On February 22, the Bonita Vista High (BVH) Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) hosted attorney Cheryl Sueing Jones as a guest speaker on human trafficking safety. Jones spoke in the BVH cafeteria and presented information on the dangers of human trafficking and how to detect signs of traffickers.
Within her presentation Jones stressed how students must recognize the many signs of a trafficker attempting to manipulate or convince a student into becoming one of their victims. One method Jones discussed was traffickers using social media to find students’ online life and issues to then provide a false safe space for students.
“Human traffickers use students’ social media to learn things about them, befriend them and gain their trust. It is all in effort so that they can exploit them,” Jones said.
Moreover, building trust with students comes from a variety of methods: helping with problems, comfort and aiding the manipulated victims with any favors or personal affairs. Jones further explains why traffickers use such methods in order to build a relationship with their targets.
“The human traffickers are really trying to get in your head and find out where your vulnerabilities are. So that they can find what you need and be the person to meet those needs, ” Jones said.
Jones presented information on how comfort and problem solving come into play for younger and more troubled individuals who are at risk of making rash decisions with those they have no true connection with. Instead of speaking with family or a close friend, they will instead find a stranger that has the exact need of theirs and find themselves hooked on this so-called “perfect person”.
“Traffickers will prey on girls most frequently who don’t have a home or a home life and do not have parents that pay attention to them. They will create a false persona who is kind and cares for the students they approach,” PTSA President Kathleen Yetter said.
Yetter and Jones both expressed their similar views on how traffickers convince their victims into being coerced. Moreover, Yetter explained how students and schools can take action with stressing caution and spreading awareness against trafficking.
“Taking action is getting information to the students, parents and the community. Then explaining to be smart; not putting yourself in a position where you could be trafficked,” Yetter said.
The PTSA meeting had a wide variety of attendees with parents and students. One of the attendees was BVH senior Miguel Rodriguez who hoped to uncover more information about human trafficking safety.
“[The presentation was] quite informative as it covered how many people could be out there to manipulate someone who is unsuspecting of their near future. Anyone could really be that person,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez reflected on Jones’ presentation and connected it to his own life as a student who is at risk of encountering a dangerous situation. Furthermore, Rodriguez speaks as a teen himself to warn others about human traffickers.
“I would stress that something to look out for is getting approached by a group of people that you may not usually meet with or that you may not typically see around you. For example, when you get invited to outings where you know there would typically be a lot of people that you may not know,” Rodriguez said.
The PTSA’s goals in Jones presentation on trafficking safety is having a starting point for future presentations about similar topics to spring off of. The more knowledge individuals have about the subject, the safer students will feel in their personal lives.
“The best thing we can do is to be aware and to raise awareness. I talk to parents about how to protect their children and I talk to teenagers about how to protect themselves,” Jones said.
