Empowerment Tips

It is a great temptation to use fear tactics as a means of preventing students from becoming involved in human trafficking, however, NEST believes that empowering them to live safely in today’s world, whether at home or when traveling, is the best and most socially responsible manner of bringing awareness. Below are a few areas of empowerment that can be worked into your prevention curriculum. These are generic but will aid in developing the whole person and aid in helping youth navigate life by making choices that are holistic and safe.

Statistics show that when creativity is removed from a child’s life grades go down and violence goes up. When that creativity is a part of developing a child the reverse happens: grades go up and violence goes down.

These are simply suggestions and can be expanded in great detail.

Tools for Inner Empowerment:

• Develop a healthy self esteem without being self-centered
• Create lives that are purpose driven rather than power driven
• Cultivate a true sense of inner beauty and intrinsic worth
• Establish safe boundaries for living true freedom
• Develop discernment skills for dealing with strangers
• Understand being accepted as opposed to being popular

Tools for Social Empowerment

• Engage youth in service projects to gain a sense of community
• Inspire youth to participate in the political process for a sense of responsibility
• Teach the difference between what is necessary for life and what is not (or what is excess)
• Become a role model for relationship skills (Example: show me how to forgive, don’t tell me to)
• Affirm the creative side of youth along with the intellectual for selecting a genuine career path
• Develop a healthy sense of self respect to prevent inferior or superior complexes when dealing with others