March 19, 2024

Newton teens fight human trafficking

Awareness and education are focus of new NHS club

Since human trafficking happens in secret, it’s difficult for anyone — even highly trained law enforcement or researchers with access to tons of data — to know the exact size or scope of the problem.

Four Newton High School students and many of the peers are concerned with learning not only about the magnitude of human trafficking but also ways to spot it and deal with it.

After hearing a presentation from Shannon Schott of Youth & Shelter Services, Inc. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church about a statewide organization called Teens Against Human Trafficking and the cause that has spurred the growth of it, NHS junior Lucy Lilienthal and senior Katherine Thorpe brought the topic up to student council advisor Kelly Tremel.

Soon, Newton’s chapter of TAHT was formed.

“The idea to start this club wasn’t brought up by faculty,” Tremel said. “Katherine and Lucy brought this in as something that they care about, and it didn’t take long for other students to see that they felt the same way.”

As class representatives of a group of students that meets regularly, Lilienthal, a junior, and Thorpe, a senior, along with freshman Molly Coy and sophomore Laura Wyre, told the Newton Daily News why this cause is a matter of grave importance to them.

“We’re not here to, like, stop human trafficking all by ourselves,” Coy said. “We just want to make people more aware of it.”

Lilienthal said one objective of TAHT’s education includes giving the public more ideas about how to watch out for signs of attempts to recruit young people into human trafficking, which frequently targets girls ages 11 to 14.

Other goals include leting Iowans know about the size and scope of the problem and how to spot signs of it happening in large, crowded places, such as sporting events, truck stops, malls or county and state fairs and how to report suspicious activity.

“In small towns and cities, it’s easy to think that kind of crime isn’t happening, but that belief is what allows it to go on,” Lilienthal said.

Thorpe said the club won’t need to do much fundraising — time is the main resource, used to reach out to other students and the public to educate about trafficking. A small amount of materials are needed to create items like the handmade posters seen at NHS.

There are several national and state sources for items such as anti-trafficking literature and printed materials, produced by organizations such as the “Blue Campaign.”

Posters about trafficking, both printed and handmade, can already be seen in the hallways at NHS. Wyre said the club would like to host information booths at meal times in the NHS cafeteria and at school athletic events and other activities, add pertinent items to the morning public address announcements and host public showings of documentaries and presentations.

Tremel said there are also plans to get teams of four students trained to make small-group presentations to civic organizations such as Kiwanis, Rotary and the Lions Club.

Lilienthal said it’s important for the club to not only reach out to fellow students, but also to younger students in Newton Schools. She said there have been discussions about what assistance or materials the club could get from Iowa State Patrol Public Resource Officer Doug Cutts.

“Online safety is an important part of this, because sometimes kids get slowly pulled into trafficking situations there,” Lilienthal said.

Formal collaboration with citizens organizations, such as Newton Says No to Human Trafficking, hasn’t been initiated yet. However, all four class officers agreed such teamwork is a possibility.

Since many NHS students end up furthering their educations after high school, Wyre said, it’s important to have a solid understanding of dangers and how to spot them.

“Trafficking isn’t always a far-away problem,” she said. “It could involve someone you know.”

Report all cases or suspicious circumstances to local police or to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP to 233733.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com