For Educators and Youth Workers: A Story of Student Exploitation

It seemed like a hopeful invitation. A ninth grader, new to town, was invited to her first party — a chance at new friends in a new school. Her parents, not yet knowing anyone to ask about it, let her go.

At that party, she was sexually assaulted by multiple people. It was the beginning of two years of captivity.

She was given a phone, told to keep it hidden and silenced, and to check it hourly. A text meant she had to reach a specific location — often just a short walk from school or home — by a set time. She was warned that if she told anyone, her family, especially her younger siblings, would pay the price. Her love for them became the trafficker's leverage.

Two years in, her father's job transferred the family to another town. That move was her way out — though she wouldn't speak of what happened for years, until the weight of it could no longer stay buried.

I first heard her story while researching human trafficking with colleagues during my time as a college professor. Parts of it have never left me. How did she carry that silence so long? What did the people around her make of the child they no longer recognized?

She told her parents she hated her new school, and eventually they stopped pushing. Her teachers, with no knowledge of who she'd been before, read her exhaustion and withdrawal as just another "troubled kid." At a parent-teacher conference, when her parents described the smart, funny daughter they knew, the teachers assumed they simply couldn't see her flaws. Her parents began to wonder if their daughter was right — maybe this really was a bad school, full of mean kids and indifferent teachers.

Every adult in her life, without meaning to, played into the trafficker's hands. The manipulation was seamless. She was one of the fortunate ones — she had a way out. Most young people trapped in trafficking never do.

The story above happened over twenty years ago. Traffickers now have many ways to entrap victims of all ages and they are social media masters of disguise. Parents and teachers alike – please check the security settings on your own social media accounts and be cautious about what you share – even with those who are in your friend or follower groups.

To help educators and youth workers recognize the signs, we're sharing a resource from one of our trusted sources.

Educator's Human Trafficking Awareness & Prevention Toolkit - Human Trafficking Search

An online training module is also available for educators.

Human Trafficking Training - Polaris

If you would like to invite someone to speak at a faculty meeting or to students of any age about trafficking, just call us (334.804.4848)!