I will not tolerate people who encourage the division of families(Vol#1 Mother whose son was addicted to MLM)

Profile

• Interviewee ：Ms. S (Female in her 50s)

• Date of interview ：2022.3

• Relationship with MLM：Son is a college student active member (from 2020.5)

• MLM company (Company X) ：Provides lecture videos and other services to members, and has been in business for about five years since its launch

Trigger

May 2020. My son was a sophomore in college at that time.

At our usual dinner table, in front of me and my eldest daughter, he said, “I got a DM from a person on Twitter that sounds interesting. I'm thinking to talk about him”.

I thought it would not be a good idea to reject him out of hand because of his delicate age, so I just told him to be careful. He began to receive "lectures" from his boss named K about once a week from evening to late at night, and a few weeks later, he told me that he had become a member of X.

After that, the number of lectures and/or meetings increased to three, and then, five times a week. As parents, we were concerned, but we could hear his happy, cheerful voices coming from his room, so we tried to be positive that he was not involved with a bad organization.

At first he didn't look strange and we've chatted together, but the situation gradually changed. He stopped participating in family events and missed dinners because of meetings, and he tended to stay in his room.

Running away from home

September 2020. He told me that he wanted to take a year off from school next year to focus on "business". I encouraged him to talk about it with his father, and the three of us had a meeting to discuss it. At the meeting, we were explained an overview of Company X and how to monetize (he told that it's MLM business). My husband said, “MLM is a form of business, and I'm not telling you not to do it. However, if you are going to do it, learn how the business works in detail and do it well so that you can make a profit. But I want you to graduate from college and balance your college life and MLM.” I said, “I don't like MLM because I have memories that I broke with my friendships. But if you want to do it, you have to balance it with your studies."

My son just replied, “Okay.

October 2020. He attended a shipboard party hosted by Company X. The relationship between his father and him was so good just before the party that he asked for advice on a suit to wear. After the party, he talked with one of executives of Company X until dawn, and at 5:00 a.m. the next morning, he returned home, packed his belongings and left without telling his family anything. The letter that we found afterward said, “I want to live my own life. I won't contact you anymore. You don't have to pay my tuition any more.” He also blocked our LINE accounts.

We contacted the police and filed a missing persons report but we were told there was not much they could do since he was an adult.

Contact from son

Since then, I didn’t know whether he was dead or alive. About two months later, in early December 2020, I suddenly received a LINE message from him, saying, “I am doing well and can earn money. Don't worry,” along with his picture at the place where it looked like an awards ceremony. And at the end of December, he visited me and asked me to transfer the deposit he had saved.

When I asked him why he had left home without telling anything and what he had done since then, he replied, “I ran away from home and decided not to contact parents for two months so that I wanted to make up my mind. But now that my business is going better, I contacted you to reassure you. Before now, I was staying in one room sharing with my boss “K”, but decided to rent another room. I need a sum of money for initial expenses.” For the time being, it seemed that the son was doing well, and he mentioned that he would like to keep in touch with us in the future, so I decided to transfer the money and see how things went. After that, he also began to return home once a month.

March 2021, invited by him, we visited Kansai, where he lived.

He had rented the apartment for about 30,000 yen per month (far low compared to the normal) in the city, a popular tourist destination. In the small room, goals and mottos were pasted all over the walls and the windows were covered with them. His way of living made me sad.

My son planned one day tour for us. We visited tourist attractions during the day, and at night, we went to a stylish Italian restaurant. The dessert plate said “Thank you, father and mother.” Afterwards we went to a bar with a beautiful night view. I understood his kindness and his desire for us to somehow understand what he was doing, therefore I told him to take this year off from school and give it his all.

Sudden Return

August 2021, my son suddenly called me, "Can I go home today?." After his returning home, I didn't ask him anything and just watched him. Later, he told me, "I had trouble with my neighbors due to meetings that continued until midnight every night, and I was worried that I couldn’t earn money, so I felt an urge to escape." Then, something revealed that he had borrowed money from a consumer loan company. It also turned out that he had borrowed money by falsely claiming to be an employee of the company run by company X CEO .

He was in arrears with rent and utilities, and when I told him that this situation was abnormal and he said, "Okay. I'm not going back to Kansai."

However, the relief was short-lived. After attending an offline meeting organized by Company X in Kansai, he returned home to his room and began not talking to us. In early October, he again returned to Kansai, saying, "It makes sense to live NEAR the head of Company X. There is an opportunity to learn a lot firsthand." After that, when I occasionally contacted him, he received a reply, but the LINE was blocked by him again.

It is unclear where he is and how he is doing.

He was scheduled to return to school in April 2022, but I haven’t heard from him yet.

What I feel

The Company X’s CEO said, "The rights and income is completely different from that of ordinary companies, so it is useless to talk about it to your parents because parents cannot understand it." CEO is kind of a guru whom my son admires, so even if we talked deeply with him, he would not listen. Until then, my son must have had feelings and anxieties of wanting us to understand him, but in the past six months, when he was away from us again and surrounded by his friends, he seems to have completely blown away.

At Company X, when someone does something outstanding, such as leaving school or retiring companies, they are encouraged among peers.

My son used to say, "Everyone is always positive and not negative. I am always praised for being well grown-up despite my age.”

The encouragement is unfounded and unaccountable, but it seems to dispel my son’s temporary anxieties. When I see elderly members who have children and grandchildren tweeting to members, "Life is only one time! Let's blow it up!" I want to ask, "Can you say the same words to your children and grandchildren?."

My son told me, "Everyone at Company X enjoys life. Mom doesn't look happy."

For six months after my son ran away from home, I cried aloud every day.

Even now, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my son, but I still try to inspire myself to think about my own life also. I still cry when I see students and their parents during the graduation and entrance ceremony season.

How did this happen?

I know my son has some problems, such as his weakness and inability to think critically. But I can't forgive people who use this weakness to their advantage, brainwash people, and encourage family division. I don't know what to do. But there's no way I should do nothing. I think this is the worry and frustration of many families whose children or other family members are deeply into MLM business.

I came across this MLM Victims Association and found out that there are people in the same situation as me and we could share information with each other. That made me feel lighter.

Instead of just worrying and suffering, I was able to think positively about what I should or shouldn't do.

I am truly grateful for the establishment of this association.