Educating Our Youth!

I had the opportunity tonight to work with a great group of high school kids from my area on a violence presentation for eighth grade students! It was so much fun, and those kids are truly talented and passionate about making changes in the world!

What bothered me was that these high school students looked at me like an alien when I brought up the need to educate about exploitation and trafficking of children. The average age of entry into prostitution is 12-13 years old according to a study by Shared Hope International (I believe). Aren't those our eighth graders? Why don't our high school seniors know their risk for this? I guess its my "hot topic" right now, and hopefully for longer, but I was shocked that they knew nothing about it. I guess, in retrospect, at 25, I didn't know anything about it either. The women that are victims of prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation are "damaged goods". The violence they face, including children recruited into the trade, is incomprehensible in the light of how our society views prostitutes.

I highly recommend you all check out Somebody's Daughter by Julian Sher. I recently read it, and it sheds a completely different light on the policies and laws in place to protect our children from being pimped out. It touches on each and every aspect of the trafficking industry that should disgust the average person.

This isn't just happening outside of our borders, its happening within. Hundreds of thousands of children are being bought and sold within our borders each year.

....and now its time for supper.

Merry Christmas to Me!!!

Writing from my new iPad! I am so pumped to use tis thing for work and extra circulars! So far I've found FastCase to be an indispensable app. Does anyone have any other suggested apps? Keeping in mind I do bankruptcy and litigation, along with activism in the criminal realm (more policy and procedure and lobbying). I'd love to hear about your favorite iPad apps!