Florida: Human Trafficking Education in K-12 Schools

On December 1st, 2019, the Florida Department of Education (FDE) decided to mandate human trafficking education prevention in K-12 Schools. The implementation of this policy was a result of the high number of reported sex trafficking cases in the state of Florida. According to the FDE Florida is listed in the top three states for human trafficking. The FDE recognizes that the average age to fall victim to exploitation is between 11 to 13 years old. Human trafficking is not specific to one state, region, or country. It is a global problem. According to the UNODC, it has reached "epidemic proportions" around the world (2005, p. 3). 

There is a book we are reading in a class called Globalizing Education Policy, which was written by Fazal Rizvi and Bob Lingard. Rizvi is a Professor in Global studies of Education at the University of Melbourne. Bob Lingard is a Professor at the University of Queensland and studies Sociology of Education and Education Policy. In one section of their book, Rizvi and Lingard discuss the process and development of educational policies and being mindful of how and whos values are emphasized and delivered. 

When reflecting upon the state of globalization, Rizvi and Lingard argue that policymakers form educational policies with consideration of the values in transnational, national, and local spaces (2009).  Out of the number of human trafficking reports by the state in the United States, Florida is ranked third in the nation. Florida is the first state in the entire United States to require education on human trafficking prevention for children in kindergarten all the way up through 12th grade. Although this policy is addressing a local issue, it is also considering transnational spaces due to the nature of this problem and this policy's applicability to other contexts. This new policy states that each year, school districts must come up with an educational prevention strategy, post it on the school website, and send it to their commissioner. This plan must include the instructor's qualifications, how this information will be delivered to each grade, outline of materials that will be used in training, and how schools will comply with Florida's movement towards a "Child Trafficking Free Zone."  

In an article that we are reading in class, Kong and Yu reflect upon educational inequality among ethnic minority students in China and assess the importance of bilingual education. By applying multicultural concepts, they analyze these educational experiences. They explain multicultural education as "developing awareness and understanding of racial and cultural diversity" (p. 191). To promote equitable education, the teachers must be well-trained in that specific area and must have positive attitudes towards ethnic minority groups (Kong & Yu, 2019). If we apply these ideas to the FDE new child trafficking prevention program, we must ask, what are educators' attitudes and perceptions of sex-trafficked youth? Have the educators been trained on human trafficking? What is their level of awareness and understanding?  Who is the person with the proper "professional qualifications"? If the educators are not well informed on human trafficking, how can they educate their students?

Knowledge building and collaborative action on the local level can produce effective change. As Rizvi and Lingard have mentioned, effective policies must target issues of practice and evaluation (2009). To enhance effective practice, some suggestions come from Deborah Stone's analysis of education. From a liberal democratic view, Stone focuses on three main components (Rizvi & Lingard, 2009). These include equity, efficiency, and security. In this sense, equity can ensure that faculty are adequately trained and equipped with the professional qualifications required to create a plan and train youth on this topic. Human trafficking NGOs could administer training. These affiliative relationships allow organizations to expand their social networks, enhancing potential actions by increasing awareness and utilization of available resources (Hansen, 1999). Efficiency can refer to minimizing unnecessary duplication of resources. If districts collaborate with local anti-trafficking coalitions to ensure their training is adequately developed, annual implementation re-planning may become an unnecessary expenditure. Instead, districts can allocate that time to assessing training outcomes. Lastly, Stone refers to security, which can be expanded to the community. Districts could adopt this policy in a way that they could interact with not only anti-trafficking organizations but also with parents in the community. Through this structure, schools can find security through mutual support. These community-focused efforts can direct advocacy towards local priorities, lead to improved utilization of local assets, and enhance local support for policies at the state, national, and international levels. Although Florida's efforts are commendable and targeting a critical topic, it is good to question the quality and impact of this training. If the districts are required to create a human trafficking implementation plan are not well informed on the topic, we must be able to anticipate the unintended learning outcomes. 

Hansen, M. T. (1999). The search-transfer problem: The role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organization subunits. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(1), 82–111.

Kong, P. and *Yu, X. (2019). Bilingual education for a harmonious multiculturalism: The importance of policy discourse for ethnic minority students in China. Multicultural Education Review 11:3, 189-215.

Rizvi, F. & Lingard, B., Education policy and the allocation of values (chapter 4) 

UNODC. (2005). Human trafficking: An overview. United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2008/HumanTrafficking-AnOverview.pdf