Raise Awareness:
At Your School
Education is prevention
Our school awareness programs help students and educators at all grade levels learn and understand the risk factors and warning signs of human trafficking.
Lesson Plan Website
Free Lesson Plans for Health & PE Teachers (6th-12th Grade) to help meet current NJ Learning Standards on Human Trafficking.
Guidelines for Schools
Following legislation that the NJCAHT advocated for, the NJ Department of Education in conjunction with the NJ Department of Children and Families and the Office of the Attorney General, and with the input of many stakeholders, has published the Guidelines for Schools on the Prevention of Human Trafficking of Students.
Read the press release HERE
Survivor Inclusivity in Prevention Education
For effective prevention education, students need to be involved in their own learning. The New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking's 5 STEPS TO PREVENTION EDUCATION is survivor inclusive. Having a person with lived experience share their expertise with students is critical, and will inspire students to take action. For more information about the 5 STEPS please contact Education@SaferNJ.org
LOCKER SLAM!
Locker Slam! is a tool schools can utilize as part of the NJCAHT's 5 STEPS TO PREVENTION EDUCATION. It was initially created in 2019 to raise awareness during Human Trafficking Prevention Month which takes place each January, but is now used throughout the school year.
Locker Slam! invites students in schools across New Jersey to lead and engage in conversations about human trafficking, from ways to prevent trafficking, supporting survivors, and prioritize the health and safety of every student in the state and beyond.
Over the years we've changed how students engaged in this conversation, going from magnets for lockers, to social media "stickers". With this student-led project, we encourage students and schools to participate in our Human Trafficking 101 training, and develop their own social media stickers and plan conversations with other students within their school.
In our new Locker Slam program, we encourage students to make their own art to start conversations about human trafficking, using the hashtag #StudentsForFreedom. Students are also encouraged to create art in any medium that speaks to them, and to share online, with support from the school and their guardians.
If you have questions, please email Education@SaferNJ.org.
Examples of past work:
LOCKER SLAM! Reach Edition
Across the nation, students are participating in virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, increased screen time and feelings of isolation during virtual learning greatly raises the risk of online exploitation of students by predators who are prowling the Internet seeking to establish connections with young people through online games, social media, and messaging apps.
Between March 1 and May 23, 2020, the NJ Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received 2,380 reports from the National Center of Missing & Exploited Children—up from 760 reports in 2019 during the same time period—marking more than a 200% increase. Nationally, the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children experienced a shocking 126% increase in Cyber Tipline reports— from 745,391 in May 2019 to 1,688,109 in May 2020.
Locker Slam 2.0 was designed to provide students and teachers with the opportunity to raise awareness in their school or college communities of online grooming and exploitation—especially during January’s Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Participants will share virtual stickers on social media, attach them to email signatures, and post them on the Internet. They can also share the virtual stickers on systems such as Google Classroom, Canvas, Blackboard, Schoology, and more with their learning community. We encourage students and teachers to post their images under #StudentsForFreedom on social media to further raise awareness as a collective group of individuals dedicated to making a difference. The Locker Slam! 2.0 digital toolkit was released on Tuesday, January 5th, 2021.
Pre-K and Elementary School
Our Safe Saturdays program for pre-K and elementary school children is based around a multi-lingual coloring book and song, focusing on how to stay safe. It's an ideal program for your local library, and grants are available to help libraries afford the books.
Apply for the Safe Saturdays program HERE.
Contact INFO@SAFERNJ.ORG for more information.
Other Resources
Access NJCAHT’s resources on how to talk about human trafficking with students.
Inspiring Student Activism
Human Trafficking Lesson Plan
