Campus-Wide10 Months of Awareness
The activities can vary from school to school based on interest and need. We encourage school campuses to consider scope and sequence when creating your menu of activities. Please begin with activities that are non-threatening and build knowledge.
Table of Contents:
- Lunch Time Tabling
- Lunch and Learn for Staff
- All School Assembly
- Movie Screening and Discussion: Chosen
- Create a School-Wide Slogan
- Peer Leaders ASK ME Bracelets
- Survivor Speaker
- Poetry Reading
- Myth Information Game
- Clothesline Project: Telling People’s Stories through Art
- Making T-Shirts
- Fact-of-the-day on Announcements
- Create a Public Service Announcement
- Social Media Challenge
- Chalk the Campus
- Letter Writing Campaign
- Parent and Community Outreach
- Consumer Awareness
- Resource Fair
- Fundraiser/Drive
-
Lunch Time Tabling
- Planning time:
- 15 minutes
- How many students can participate:
- Full campus
- Materials:
- Table and chairs, handouts, questions and resources
Tabling is an easy way to introduce students to what sex trafficking is. Your campus can invite an organization into the school to present information, or have your peer leaders or staff run a table. Tabling should be a fun way to interact with students while getting important information out.
- There are games on this website such as a myth information game that can be played. We encourage you to have small giveaways like pieces of candy. You can also just have posters, flyers and resources available.
-
Fundraising: If students want to raise funds for local or national organizations
- Sell wristbands, bookmarks, or pencils
- Sell t-shirts
-
Advocacy: Tabling is also a way in which you can have students advocate for change.
- Start a petition (change.org)
- Start a school pledge
- Support policy changes, such as encouraging students to write letters to state representatives
Suggested agencies to contact to work the table alongside school students or staff help:
- Local police
- Polaris
- Local universities
- Shelters that support trafficked individuals
Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event.
-
Lunch and Learn for Staff
- Planning time:
- 2 hours
- How many students can participate:
- Full Staff
- Materials:
- A space for staff conducive to privacy
If you feel comfortable conducting a Sex Trafficking 101 training for the school staff, please feel free to utilize the resources on this website to do so (show the web module, print the resource lists and training brochures, etc.). It is just an introduction. Remember, you do not have to be an expert. If not, reach out to your local police department or local agency that provides services. Many will be happy to train your staff.
Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event.
-
All School Assembly
- Planning time:
- 5 hours
- How many students can participate:
- All students
- Materials:
-
- Permission slips, thank you card or gift for the speaker if desired
- Space: Identify an area on campus that can accommodate students
Things to consider when planning: Do you want your students to present or local experts and/or police detectives? Make sure you are aware of the information being shared and have it cleared by your administrator. Do you need a permission slip for students to attend? Is the assembly voluntary or mandatory? Do your students have to have permission slips to participate? If so, please see sample permission slips provided on this website. Leave enough time for students to process the information and ask questions at the end. Have counselors, social workers or intervention staff available to process individually if issues arise. Have an opt-out area available to students who choose not to participate.
Follow up after an assembly. Is there going to be tabling at lunch? Counselors available to talk or activities happening during advisory time?
Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event.
-
Movie Screening and Discussion: Chosen
- Planning time:
- 1 hour
- How many students can participate:
- Varies
- Materials:
-
- $49 to purchase the movie
- Space: Identify an area on campus that can accommodate students to watch the film with minimal disruptions.
Cost: $49 to purchase the movie Chosen by Shared Hope International
http://sharedhope.org/product/chosen-packages/Invite students to attend a screening of Chosen. You can make it a fundraiser by providing popcorn or treats for sale. Make sure you have somebody comfortable enough to process the movie with students after and leave plenty of time to discuss it. If students are facilitating, review the questions in advance and make sure they are comfortable asking them. Have a counselor or intervention staff available for questions and disclosures. Be aware of your school and district protocol for dealing with disclosures.
Have resources available. Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event.
-
Create a School-Wide Slogan
- Planning time:
-
- 1 hour to coordinate, make flyers, put it in the announcements
- Length of campaign: 1 week
- How many students can participate:
- Whole School
- Materials:
- Prizes if you choose but not necessary to have funds available
Involve students! Get Student Government or a peer leadership program involved to get the word out. Have a contest. Put it in the announcements. Get it out through clubs or teams on campus. Have a prize available for the most creative slogan.
Sample Slogans: If you hear something, say something, or People are Priceless
Consider utilizing the slogan as a hashtag on social media.
-
Peer Leaders ASK ME Bracelets
- Planning time:
- 2 hours
- How many students can participate:
- All students
- Materials:
- Money (approximately $50 for bracelet supplies)
Use beads and make ASK ME bracelets for students who have information to share. Make them using school colors or bright/bold colors so that the bracelets stand out. GET THE WORD OUT with posters or make sure it is in the announcements so that the general population of the school knows about the ASK ME bracelets. Tabling at lunch (see activity one): make sure to let students know that peer leaders are available on campus wearing the bracelets if they have additional questions.
Make sure all students who wear the bracelets are aware of who can help and support on campus and to refer students to them when disclosures are made. Make sure that the students who wear the bracelets are aware that their job is NOT to counsel but to connect their peers with appropriate resources and supports on campus.
Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the activity.
-
Survivor Speaker
- Planning time:
- 2 hours
- How many students can participate:
- Whole School/Varies
- Materials:
-
- Ask speakers about their speaking fee. A thank you note or small gift is encouraged. Be sure to have water available to the speaker
- Close space large enough to accommodate all students invited
Most local agencies can support you in finding someone that has been a victim of sex trafficking to speak. Make sure to follow your district protocol for campus speakers prior to bringing someone onto your campus.
Things to consider:
- Do students on your campus need permission slips to attend?
- Do you need an opt-out room available?
- Who is going to staff that space?
In addition to having a survivor speaker, students can help survivors by providing household items and food. Ask a survivor what the needs are in the community. Some examples are:
- Creating and packing care kits
- Providing a meal or picnic
- Decorating a home or providing home essentials
Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event.
-
Poetry Reading
(see samples in poetry lesson plan)
- Planning time:
- 2 hours
- How many students can participate:
- Varies
- Materials:
- Prizes if you choose but not necessary to have funds available; Certificates are easy and free and students love to receive them
Who can coordinate this program? Do you have a poetry club on campus? What about a journalism, newspaper or drama group or class?
When is the reading going to happen: in class or after school? Consider making it a district wide event. Invite parents, media or your district Public Information Officer.
Things to consider: identify support staff that can proof read poems prior to the reading to make sure everything is appropriate and no disclosures are made of an unplanned nature.
Have support staff available in case this triggers issues with students or to help in the case that disclosures are made. Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event.
-
Myth Information Game
- Planning time:
- 30 minutes
- How many students can participate:
- Whole School
- Materials:
- Myth Game & Instructions
Prizes/Candy- optional - When:
- During lunch time
- Who:
- This can be run by student leaders such as student government or peer leaders or by staff
This can be done in conjunction with tabling or as a separate event. This would also be a great follow up after an assembly or a speaker. You can have students or staff walking around at lunch asking questions. If the student get the question correct, they (may) receive a piece of candy. Be sure to read the answer, even if the question was answered correctly. We want to be sure to provide students with as much correct information as possible and to dispel any myths that may be out there.
Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event.
-
Clothesline Project: Telling People’s Stories through Art
- Planning time:
- 5 hours
- How many students can participate:
- Whole School
- Materials:
-
- Money to purchase t-shirts (students can also bring their own t-shirts) or cut a t-shirt template out of different colored butcher block paper
- Art supplies: markers, paint, scissors
See this site for ideas and details: http://clotheslineproject.info.
Determine where you are going to display the shirts, how you are going to get the word out and when students are going to create them. Make sure to document the event: take pictures, encourage the student newspaper and yearbook to cover the event and let local media know it is happening. The outcome can be a very powerful visual display of violence students have experienced.
Things to consider: Who is going to sponsor and who is going to facilitate this project? How long will shirts be available to make? What is going to be done with the shirts after the display is taken down?
Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event. Creating the shirts can be an emotional process.
-
Making T-Shirts
- Planning time:
- 2-4 hours
- How many students can participate:
- Varies
- Materials:
- Varies: Is this a fundraiser or an awareness campaign?
Things to consider: Do you want this to be a contest? Do you want this to be an awareness campaign? Do slogans need to be approved by administration before printing for school distribution? Please make sure to check with your school or district to see if you need to use approved vendors prior to buying shirts.
Contests: this can be done through art classes. A prize can be given for the best design.
-
Fact-of-the-Day on Announcements
- Planning time:
- 20 minutes
- How many students can participate:
- Whole School hears the announcements, 1-2 make them
- Materials:
- Facts
If your school has announcements, add one fact or statistic a day for a week. This website provides many facts and statistics. Please feel free to pull and use the information you find in any of the brochures on this website. Another suggested website is: https://polarisproject.org. Have students do the research and pull facts that surprise them. Look for statistics that reflect your community.
Have students read these during announcements for more impact.
-
Create a Public Service Announcement (PSA)
- Planning time:
- 2 hours
- How many students can participate:
- Varies
- Materials:
- May be some cost but can also utilize campus resources; potentially a journalism or media class can take on this project
Does your school have video announcements? Create a PSA and play it during the announcements. Otherwise, direct teachers to a site like YouTube where they can view and screen the PSA for their students.
-
Social Media Challenge
- Planning time:
- Varies
- How many students can participate:
- Whole School or a specific group/class
- Materials:
- Access to the Internet
Use social media. Share your knowledge and create a #hashtag to spread the word or create a social media challenge similar to the: ice bucket challenge used to get the word out for ALS, or the 22 push up challenge to raise awareness about veteran’s suicide. You could also use your campus slogan you came up with #seesomethingsaysomething or #peoplearepriceless
Create a campaign, like the End It campaign highlighted here: https://enditmovement.com/resources.html.
Use Instagram or other platforms to showcase and spread the word.
Make sure you are aware of your campus or district social media policy and get posts approved first. Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports.
-
Chalk the Campus
- Planning time:
- 1 hour
- How many students can participate:
- Varies
- Materials:
- $5-$10 for sidewalk chalk
Have students meet to write out a list of slogans, statistics and short facts to chalk on campus and approve them. Set a time to meet prior to students arriving on campus (food is always a good incentive to get students on campus early) and have students get to work. Use your campus slogans and hashtags at the end of each statistic or statement.
Things to consider: be sure to get approval from administration prior to chalking the campus.
-
Letter Writing Campaign
- Planning time:
- 1 hour
- How many students can participate:
- one class or can vary
- Materials:
- Postage and paper
You can write a letter to a local politician to thank them for their support on local legislation or to encourage them to support legislation that keeps victims safe.
You can send a letters of encouragement to survivors in local programs.
This can be offered as community service to students, can be done through clubs or at a tabling event during lunchtime hours. It is also a great follow up activity after an assembly or speaker. Time byte activism is a convenient thing to offer busy students that want to be involved.
-
Parent and Community Outreach
- Planning time:
- 2 hours
- How many students can participate:
- Varies based on invites and how many come
- Materials:
- If funds are available, offer food or bus tickets as incentives to get families on campus
Educate the parents and the community by providing an evening or weekend sex trafficking 101 workshop. Be aware that parents may disclose their own experiences as well. Be sure to provide resources and have community agencies available to help and support the event.
Things to consider: Get the word out! Make flyers, if your campus has auto dialers send a message out to the families, put it in the newsletters or local papers. Use social media and remind 101 applications.
Leave parents with conversation starters such as: http://endsextrafficking.az.gov/sites/default/files/aw-trust-how-to-talk-to-your-children.pdf
Refer them to the brochure on this website.
Outreach can happen at school sporting events, school plays or other events that attract community members and parents. We encourage schools to go to where the parents are because it can be a challenge to get parents on campus for a special event. Get the word out wherever parents are.
-
Consumer Awareness
- Planning time:
- 1 hour
- How many students can participate:
- Whole School or class by class
- Materials:
- Access to the Internet
Human trafficking leaves a mark. Check out: slaveryfootprint.org to learn about how the products you buy contribute to the issue of sex trafficking and create an awareness campaign around it on campus. Include information in student newsletters, daily announcements, and school websites. This can be a discussion in economics class. Let students know that they can make a difference by choosing how they spend their money.
-
Resource Fair
- Planning time:
- 5 hours
- How many students can participate:
- Whole School
- Materials:
- Materials for displays
Resource fairs can be a lot of work but they can bring a lot of attention to the issues and provide students (and staff) with a lot of information. Resource fairs can be in conjunction with Teen Dating Violence Prevention Month, Sex Trafficking Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month etc., or can be an isolated event. It is also a great follow up event after an assembly or campus speaker.
Check with your administration to find out the requirements for inviting outside/community agencies to campus. Make sure the agencies you invite are vetted and do not have an agenda that differs from yours.
Sample booths: Healthy relationships, local clinics, law enforcement
Something to consider: keep posters and materials from this event to display at future school events such as sporting events and school plays.
Create a school fundraiser to donate to a local shelter or program that supports victims of trafficking.
Make sure you have identified your campus resources and supports and be aware of district protocol prior to the activity. Students may ask for help for others or disclose to you during the event.
-
Fundraiser/Drive
- Planning time:
- Varies
- How many students can participate:
- Varies
- Materials:
-
- Prizes (optional)
- Money, depending on the event and if you are going to cover your cost or donate all of the money
Suggestions: bake sale/food sale, rummage sale, restaurant fundraiser, penny drive. Do a toiletry/hygiene drive (feminine hygiene products are always a good idea to donate). Prizes can go to a classroom that donates the most or extra credit can be assigned for contributing.
Adults on campus are encouraged to be the ones to deliver donations. The dignity of the recipients is important to remember.
Things to consider: Be sure to vet the organization prior to providing the donation. Contact your local law enforcement if you need suggestions for places to donate.