The West Nodaway School district held a Be Alert® Stop Trafficking Project presentation given by Russ Tuttle, president and founder.
The presentation was held in two sessions. A frank discussion with parents and others was held on December 7, followed by an assembly with the students on December 8. The project was started in 2017 and has reached over 60,000 students. Tuttle said COVID had stopped the assemblies and schools were slowly starting to schedule the presentations once again.
He said youth anxiety is at its highest, while their empathy is at its lowest. This can lead to “exploitation of vulnerability” by pimps, predators and perverts which a student can unknowingly interact with online, oftentimes on their cell phone.
In his presentation, Tuttle gave a large list of apps which students can access. A survey on the students’ vulnerability will be taken and the results will be sent back to the school.
Be Alert® Safety Tips for parents, grandparents and guardians include:
• Don’t ever think, “Not My Kid!”
• Be the parent before being a friend.
• Monitor social media and text messages.
• Be careful with your own posts, especially pictures of your children.
• No internet-enabled devices in your child’s bedroom or private area.
• Be Alert® to what they’re doing online.
Be Alert® presentations are available for schools, churches, businesses or communities. For more information, visit stoptraffickingproject.com or text TSTP to 833.321.0219 for safety tips or download the Stop Trafficking app.
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