Latest / Cyrus Webb's tracks / Juanae Johnson of the Center for Countering Human Trafficking discusses tips for keeping children safe

Transcript

Juanae Johnson of the Center for Countering Human Trafficking discusses tips for keeping children safe · Cyrus Webb's tracks

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Conversations Live. I'm your host,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Cyrus Webb. Glad you all could join us once again.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: For a radio audience tuning in at WYED 94.1 FM
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  Speaker 1: and WYEDonline.com, we're glad that you all can be with us. Also,
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  Speaker 1: join us online worldwide via our podcast at iHeartRadio and
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Amazon Music, we're glad you all could be with us
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  Speaker 1: as well. This is part of a music and news
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  Speaker 1: segment here at WYED, and today we're talking about protecting
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  Speaker 1: your children from human trafficking attacks. During the back-to-school season,
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  Speaker 1: the back-to-school season is a critical time for traffic and
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  Speaker 1: prevention as youth may face increased risk both online and
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  Speaker 1: even in their communities. As students settle into new routines,
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  Speaker 1: it's important to help young people recognize the warning signs
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  Speaker 1: of trafficking, trust their instincts, and know where to turn
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  Speaker 1: for support not only for themselves but but also for
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  Speaker 1: their fellow students as well. Here to talk to us
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  Speaker 1: more about this, we're excited to welcome Janae Johnson to
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  Speaker 1: our broadcast today. Janae is a special agent acting section
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  Speaker 1: chief of the training section of the Center for Countering
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  Speaker 1: Human Trafficking. Janae, thank you again for stopping by. I
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  Speaker 1: really appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to
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  Speaker 2: be here.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Janae, this is an important topic for our audience.
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  Speaker 1: And unfortunately, I think, you know, as we're talking about
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  Speaker 1: the school, you know, we had an incident here in
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  Speaker 1: Mississippi recently, even at a movie theater where someone tried
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  Speaker 1: to lure a young person away. What misconceptions can make
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  Speaker 1: it harder, though, Janae, for young people to recognize human
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  Speaker 1: trafficking when they or a peer may be at risk?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. One of the biggest things that we notice
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  Speaker 2: is a huge misconception is that trafficking does not always
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  Speaker 2: look like kidnapping. It often begins with a relationship, attention, promises, gifts, money,
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  Speaker 2: or someone finding an unmet need and meeting those unmet needs.
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  Speaker 2: And the trafficker is often someone we know, someone we trust,
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  Speaker 2: may initially be a boyfriend or a girlfriend, a friend
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  Speaker 2: or a mentor. And so it's just important to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that we educate our children on what healthy relationships
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  Speaker 2: look like because human trafficking doesn't always begin with force.
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  Speaker 2: It also can begin with trust, and then that trust
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  Speaker 2: is exploited.
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  Speaker 1: Right. Such a great point, and I'm so glad you
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  Speaker 1: brought that up. You know, for our audience, though, if
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  Speaker 1: a young person is concerned about themselves or a What
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  Speaker 1: actions can they take and where can they turn for help?
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  Speaker 2: The most important thing that they can do is to
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  Speaker 2: tell a trusted adult, a parent, a teacher, a counselor,
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  Speaker 2: a school resource officer. And for my parents, be that
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  Speaker 2: trusted adult. Or for my teachers, be that trusted adult.
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  Speaker 2: Provide a safe place for children to come and talk
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  Speaker 2: to you and disclose. But also remember, never confront or
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  Speaker 2: investigate the situation yourself. leave that up to the law
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  Speaker 2: enforcement officers that do this job well. But if they
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  Speaker 2: are worried about themselves or others, they can contact the
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  Speaker 2: National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. And we're going.
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  Speaker 1: To be linking that up as well, Janay, for our audience,
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  Speaker 1: especially those tuning in on the podcast. You know, you mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: of course, those trusted adults. You know, I don't have
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  Speaker 1: children myself. I do have a nephew. And, of course,
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  Speaker 1: you're always concerned about when you think about them out
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  Speaker 1: and about at school and other places, what can parents, educators,
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  Speaker 1: and other trusted adults do to talk with youth about
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  Speaker 1: human trafficking and encouraging them to ask questions and speak up?
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  Speaker 2: One of the most important things I want to say
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  Speaker 2: is that you don't have to know for certain that
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  Speaker 2: a trafficking incident is occurring before you speak up. So
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  Speaker 2: if something doesn't feel right, tell someone you trust. But
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  Speaker 2: parents and educators, it is never too early to have
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  Speaker 2: this conversation. Begin with age-appropriate conversations, like what healthy relationships
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  Speaker 2: look like, what are boundaries, what can safe behavior feel
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  Speaker 2: like and unsafe behavior feel like. And then also listen
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  Speaker 2: without judging, right? We listen and we don't judge. And
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  Speaker 2: that's important to create an environment where they can tell
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  Speaker 2: you uncomfortable things. And we don't have to scare our
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  Speaker 2: children to prepare our children, right? And so even though
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  Speaker 2: it may sound like a scary topic, the more we
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  Speaker 2: talk about it, the easier it is to recognize and
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  Speaker 2: report it.
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  Speaker 1: I love that point. And, you know, it's not about scaring.
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  Speaker 1: It is about preparing. And I think that's such a
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  Speaker 1: great reminder, I think, for all of us. You know,
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  Speaker 1: of course, the school has a role in this, too.
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  Speaker 1: What steps can schools take, Janae, to help students recognize
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  Speaker 1: potential trafficking situations as well as, of course, safely reporting concerns?
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  Speaker 2: Education, education, and education. Have the conversation. Bring in professionals
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  Speaker 2: to come and bring awareness on what trafficking looks like.
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  Speaker 2: Educate the entire school community, the teachers, the counselors, the students, everyone.
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  Speaker 2: Establish clear reporting pathways, whether that is coming to that
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  Speaker 2: trusted adult and that trusted adult leading you to the
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  Speaker 2: National Human Trafficking Line or leading you to the appropriate authorities.
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  Speaker 2: And then respond in a trauma-informed way. What does that mean?
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  Speaker 2: That literally just means that it's victim-centered, right? That you
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  Speaker 2: place safety for that individual that is coming to you.
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  Speaker 2: Awareness is important, but without having a safe way to report,
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  Speaker 2: awareness isn't enough. So making sure that we have those pathways.
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  Speaker 2: And I just want to say this one last thing,
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  Speaker 2: that human trafficking is ultimately about exploitation. And so what
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  Speaker 2: our traffickers... are doing is they identify a vulnerability and
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  Speaker 2: then they exploit it. So we have to tell and
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  Speaker 2: teach our young people how to recognize when someone is
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  Speaker 2: trying to exploit you by using trust or vulnerability. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: the human trafficking hotline is an important way to report
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  Speaker 2: trafficking incidents.
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  Speaker 1: And if you don't mind, Janae, give that number out again,
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  Speaker 1: if you don't mind.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, it is 1-888-373-7888. And, again, as I mentioned.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to link that up for our podcast audience. Again, everyone,
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  Speaker 1: speaking with us today is a guest who definitely knows
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  Speaker 1: what she's talking about, Janae Johnson. She's a special agent,
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  Speaker 1: acting section chief of the training section of the Center
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  Speaker 1: for Countering Human Trafficking, helping you guys know how to
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  Speaker 1: be able to discuss with your young people, as well
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  Speaker 1: as those in your community, about the dangers of human
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  Speaker 1: trafficking today. during the back-to-school season, but also, I think,
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  Speaker 1: for any time as well. Janae, thank you so much
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  Speaker 1: for the great work you all are doing. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: for spending some time with us today, and looking forward
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  Speaker 1: to our next chat together.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Have a great day.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you as well. And we thank your audience for
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  Speaker 1: tuning in to another great segment of Conversations Live. Until
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  Speaker 1: next time, I'm your host, Cyrus Webster, saying, as always,
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  Speaker 1: enjoy your day, enjoy your life, enjoy your world. Thank
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: you for being with us here at Conversations Live, and
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  Speaker 1: let's go make today amazing. Take care.