Did you know kids can do the 31-Day Blackout Trafficking Challenge, too?
Most people don’t think of inviting their kids to join them in doing the Blackout Trafficking Challenge, but sometimes trailblazing freedom needs to start in our own homes. In fact, sometimes kids become more of a trailblazer for freedom that we ever will be!
Giving kids the chance to participate in Blackout Trafficking can be one of the most amazing opportunities to talk about real things with them. It gives you a reason to be intentional to have conversations about justice, morals, human rights, and what caring about others looks like. In fact, it also paves the way for you to talk with them about how they too are important, and how you want to give them the tools to be protected from exploitation.
Multiple kids have participated in Blackout Trafficking—some have done it just for a week—but some have done it the whole month and more than once!
Are they ready?
There are some important things to consider before inviting your kids to join you in doing the Blackout Trafficking Challenge:
Don’t force them to do the challenge. Sure, challenge them to try it for one week if you want, but the whole idea of it will be lost on them if they don’t want to do it
Let them choose their black item—sometimes this is the reason they’ll do it in the first place!
Start with age appropriate conversations:
If they don’t know about sex yet, you can talk about labor trafficking instead
Don’t shy away from hard conversations, but still use discretion with details. You don’t have to scare them with horror stories and it is okay to be vague, saying something like, “people do things to other people’s bodies without permission, in a way that makes them feel unsafe”
Compare and contrast what slavery looked like in the past to the present
Remind them that you love them and will always do whatever you can to keep them safe
Focus on empowering your child—show them stories of how people are doing good things to help end bad things, tell them about the good things our featured organizations are doing, let their ideas guide you on what path to trailblaze and help them with it!