Cobb County nonprofit helps combat sex trafficking with program for students and teachers
Sex trafficking has been a problem in Georgia for some time.
The state of Georgia requires students in grades six through twelve to receive a human trafficking awareness lesson.
Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was in Marietta with a look at what some teachers and students are learning.
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A nonprofit organization, Rescuing Hope, offers sex trafficking 101. It helps teachers know what to look out for.
Play It Safe is a program for middle schoolers and high schoolers. These lessons could possibly prevent a dangerous situation.
“We are very busy. We are a small organization we are expanding because our caseload keeps increasing,” the founder of Rescuing Hope, Susan Norris said.
The Marietta city school district recently completed both programs and will take part in the training annually.
When Norris isn’t helping survivors of sex trafficking, she’s educating teachers.
“(It) really helps them to be the first responders that we see them as because they are seeing signs of grooming. They are seeing signs of recruitment and possibly even trafficking,” Norris said.
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“These are all different tips to keep children safe,” Norris said.
Teachers and students now know what to look out for.
“When a young man or a young lady won’t look us in the face. The face is always down,” Warren King said.
“I’ve kept the folder close by just in case I see something, and I need to look back at what was provided in the resources given to us,” Erika Davis said.
“To pay attention to my surroundings and the people around me,” student Amari King said.
“We tell parents there’s really not a social media platform that we have found that their children can be on that a trafficker might not be there as well,” Norris said.
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Traffickers typically go after kids as young as 11 and 12 years old.
Norris says they are going after kids even younger now.
“90% of domestic minor sex trafficking victims were attending school while they were being groomed, recruited, or lured,” Norris said.
Norris told Newell she works with the Marietta Police Department often.
The Cobb County Police Department has an extensive Human Trafficking Unit. Lawmakers continue to tackle the problem.
Rescuing Hope offers Sex trafficking 101 for teachers and “Playing It Safe” for students.
The Marietta City School District recently completed both programs and will take part in the training annually.
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