PROTECT, which stands for PRevention Organized To Educate Children on Trafficking, is a joint collaboration between three non-profit organizations, 3Strands Global Foundation, Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, and Love Never Fails, in partnership with the California Department of Education and the Office of the Attorney General for the State of California.
The focus of the program is not only to educate adults and children about human trafficking, but empower them to identify signs of trauma as a means of preventing exploitation. Trauma and trafficking are inherently connected, and in order for us to really understand how this impacts our community, we must all come together to learn more about it.
The more we know, the more we can keep ourselves and others safe.
As a teacher in a small town, it is easy to believe that issues such as human trafficking simply don't happen in our community. However, after this training, I realize that these problems may be occurring here, despite our sense of security. Moreover, this training has helped me understand the importance of educating our students regarding these issues. Our students need to be able to avoid bad situations and realize when they are being exploited. These skills will help them their entire lives.
After receiving the training, my professional role has surely changed. I will now be aware and vigilant of risk signals that my students exhibit. My role as a teacher will be not only to instruct, but to protect.
Wow, the statistics are staggering! How incredibly sad yet important for me as an educator to help my students to be informed, to be able to identify the signs of and to listen to their gut to stay away from anyone or thing that could possibly lead to trafficking.
After watching these videos and hearing the testimonials, I immediately spoke to my daughter who is in high school. It made me think of all the things she does online and even though she is bright, strong, and has an abundance of self-confidence, I just never really know if she truly understands how she could easily be swept up in this horrific event. So if my daughter is vulnerable, any child can be.
I am grateful to have had these trainings and believe that the more community members made aware, the safer our children and futures will be.
I always knew that human trafficking was an issue but not nearly to the extent that it is. I never thought it was in our backyard. I also had no idea of the severity of how social media is drawing our youth in.
Vanessa Russell - Love Never Fails, Ashlie Bryant - 3Strands Global Foundation, Robert Benz and Kenneth Morris - Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives
