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Student Guides

Human trafficking is a challenging issue to discuss, especially with your child. Research shows that human traffickers target minors. Military-connected students face special challenges, such as being new students in schools across the U.S. and abroad or having one or both parents deployed. These situations could make them vulnerable to human trafficking.

The U.S. Department of War (DoW) Combating Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) Office provides three new Guides designed to help parents and students become aware of vulnerabilities in their daily lives and how to prevent human trafficking.

While the CTIP Student Guide, which is designed for students in grades 10-12, may be viewed by older students on their own, we encourage parents to use the Middle School Guide and the Preventing Online Exploitation Guide with their younger children. We present material that may be upsetting, yet it is important for your child to learn, therefore having a trusted adult* with them when they see the material is important so they can discuss and process it.

The Guides incorporate adolescent learning theory, which says that teens listen to their peers, learn difficult lessons when presented in short segments, understand and absorb real-life stories, and prefer interactive activities. Although the guides have been created for military-connected students, we believe that they will be of interest to all students and their parents/guardians. Each guide features:

Easy Internet access
Peer communicators (high school students) as narrators
A multi-media, interactive approach with games, activities, and quizzes
A non-linear format - students can choose Action Cards that interest them
Stories of survivors who were trafficked when they were minors
Real cases of students victimized by human trafficking
An “Immediate Help” Banner on every Action Card

A trusted adult is someone who can provide advice, answer difficult questions, share their values and/or faith traditions, and help you -especially if you’re in an abusive, hurtful, or destructive situation or relationship. A trusted adult will give you the support and help you need and deserve. This is a short list of people who might be that trusted adult for you:

Parent, grandparent, or other relative
Teacher, especially a teacher who seems to understand the problem(s) you’re going through
Coach, sports instructor, or athletic director
Guidance counselor
School administrator such as a principal or vice principal
School security officer
Club or activity leader
A friend’s parents
Religious leader like your pastor, youth pastor, chaplain, rabbi, imam, or elder in your religious institution
Police officer or other law enforcement official
ROTC or military instructor
Social worker or community worker
Doctor or nurse that you like

Pre-teens are particularly vulnerable targets for traffickers, exploiters, and predators. But because they are young, they have distinct developmental, social, and academic needs. This Guide is designed to introduce the issue of human trafficking to middle schoolers in a way that prevents younger students from being overwhelmed by the issue. It is a short, micro-training, tailored for pre-teens, using examples from real-life middle-school situations that they will recognize. It focuses on hope and help, emphasizing prevention by presenting scenarios and showing how they can make the right choices to protect themselves, and encouraging students to seek help from trusted adults.

Link to Guide: Click Here

Link to trailer: Coming Soon!

Topics Covered:

Straight Talk About Human Trafficking and Related Issues

Content Warning
Introduction

Common Cases of Middle School Students Involving Trafficking

Sextortion
Sexploitation
Sex Trafficking of Minors
Pornography Exposure and Addiction

What is Human Trafficking?

Types of Trafficking
Who are the Victims?
Who are the Traffickers/Exploiters?
Where is Trafficking Occurring?

Signs and Indicators of Human Trafficking

Early Warning Signs
How Does It Happen?
Relationships

Protecting Yourself and Your Friends and Finding Help

Prevention is Best – Staying Safe
Recovering From Bad Experiences
Seeking Help, Finding a Trusted Adult
Reporting Bad Actors

DoW CTIP’s Guide to Preventing Online Exploitation is a new resource for parents of preteens, teens, and youth to help them understand the way online exploitation occurs, to recognize signs and indicators of predators and predation, tips on how to prevent exploitation online, and what to do if they or their friends have been exploited online. Despite new ways to detect and remove harmful online content, experts say that the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) have increased since 2023. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) said it saw a 1,325 % increase in reports between 2023 and 2024. Preteen and teen boys are also at risk, with over 7,000 reports related to the online sextortion of minors, resulting in at least 3,000 male victims.

Link to Guide: Click Here

Link to trailer: Coming Soon!

Topics covered:

What is Online Exploitation?

Content Warning
Introduction

Common Scenarios and Actual Cases

Cyberbullying
Cyberstalking
Sexting and Sexploitation
Sextortion
Revenge Porn
Pornography Exposure and Addiction
CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material)
Dark Web Surveillance
Grooming

Protecting Yourself and Your Friends and Finding Help

Prevention is Best – Staying Safe
Recovering from Bad Experiences
Finding a Trusted Adult
Reporting Bad Actors

Through this course, military-connected high school students (10th –12th grade) will learn more about the different forms of trafficking, the signs and indicators of trafficking, how to recognize a potential trafficking situation, and where to seek help or report trafficking in persons. The Guide consists of 18 interactive “Action Cards,” of 5 to 10 minutes each, which students can view as many or as few as they would like, in any order. There are videos, quizzes, and other interactive features throughout the course.