POSITIVE Parenting

The following is a special presentation to POSITIVE Parenting, provided by People's Action for Community Transformation (PACT), through the Anti-Trafficking Three project which is funded by USAID.

Trafficking in persons, also known as modern day slavery, is a brutal practice carried out by ruthless criminals all over the world. Our precious young Jamaicans are being targeted, for forced prostitution, slave labour, and other horrors.

Every Jamaican can play a part in stamping out human trafficking, but parents have a special role to play. Monitor your children's activities, get to know their friends and insist on knowing where they are going after school or during the holidays.

Here are some tips to help keep your youngsters safe:

Our children could be in danger - Slavery is STILL around. Human traffickers lure or force youngsters far away from home and exploit them in the sex trade, forced labour, or other forms of modern day slavery. Don't let your children be victims. Warn them not to talk to strangers, not to get into a car with somebody they don't trust. Know your children's friends and activities. Keep your children safe.

Parents, get into your youngsters' business! - Selling young people into prostitution and other forms of modern day slavery is BIG BUSINESS worldwide, and in the Caribbean, too. Make sure your youngster is not a victim. Human traffickers lure young people with grandiose job offers. Find out where your daughter or son is going to work, if they get a job offer. Visit the workplace beforehand. If you can't, it could be a trap!

Parents need to be nosy! - Teenagers like their privacy, but parents need to know what is going on to protect them. Human traffickers offer young people great jobs, big money, easy life - then force them into modern day slavery. Protect your youngster by warning them about traffickers, and by keeping track of who they are talking to. You won't be popular, but you will help keep them safe.

Where does your daughter or son 'hang out'? - Who are their friends? What do they do for fun? Do they know that they could be targeted by human traffickers? Evil people, even people they know, who will sell them into modern day slavery. Parents and guardians need to check up on their youngsters, and warn them about unusually good sounding offers.

Parents, watch out! - Is your daughter being offered a job in a club or a bar? She could be forced into prostitution. Is your son being tempted by a 'big money work' abroad? It could be slave labour in disguise. Warn your young people about human trafficking. Help them develop positive attitudes about themselves, to work towards a decent career, and to distrust any get-rich-quick scheme.

Keep your children safe! Check up on where they play, who their friends are and what they do after school and when you are out.

Youngsters with low self-esteem are easy targets. Make sure your children feel good about themselves, and are wary of the dangers.