Human Trafficking Workshop held at LHS

Littlerock High School – May 18, 2022 - The Littlerock High School Parent Resource Center, part of the Los Angeles County Office of Education Community Schools Initiative presented their first of several in person workshops aimed at educating parents and students, creating a safe and comfortable space where parents can get involved and where families can receive support and gather resources.

Furniture is in place for groups of parents to assemble in comfort and privacy to discuss needs and gain information on resources that are available.

A PowerPoint presentation was shown on screen by Detective Soraya Ely of the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station. Detective Ely prepared a version for the students and another for the parents.

Human trafficking was defined as: Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act; followed by, what does human trafficking look like, the major factors that cause trafficking to occur, what programs traffickers and your child are using, indicators of trafficking, ways to monitor your child’s devices, what traffickers look for on your child devices and things to teach your child on social media. Here are some tips for parents:

1. Educate yourself on the issue and learn the signs of a trafficked victim. Teach your children them as well.

2. Teach your children to not accept friend requests from people they don't know on social media.

3. Be aware of how traffickers recruit people and pay attention to what your children do.

4. Make sure your children do not take provocative photos (Skimpy clothing, clothing that enhances private parts etc.)

5. Make sure your child's social media is on private and they do not provide information on the following:

a. Name

b. Age (Birthdate and Birth Year)

c. Location (City and State)

d. Family

e. School

Janet Flores, Educational Community Worker reported, “We had good attendance at the Human Trafficking Workshop. Detective Ely spoke to our parents on what human trafficking looks like, what the major factor that traffickers look for, and the indicators of a child being groomed to be trafficked.

“It was an eye opener for sure especially when she demonstrated how she found nine LHS students who could possibly be trafficked by what they posted on their social media.

“At the end of the presentation, we entered those in attendance into a raffle to win a $50 gift card to Albertson's Supermarket. Congratulations to that parent!”

The next in-person workshop will be held during the summer where the presentation will be on the dangers of Vaping and the Use of Marijuana.

Please visit the Facebook page frequently to keep up to date on the events and resources at:

https://www.facebook.com/LHSParentResource

Littlerock High School is a Community School partnering with County agencies and non-profits to bring support to the school and to be a hub for resources.

By Shirley Harriman