are called organized crime.Most mal...