ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and a big component is trying to figure out how to talk to your children, especially young children, about human trafficking.
A Florida nonprofit launched a new online program to help in classrooms.
The Stay KidSafe! Program is an online program from the KidSafe Foundation. It has courses for every grade level and helps teachers navigate the most age and developmentally-appropriate material.
The co-founder of KidSafe, Cherie Benjoseph, says it was created for teachers and is free for all schools nationwide.
"Children are the most comfortable with their teachers. The teachers know them best. It's easy to implement. We know that the teachers can reinforce these important life skills throughout the school year and then if a child needs help, that's their accessible person," she said.
In Florida, all kindergarten through 12th-grade students are required to receive child trafficking prevention education.
Each district can choose its own program, and not all use Stay KidSafe!
Districts do have to post their program information online every year to show what's in place for elementary, middle and high school levels.
The KidSafe Foundation also has plenty of tools for parents.
You can learn more about the tools you need to talk with your children about a range of subjects here.
10 Tampa Bay Cares: If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, there is help. The National Human Trafficking Hotline operates a 24-hour hotline and can be reached by phone at 1-888-373-7888, by texting HELP to BeFree (233733), or by chat to talk about your needs, your options, and the resources they have available to help you.