High School Curriculum

The opening lesson of the Prevention Project curriculum provides an introduction to the facts of human trafficking and focuses on the dimensions and realities of human trafficking internationally. The lesson plan includes stories and student interaction that address the following questions: What is human trafficking? Who does it affect? Where does it occur globally? Why and how does it occur? How are victims of human trafficking affected? The group activity of the lesson looks in-depth at trafficking in certain countries. Excerpts of this lesson were crafted by International Justice Mission.

This lesson is primarily composed of a 40-minute documentary produced by Sex + Money and the Prevention Project program. The documentary covers the reality of sex trafficking in the U.S. by examining the profiles of victims, traffickers, and buyers. The voices of survivors and experts from across the country serve to give students an overview of human trafficking as well as explaining how to identify human trafficking in their own lives and communities.

In 21st–century America, pimps are viewed not as potential traffickers, but as pop culture idols. This lesson highlights the real profile of a pimp, attempting to draw out the influence of culture upon our view of pimps and the interconnectedness between pimps and traffickers in sex trafficking. Students will be asked to share their impressions of pimps and then compare their first impressions to the violence and manipulation behind the current popular, hip, idolized image of pimps. The teacher notes for this lesson are supplemented with a video of Tim Matthews speaking about the profile of pimps today.

This lesson begins by tackling the controversial subject of pornography and its relationship to sex trafficking. Through various forms of media (including the Internet), pornography has become increasingly easy to access and consume. This lesson will teach the connections between pornography and sex trafficking. It will also discuss what research has revealed about the addictive nature of pornography and its impact on the brain, on relationships, and on societal attitudes and norms.

The lesson focuses on three central elements: (i) the increased sexualization of our culture today (as reflected in the media), (ii) the importance of media literacy, and (iii) the connections between these two issues and human trafficking. After discussing how the media plays into our culture’s perceptions of sexuality, the objectification of women, and violence against women, it highlights how traffickers can manipulate consumerism and the messages of the media to exploit vulnerable youth. The lesson is comprised of interactive activities, short video clips, discussion, and a motivational wrap-up. This lesson was inspired and shaped by the work of Survivor, Advocate, and Author Holly Austin Smith. In Holly’s words, “Traffickers will target those teens who are influenced more by the media than by positive role models at home.”

This final lesson will bring together all the information the students have learned thus far with a call to action. The lesson plan is partly reflective for individual students and partly collaborative for small groups to discuss and design action steps on their own. The objective of this lesson is to inspire students to take action to become part of the solution to human trafficking as modern-day abolitionists-–beginning within their own community. The resources section of this lesson provides numerous sample student action projects as well as resources on the importance of mentoring as prevention.