For my capstone, two other students and I produced a FIlm festival and held the event at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Rocketfest initially interested me last year because it was a really unique idea, and it gave teenagers in the Philadelphia School District an opportunity to showcase their art which a lot of kids aren’t ever given the chance to. This year when I realized I wanted to major in communications and start a career in Public Relations I thought that taking on Rocketfest would be a perfect opportunity to put my foot through the door. I think Rocketfest is super important because it gives kids in the Philadelphia school district a way to showcase their films and photos. Having the submission be open to teenagers only I think makes it a more comfortable space for kids submitting, to give them more confidence in their work. Giving kids a platform to express themselves is something that goes a really long way.

Films included in Rocketfest (what was shown at the festival): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rf8JLeTsjd_eppE4TxbVGo44DwTQGo_r/view

Bibliography https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kr_i3PlNMqdBiFh4y9raXIzHPSTw02HbmMX1KUdEkeg/edit?usp=sharing

For my capstone, two other students and I produced a FIlm festival and held the event at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Rocketfest initially interested me last year because it was a really unique idea, and it gave teenagers in the Philadelphia School District an opportunity to showcase their art which a lot of kids aren’t ever given the chance to. This year when I realized I wanted to major in communications and start a career in Public Relations I thought that taking on Rocketfest would be a perfect opportunity to put my foot through the door. I think Rocketfest is super important because it gives kids in the Philadelphia school district a way to showcase their films and photos. Having the submission be open to teenagers only I think makes it a more comfortable space for kids submitting, to give them more confidence in their work. Giving kids a platform to express themselves is something that goes a really long way.

Films included in Rocketfest (what was shown at the festival): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rf8JLeTsjd_eppE4TxbVGo44DwTQGo_r/view

Bibliography https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kr_i3PlNMqdBiFh4y9raXIzHPSTw02HbmMX1KUdEkeg/edit?usp=sharing

In my previous Slate Post I talked about the effects victims have after experiencing being trafficked. Whether they are affected Mentally, physically, emotionally or all three everyone’s situation should be equally justified.

The biggest way victims of sex trafficking are being supported that I found through my research is organizations that give victims the support they need. Some bigger organizations I found are the Center for Human Trafficking Awareness (Florida), National Sexual Violence Resource Center (Pennsylvania), and Project Reach (Massachusetts).

Ways that people who haven’t experienced anything like trafficking but still want to help can always do things like, sign petitions, volunteer with local organizations, educate themselves, and create a club to spread awareness. Those are just a few simple ways you could help! I think these are great ways to educate yourself, others and support victims. The first way to become an ally is to make sure you are educated on the topic. As for the organizations, I also think these are really great sources for any victims that will find comfort in them.

While I was researching for ways to be an ally towards victims of sex trafficking I stumbled across an organization, here in Philly called Dawn’s Place. The mission of Dawn’s Place is to proactively support women affected by CSE and its abuse by providing direct services to women, raising awareness through education and generating prevention, public policy reform, and community collaboration. Dawn’s Place was a local organization, the website made it sound like all of the workers were so passionate about helping these women in need. So I emailed them asking if anyone was available for me to interview and Mary Shay, the program director and trauma therapist responded! So we talked for about half an hour, if you are interested in listening to the interview I will put it at the bottom of this post and hyperlink it here.

The reason I wanted to do an interview was that I think it was one of the best ways to learn more about my topic, and to hear about it from someone who dedicates their life to it and not just researching from google. Ms.Shay was an excellent resource and interviewee. She seemed super passionate about her job and how awesome of a place Dawn’s Place is. I am incredibly grateful I was able to interview her. I hope that through this project I was able to educate others about how much of a negative impact sex trafficking can have on a victim, I definitely learned a lot myself.

At the start of this project I was pretty nervous and had no clue what I was going to do. I am a pretty shy person and didn’t know how well my project would end up because of that. But in the end, I think the Agent of change portion of my project went very well. As for my project as a whole, I am pretty proud of it. I worked really hard and learned a lot about my topic. I think I maybe could have done better in finding resources, not necessarily better ones, just maybe more of them? Obviously, there is so much to do to prevent sex trafficking but like I said earlier and if I am remembering correctly it was also said in my interview, the best way to start is to educate yourself to the best of your abilities.

This is my annotated bibliography

Human trafficking leaving effects on victims is basically guaranteed, whether they’re physical or mental. Human trafficking is something that can happen to anyone, most commonly women and girls. Many females don’t feel comfortable going out in public because of the possibility of being trafficked. That doesn’t mean that men and people who don’t identify as either (male or female) don’t also experience being scared of human trafficking because it can happen to anyone. It is very important for people to recognize how this constant fear of being trafficked holds back people from living their life. It leaves people just as a shell of themselves. When someone is trafficked they are stripped of their humanity. They are bought and sold at the hands of strangers. Hopefully spreading awareness of the effects trafficking can leave on people will make people sympathize with people who have experienced this.

This image shows a point I made in my post. That Human trafficking spares no souls and can happen to anyone.

As a teenage girl, Human trafficking and other types of sexual or just abuse overall have always kinda had a little spot in the back of my mind. I have never experienced anything more than unwanted nudes or catcalling by older males when I am walking in the city. And that is common for most teenagers. I think everyone should know more about the after-effects of someone that experienced human trafficking is very important because then it might be taken more seriously. Some people that have experienced Human trafficking or rape might be hesitant to come forward because some people might not believe them. According to the Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center, about 20% of America’s population are survivors of childhood Sexual assault. As many as 90% never report anything to law enforcement and 30% will never report it to anyone. According to the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organization, in 2018 at least 48.5% million people were enslaved in human trafficking.

This infographic shows many statistics of human trafficking

The most common effects Human trafficking can leave on a person is depressed, and PTSD. Those are more mental, More physical ones would include sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, or pregnancy. Having such concerns especially at such a young age is already very common amongst teenagers (especially this like depression, anxiety, and stress). An Interesting fact to keep in mind if you are talking to someone with past experience of being trafficked is that the effects of the trafficking can be emphasized based on past trauma, whether it’s violence abuse, or sexual. Another less talked about or less known effect is a victim can adopt a lack of independent skills, often relying on people they trust to help them live a normal life. These effects can also happen after they experience being trafficked. Often due to not being supported by family and loved ones or how the law failed the victim in trying to seek justice. It is so important that we focus on these effects as much as we should ensure more victims feel safer sharing their stories. Obviously, that trauma will never go away but there is so much good a person can do when they let others know that they are not alone.

This other infographic shows more statistics about human trafficking, more globally based.

So in conclusion understanding, the long-term effects that human trafficking can leave on a person is a very crucial step to making them feel like themselves again. We also went over a few heartbreaking statistics. Overall I am very pleased with the information I learned while working on this post. I would like to learn more about survivors and how their story has inspired others to go on. Another interesting topic to me is the effects human trafficking can leave on the victim’s family. So in general I am proud of my work and the information I have gathered.

This is a Ted Talk by Noy Thrupkaew. She talks about how human trafficking is a part of our daily lives, more so than you’ll think. How it is more than what we just think it is.

This is my annotated bibiliography

Mi nombre es Eloise Palandro. Tengo quince años. Tengo un padre se llama Keith, una madre se llama Lisa y una madrastra se llama Sarah. Tengo un hermano, se llama Xander y una hermana, se llama Lucy. Yo tengo cuatro tíos y cuatro tías. Tengo muchos primos. Toda mi familia es americana. En mi casa, hay mi mamá, mi hermana y yo, pero en mi otra casa hay mi padre, mi madrastra, y mi hermano.

Mi hermana tiene dieciséis años. Ella tiene el pelo muy corto y morado. Ella es un poco baja. Ella es inteligente pero un poco perezosa. Ella es muy artística. Ella no es ni activa ni es extrovertida. Mi hermano tiene seis años. Él tiene pelo corto y rubio-sucio. Él es bajo porque es un niño. Él es muy activo y ruidoso. Él no es tranquilo.

Yo tengo catorce años. Yo tengo el pelo pelirroja y largo. No soy muy baja o muy alta, soy entre de las dos. Yo soy activa y artística. Soy una extrovertida con mis amigos. No soy ni paciente ni decisiva.

Mi hermano y yo tenemos mucho en común. Los dos somos activos. También los dos somos impacientes. Él es muy ruidoso, pero yo soy tranquila. Y esa mi familia y yo!

I started this Contest I wanna say in early October for a school project. I worked on it, really the only place I could right now, at home. I was originally going to do an essay but then it started to become mostly informational and not my feeling, which isn’t how I wanted it to turn out. So I did a letter (as you can tell) because I felt like I could really put in information and then mold my feelings around it without sounding so formal. Instead of completely focusing on how 2020 has affected me (Gen Z) I chose to write about the ways that Donald Trump has handled 2020 and how that has affected me (Gen Z). The way he has handled 2020 has not only affected out now but also our future. That’s really an awful thing. If things like corona had been handled with more care so many would still be alive and we wouldn’t be in the place we are in now. If he had just taken one second to actually hear what we have to say about police brutality then maybe, just maybe it would have gotten just a little bit better.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AgSfQg-C19IjbJ9Zkgr9CYXWEeLOYoKIEvUnv3WElKc/edit?usp=sharing