Underage Prostitution

This morning I read a shocking news in Detik about the expulsion of 18 female students of a Junior High School ( SMP ) located in West Jakarta for alleged Prostitution practice.

Although the news did not mention about their age, but generally the age of Junior High School students would range from 12 to 16 years old, thus obviously under aged to make any money, and certainly not by selling their bodies.
According to the Head of the Jakarta Education Agency Taufik Yudi, those girls were not expelled but they resigned voluntarily from the school because they have now realized that they have made mistakes. They will be sent to the Center for Community Study Activity (PKBM), where they will be given formal social education under the guidance of the Jakarta Education Agency, and will receive a Junior High School diploma.
Further, Taufik said that this case has been known by his agency, the school and the Department of Education since November 2008. He also said that those students were only victims of Pimps (Sex Mediator) and Sex Seekers, whereby they were lured to sell their bodies in exchange for money. Therefore, those Pimps and Sex Seekers should be arrested. He hopes that the change of school entry time to 6.30 would bring improvement to the Moral, Ethics, and Religious belief of the students.

In view of the above, I think that focusing attention on how to improve the morality of the students would only temporarily stop Underage Prostitution practice. As long as there are Pimps and Sex Seekers who will make use of them, such practice will always exist.