Sex Trafficking in the Upstate - Not Such A Beautiful Question

By -

 Why are we not teaching our students about the dangers of human trafficking?

  • What, if any, education is being provided to adolescents about this issue?

  • How prevalent is human/sex trafficking in the Upstate?

  • At what age are victims targeted?

  • How can we start this conversation in the classroom?

  • How can we (students and adults) work to mitigate/combat this phenomenon?

  • Do victims of human trafficking having any commonalities in their backgrounds?

  • What are “age appropriate” terms for discussing rape and forced prostitution with children as young as 10?

  • What, if any, ethnicities are at the greatest risk of being victimized?

  • How can I justify teaching such a controversial subject to the parents of my students?

  • How does Sold relate to what we’re dealing with at “home”?

  • Are there more “age appropriate” texts out there that I can use? Are there any texts that make the issue more relevant to our immediate area?


I know next to nothing about this topic which is a big part of the reason I selected it. Prior to reading Sold it was an issue that was on my radar but that did not occupy a sufficient space in my “social justice” mentality. I did happen to catch the tail end of a news story about sex trafficking being on the rise in the Greenville area awhile back. And that’s about all I know about it.


I have chosen this topic for two reasons. The first is that I intend to teach in the Upstate (specifically Greenville) area where, supposedly, instances of sex trafficking are on the rise. I want to know what demographics are targeted so that I know which of my students are at the greatest risk of becoming victims. This way, I can create a thematic unit that explores dangers, warning signs, prevalence, etc. that acts as a preventative. Or, at the very least, a heads up. The second reason is that I am a mother of two little girls (six and nine, respectively) and I feel like I need to know more about this issue. I’m not just going to teach here, I’m going to raise my family here. I need to increase my own awareness of the issue to keep both my students and children safe.


Obviously, Sold will be the book I use as my primary title. But Absolutely True Diary could also be a candidate. That particular novel has some prime instances of the sexualization and demented “worship” of females. I will have to wait until I have done more research before I can fully incorporate this element into my thesis. Wintergirls could be a source for exploring the role psychology (created by social pressures) plays in the creation of mentalities vulnerable to predation. Again, I will have to do more research before I can properly work this assessment into a final thesis.


I intend to use the aforementioned texts from the class syllabus in conjunction with local news reports, national/international sex trafficking statistics, and articles from the databases about the psychological vulnerabilities of, and ramifications for, sex trafficking victims.


My preliminary claim is simple, we need to require that sex trafficking education be incorporated into the local curriculum because it poses a direct threat to adolescent females that live in the Upstate area (and beyond). I foresee no issues with my research. It is a relatively straightforward proposal. Where I do anticipate encountering a challenge is in justifying such education be included in a public school curriculum. This is NOT the sort of subject parents want their children learning in school, but that attitude (one of many) needs to change. This information is important in ways that I can’t even articulate yet, so stay tuned for the presentation!

Comments

  1. Chelsea KNovember 4, 2020 at 10:42 AM

    One final challenge - keeping this paper under seven pages.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Callum CarrNovember 9, 2020 at 10:32 AM

    I think this is an excellent topic, Chelsea! I love how you tie this topic to a local issue. I've seen some of the articles about an uptick in the number of sex traffickers in the Upstate and I am looking forward to learning more about that in your presentation. I also liked how you tied this topic to you on a personal level. Not only did you mention the fact that you will be teaching in this area, but you also talk about your own children, and how you need to know more about this issue so you can keep them safe.

    One of the things I am very glad to see you talk about is how teachers will broach this subject with their administrators, as they attempt to teach this book in school, but also how they will talk about it with their students in the classroom. I think this is one of the more important issues we need to talk about, and while students need to be aware, and understand the danger, I don't think they need to become overwhelmed by fear. I think researching the best ways to discuss rape and forces prostitution will be a great addition to your presentation and will hopefully help you teach 'Sold,' or a similar text later in your career.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Pains - The Symbolism of the Tree in Speak

By -
I have felt the paralyzing pain of internal disease. The kind of trauma that causes your mouth to curl in and swallow you whole. I, like so many other women, are walking the halls in Melinda’s shoes in “Speak.” I thought Laurie Anderson did a phenomenal job of twisting all of the tribulations a high school girl goes through, into the tree that Melinda is. Whether we’re as strong as an oak or weak as a bush, we have all gone through the disease that strikes Melinda from the inside out. Melinda is like a half-dead tree. Some parts of her strive to blossom and create beauty. Other parts are broken and diseased. Like a dead tree, Melinda needs to save herself and “cut off the damage, [so it] is possible for the tree to grow again” (187). The symbolism of a tree is significant in “Speak.” Trees reflect her growing process. In the beginning, Melinda is a sick and lifeless tree. Her view is negative and dark. She’s so far past repair, bursts of sunlight do her no good. Sunlight would be pe
Read more

How Starr Goes from Acting to Embracing in The Hate U Give

By -
In The Hate U Give, Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She lives in a predominantly black neighborhood, but her father sends her and her brothers to a private school where she is surrounded by white people. She talks about acting differently depending on what group she is around, which can create some identity problems. She says on page 11, "Funny how it works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black." When at Williamson, she sees white kids that think it's cool to engage in black culture, but she knows they don't understand what she goes through in her Garden Heights community. She witnessed her friend Natasha's death when she was 10 years old, and she sees gang activity in her community all the time. When she is among her black friends, like at the party, they tease her for hanging out with the white kids. This reminds me of a Drake song where he says, "I used to get teased for being black, and now I'm
Read more

Postmodernism in Curious Incident

By -
Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C
Read more