This month marks the 11th anniversary of the suicides and murders of 914 followers of Rev. Jim Jones's Peoples' Temple in the jungles of Jonestown, Guyana. Today thousands of young children and young teens are still caught up in the nightmare of authoritarian cult life. Some are born into cults or brought in when one or both parents join, others live at home but are members of cults.
Some cults actively recruit young teens and children.
Cults are groups or movements exhibiting an excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing. They employ unethically manipulative tecniques of persuasion and control designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the detriment of members, their families or the community. They employ deceptive recruiting techniques. For example, they may not identify the group immediately, explain what the group is really about or reveal how much time, energy or money will be required. Leaders weaken the followers psychologically, undermining other support systems such as friends, families and clergy.