5 Ways We Can Begin to “Save Our Children”

Sep 3

A few weeks ago I wrote a post titled, “In 6 Months Will You Still Care About Child Sex Trafficking?” and it received much attention. Wether the motives behind the hashtags “save our children” and “save the children” are politically motivated or not, human trafficking has been getting a lot of attention on social media and because of that I thought I would write another post about how we can create habits to create a world where children are trafficked and exploited less - and hopefully - not at all, both now and as we look to the future.

Before we get into it I think the first thing to do is to identify who “our children” are. The other day I was watching a video where children from a country other than the United States were being exploited. Then today, I saw another one. And tomorrow I am sure it will come up again. I am going to give us the benefit of the doubt that when we use these hashtags we are thinking with a community mindset, not individualistic mindset as is our cultural default. As we think about who “our” children are, I want to challenge all of us, myself included, to consider how we can be about creating a better world for the children who are growing up now and the ones to come. We can be a part of change, for children who look like us and who are in our communities and spheres of influence and those who don’t and aren’t.

Here we go, 5 ways we can begin to save our children, today and for the future.

Purchase Fair Trade.
I am not going to lie to you, nobody likes this one. You know it, I know it. We can talk all day about perverts and pedophiles harming children but the second someone like me comes along and mentions our shopping habits might be hurting children around the world, we don’t want to know about it.
Friend, I am not pointing the finger at you, I promise. I was in this boat when I first learned about labor trafficking too. It can seem impossible to purchase fair trade. Here is the good news, It is not impossible, it simple takes intention.
Purchasing fair trade and/or researching the companies you do purchase from and holding them to a higher standard, this is something we all can begin to do. The hard reality is so much of what we purchase is made in factories around the world where there are not labor laws or standards to protect the laborers. The consequences of this are felt largely by women and children. If we are going to be active in creating a world where children have their best chance to thrive and not be taken advantage of, abused and/or exploited, then we have to care about the circumstances globally that make them vulnerable to harm. Creating communities where there are options for dignified work that pays a fair wage to thrive and supporting the businesses and organizations who work towards this goal is extremely valuable. The United States drives the global economy, how we spend our money matters and this is a definite way you can care about the children around the world. It is not glamorous, but it matters. Being intentional to financially support companies who are seeking to do it ethically is creating a world, and communities, where children can have opportunity and one where they won’t need saving near as much.
Educate Yourself.
People ask me what they can do to fight against trafficking and exploitation all the time. Here is what you need to hear if this is your question : awareness is action. In order to truly be able to fight trafficking, exploitation and abuse of children - especially locally - you have to understand why we have these issues in the first place.
Like with anything, you can not solve a problem until you understand what the problem is. Educating yourself with trusted resources from those who have been engaged in the fight since before it was trending is a crucial first step to “doing something” when it comes to fighting against the harm of children.
Start by learning about why we have child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation, learn the signs, educate yourself on how traffickers/abusers lure and exploit kids and then have healthy conversations with the children in your life about what it looks like to be in a healthy relationship with adults, and peers. Learn about survival sex and about how teenagers are exchanging sexual favors for benefits in high school. Being educated on the facts, enables you to create an environment where the children, and adults in your life are also educated about the facts.
Educating yourself will change the way you see and think and will enable you to make different decisions, have different conversations both with children and adults. When you do this you will prevent trafficking, exploitation and abuse and further more you will also become a safe adult for children so that if someone is hurting them, they will be able to turn to you for help.
Knowledge is power, being educated about human trafficking will change the way you parent, the conversations you have and how you interact with the children around you. Education is crucial to creating a world where children are safe.
Make your house the “go to” house for the kids in your life; be a safe space.
If education is the first step to creating a world where children are safe, then this is most definitely the second.
Every one of us knows children, whether they are in our neighborhood, our family, at our community groups, churches, local hangout spots or are our kids friends or the kids of our friends. What we know about trafficking is children who are harmed are most often harmed by someone they know and trust. Those who want to hurt children are intentional about building a relationship and then using that relationship to hurt the child and to keep the child silent. Therefore, we need to be present in the lives of the kids around us.
One of the first people I ever heard speak about sex trafficking was Becky McDonald of Women At Risk International. She talked about how when her sons were in high school and on the football team she made a point to know every boy on the football team’s favorite snack and then she stocked her house with those snacks so those boys would know they had a space to come where they were seen, loved and safe. She even talks about how for those years they only had one car because of the money she spent on food.
Here is what I don’t want you to do, tell yourself you have to be Rebecca MacDonald. Here is what I do want you to do, ask yourself how you can be a safe place, or a go to place for the kids in your life. How can you mentor, build relationships with, show love to the children who are already around you? It will probably be hard and will definitely take some sacrifice, but the pay off is covering the emotional vulnerabilities of children so someone else is less able to step in and exploit them.
Volunteer as Mentor, Leader, Coach
Unfortunately for each and every one of us, child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation happens all around us. This is not reserved for the dark web or for pedophiles lurking in the corners or seedy parts of the city. People who have chosen a road that has led them to hurting children go to where children are. They work at the local elementary schools, become coaches on the sports teams, work in daycare and childcare, and can be found at our churches or community groups. Pedophiles and those whose addictions drive them to exploit children do not have a scarlet letter on their chest, they are not easily identifiable. They look like your son, best friends brother or the neighbor down the street. With that being said, if we are going to work to “save our children” we need to go to where the children are. Human trafficking happens because of vulnerabilities, and being a child is a vulnerability. Children rely on and trust adults to care for them, advocate for them, teach them and train them. Children are taught to respect adults and to listen to authority. If we are going to fight against the trafficking and exploitation of our children, we need to be where the kids are - with eyes wide open.
Volunteer at school, be present on the sports teams, mentor kids and teens through a church youth group or community nonprofit like Treehouse or Big Brothers and Sisters. Cover the vulnerabilities of children and be advocates for them by being a healthy adult in their lives and by being aware of what unhealthy child/adult relationships look like and speaking up when you see something off. This is how we protect children from predators and how we create healthy relationships so if they have been abused or exploited we hope they can come to us.
Look into Foster Care and Adoption or Support Families who Foster Children or who have Adopted.
The most vulnerable among us end up in the Foster care system. Because we know abuse happens in families and communities where children should be safe it isn’t far fetched to think that children who end up in the foster care system could have suffered abuse or exploitation, even trafficking. Also, as I shared about above, those with the desire to hurt a child go to where children are and not all foster care parents are operating in the best interest of the children entrusted to their care.
Becoming a foster parent, supporting foster care parents or choosing to adopt is a real life, tangible thing you can do to create safe communities for our children. Also, many teenagers age out of the foster care system and find themselves without any support system and extremely vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation on the streets. For more information on how to engage in the foster care system, support parents before their kids enter the foster care system and/or support those who are doing so, check out Together for Good, Reel Hope and Evermore Community to get started today.

When we begin to understand the problem of human trafficking, child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation, the “why behind it and realize how close to home it is, then we can begin to see ourselves as part of the solution. If we are going to “save our children” or better yet create healthy communities where children have safe spaces and their vulnerabilities can be covered, each of us will have to look at ourselves, at the culture we live in and how we can begin to make changes in our own lives. When we become more involved in our communities and in the children’s lives who are around us we will have opportunity to advocate for children and give children the tools they need to recognize healthy and unhealthy relationships. Education equips us to have better conversations, to see ourselves as part of long term solutions through relationships and to be the safe adults children need in their lives.

We have a lot of power to fight for children, it won’t be glamorous and it will most likely take time, effort and sacrifice. But, I believe children are worth it, and I think you do too.