E 251 How Traffickers Use Tech to Target Kids

 What if everything you thought you knew about human trafficking was wrong?

In this powerful episode, I sit down with Erin Williamson, a national expert in child trafficking prevention and survivor care, to reveal the truth about how trafficking really happens — and what parents, educators, and caregivers must know to protect the children in their lives.

You’ll learn:

How traffickers use grooming and manipulation — not abduction

Why many victims still attend school and appear "normal"

The critical role of technology and online platforms

Warning signs adults often miss

What to say to your child so they see you as a safe person

How to create tech boundaries that actually work

Erin also shares real-life stories and practical tips from her work at Love146.org, an organization dedicated to ending child trafficking and supporting survivors.

🎧 Listen, learn, and share this episode to help protect more kids.

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

Love 146: https://www.love146.org

Caregiver resources & email series: https://www.love146.org/caregivers

Common Sense Media: https://www.commonsensemedia.org

Wait Until 8th: https://www.waituntil8th.org

📢 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations that help you support kids through anxiety, safety concerns, and the challenges of growing up in today’s world.

#ChildTrafficking #OnlineSafety #ParentingTips #TeenSafety #ErinWilliamson #Love146 #DigitalParenting #HumanTraffickingAwareness 

 Struggling with anxiety in your family? If anxiety is causing tension, fights, or disconnect in your home, you don’t have to face it alone. I help parents bring more peace, confidence, and connection to their families. Let’s talk—schedule a free consultation today or email me: ccoufal@cynthiacoufalcoaching.com

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Transcript

 What if everything you thought you knew about human trafficking was wrong? I. Did you know that trafficking doesn't always look like a dramatic abduction scene from the movies, that more often than not, victims are trapped in plain sight sometimes even in your own community. And here's something to consider.

How does evolving technology change the way traffickers operate? And what can we do to protect our kids? Today I'm sitting down with Aaron Williamson. A leading expert in child trafficking prevention and survivor care. She has spent over two decades working with victims shaping policy and creating programs that protect vulnerable youth.

If you've ever wondered how to keep kids safe in an increasing increasingly digital world, or how to support survivors in a way that truly makes a difference, this is the conversation [00:01:00] you need to hear. Let's dive in. I. So Erin, thank you for being with us today. 

Erin Williamson: Thank you so much for having me. 

Cynthia: Yes. Well, I love this topic because I just have been learning more about the digital safety and how kids are just being groomed and salted on, you know, on the internet and the things that are happening there, and.

So trafficking is closely related to that in how we're needing to keep our kids safe. And the part that I don't think a lot of people know about is that this isn't just like somebody being hidden away in a hotel somewhere and and driven around places. This can be people who are going to school and having semi-regular lives.

So tell us all about this. 

Erin Williamson: Yeah, no, it's true actually about half of the kids that are referred to us for services are regularly attending school. So we are seeing it happen with [00:02:00] kids that are, you know, coming across systems that are in, in neighborhoods that are living seemingly kind of, uh, externally normal lives.

And you wouldn't know just by passing them in the hallway or passing them on the street. Uh, a lot of times traffickers. Do that on purpose. It is a part of, you know, making sure that they can continue this cycle of abusing kids that they, they will kind of make sure that the kids are still attending school.

We've actually had kids where they were, they maintained really good grades where sometimes their parents. Thought they were in afterschool activities and what they didn't know was during the time when school let out and the late best came, those kids are being exploited. Um, sometimes we will have kids run away and during the weekends when they're missing, they'll be being exploited.

And so, yes, you're absolutely right. If you think that it's not going on in your community. You know, I live in Connecticut. Many people would consider [00:03:00] it a wealthy state, a well-to-do state. And we've seen trafficking in every county throughout our state. I. Mm. 

Cynthia: Well, I am sure every state has trafficking of some kind somewhere in their state, and I'm sure Kansas does too.

I know we had people come to my school and talk about trafficking, and that's when I found out that these kids could be attending school, and I was like, I didn't, I had no idea that like a boyfriend could be. Part of that cycle or the things that are going on. So a lot of my listeners are, well, most of them are parents, but some of them are educators.

So what can, what are some ways that we could maybe see this or figure this out so we could help these kids? 

Erin Williamson: Yeah, so a survey actually where they asked kids who had experienced trafficking victimization, who could have intervened when were there off roads. They actually identified school as the number one place where intervention could have happened.

[00:04:00] They said a teacher or a guidance counselor could have kind of looked at at what was happening in me, the how I was presenting, and asked more questions, right? Mm-hmm. So a lot of times it's. Not, you know, these kids are not gonna come in oftentimes and, and wave a flag or self-identify as trafficking, but they might be regularly skipping school or skipping certain periods.

They might come in and be really tired in the morning and exhausted. They might show up with, um, new hairstyles or new nails or new products that, you know, their families can't afford. Um. Mm-hmm. So there's varying things and, and it's interesting because oftentimes they'll be misidentified as. As either, you know, engaging in risky behaviors at dealing drugs or gang involvement and things, but it's really not nobody's asking questions.

They're making assumptions about what is happening with these children, and so mm-hmm. The thing that they say is, you know. [00:05:00] When, when someone shows interest and kind of asks, you know, nonjudgmental but probing questions like, I see you got your nails done. Wow. When did that happen? Or What did you do this weekend?

And, and, and really kind of dig for more information than just your typical nothing or my boyfriend. Mm-hmm. Right. When they really dig. Mm-hmm. Tell me about that. Tell me about your boyfriend. Tell me about the friends that you hung out with this weekend. Tell me about what you're doing. And really showed a genuine interest in that youth.

They're more likely to see that adult as a safe person that they could maybe disclose to. The other thing youth will say, and that we often say. Is, you know, a lot of us, I'm a social worker, a lot of us assume like, well, we're safe adults and kids know we're safe adults because I'm a teacher. Mm-hmm. I'm a social worker.

I'm law enforcement. Mm-hmm. And the reality is, is that kids actually don't assume that all the time. Right. Right. So it actually is imperative that we as parents and as [00:06:00] as educators, as social workers say to youth, you know, I've worked with a lot of youth who have found themselves in very difficult situations and really had to make some difficult decisions.

And if you ever find yourself. In a difficult situation, and you have to make a difficult choice, and you wanna talk about it with someone you know, who's, you know, not gonna judge you. I just want you to know I'm always here for you, and that's something that you can say in front of your classroom. That's something you can say to kids.

Seeing you in, in the guidance counselor's office. It's also something you can say to your, your kids' friends, right? Mm-hmm. If they're all hanging out for a sleepover, you can say, you know. I really, you know, I just want you guys to know how important you are to us. I know you're really good friends with my child, and you're really important to us.

If any of you guys ever need anything or need someone to talk to, I, I, you know, I know you, you probably have your parents or other people in your life, but I'm also here. Um, and if you ever need anything, please, you know, consider [00:07:00] me a resource and someone you can come to, because the reality is, is that.

Not all kids do have safe homes. Right, right. We actually see sometimes kids being trafficked by their parents or other families. Yes. I've 

Cynthia: seen that too. Mm-hmm. 

Erin Williamson: Yeah. And so, you know, saying it in kind of a broad way really opens the door, not just to them disclosing trafficking, but they might have other things going on in their life.

They might have. You know, other forms of abuse or other unhealthy relationships or, or be dealing with things like bullying or peer pressure. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That they don't know who to talk to, but just kind of saying it in this really broad, difficult situations, difficult decisions I am here for. You can really open the door to a lot of conversations.

Mm-hmm. 

Cynthia: Well, I'm guessing that the people that are trafficking them have scared them a lot with. Threats or just like any other kinds of abuse where somebody in power is saying, well, I'll hurt your family, or I'll [00:08:00] ruin you, or I'll send pictures to people, or, you know, whatever kinds of things where they're, they're extra reluctant to tell people even though they want to because they don't know what, if this is true, that these things would happen.

What is the danger with these kids if they do tell, I mean. I'm guessing their life could be in danger sometimes, depending on who's trafficking them. 

Erin Williamson: So it really does depend. Sometimes we see we see threats certainly happen. Mm-hmm. A lot of times, honestly, these traffickers make themselves really important in the youth's life.

Right? Oh, mm-hmm. So this idea of like. Stranger danger or this idea of you know, be careful who you're engaging with. In some ways, that's the wrong message because mm-hmm. Most of the time when we're talking with youth, they, like you just said, they'll identify them as like. Oh my gosh, they're my boyfriend, right?

Yeah. Or they're my best friend. Mm-hmm. This isn't a stranger. This is my best [00:09:00] friend, this is my boyfriend, this is, this is the other adult I can trust in my life. And so they've, they've really worked to form these bonds and that's part of the grooming process. And, and to your point, that can happen online.

Mm-hmm. Or in like, kind of IRL in real life and in person. Mm-hmm. And sometimes it starts online and then becomes in real life, um. But it's really forming these relationships and these bonds. And then, you know, and then it might be slowly starting to say things like if you really loved me, you would do this.

If we're gonna build a life together, you would do this. You know what, honey? We can't pay the rent unless I, unless you do this, right? Mm-hmm. And so sometimes there is this moment where traffickers almost convince the kids that they're the ones making the decision, right? We've had youth, for example, who will say.

Oh, it wasn't him, it was me. And we're like, okay. But he took you to a hotel. Mm-hmm. He introduced you to his friend. [00:10:00] His friend was dating somebody who was engaging in sex work, or, you know, and, and then all of a sudden he said, I'm really struggling with money. Do 

Cynthia: you think 

Erin Williamson: he kind of set you up to mm-hmm.

Make that decision? And he said, I don't know how, and then that girl said, well, I, if you won, I know how you could make some money, right? Mm-hmm. Do you think you were kind of set up and put in a position where you quote unquote made a decision, but it wasn't really, so a lot of times it's helping these kids understand the coercion.

Now sometimes, certainly there are threats. You know, we've seen Sextortion used where they've taken photos. Mm-hmm. If you tell anyone, I'm gonna share this photo, or I'm gonna tell your parents, or I'm gonna share this with school. You know, physical threat to a somebody's life that can happen at pivotal moments in mm-hmm.

Kind of the relationship. Just like any kind of intimate partner violence or, sure. Um, you know, we see, we do see that. [00:11:00] Oftentimes where we see kind of the greatest actual risk from a youth coming forward and then there being a risk to their life is typically when there's gang involvement and very organized gang involvement.

Cynthia: Okay, 

Erin Williamson: that makes sense. We don't see that a ton but that's where we see the real threats. 

Cynthia: Okay, well, what can, well, let's talk about the digital component, because all kids, I, I shouldn't, I shouldn't say a hundred percent, but I would say very close to a hundred percent of kids have some sort of device that they have access to.

Now, maybe they don't have full access to a phone or a tablet, but there's probably a desktop computer or maybe at school they can get on devices or whatever. So what can parents be doing to help? With that digital component. 

Erin Williamson: Absolutely. And I'm right there with you. I have a 9-year-old and a 13-year-old, and my 13-year-old, you know, got a, has a cell phone and, um, my 9-year-old will go on our, our iPad.

So [00:12:00] I'm, I'm right there with you. Mm-hmm. And, and the idea of, you know, not, not allowing access, children access to the internet, it's, it's very uncommon and almost mm-hmm. You know. Almost impossible in today's digital world. Yeah. And the reality is, you, you want your kids to be tech savvy 'cause they're growing up in a digital world and they'll need those skill sets later on in life.

Sure. And, and probably in their career, uh, you know, where we started and where I suggest parents start is ideally you start at a young age with just healthy body, healthy boundaries. Right. My body, my space, teaching them that they can set boundaries for themselves both physically and emotionally. You know, one of the things we did at a really early age was we told our kids, our family doesn't have secrets and mm-hmm.

We really emphasize that and repeated it over and over because again, to a predator, they're gonna test those kids. They're gonna say, yeah. You know, do you know how to keep a secret? Mm-hmm. And if the response they get is, well, my family doesn't have [00:13:00] secrets, they're gonna move on. Mm-hmm. Right? Yes. They don't wanna take that risk that that's gonna be a child that's gonna tell an adult.

So there are things that you can teach your kid. I actually think teaching your kid to tell somebody, my family doesn't have. Keep secrets. That's more important than teaching them, you know, what do you do if a white van shows up with candy? Right. That's, that's un not probably gonna happen to your kid.

Right. But, but somebody asking your kid, do you know how to keep a secret that could happen? 

Cynthia: Yeah. Um, 

Erin Williamson: as people test the boundaries and, and then as you kind of get ready to introduce technology right. First, I would say what we have done, and again, what we suggest other parents do is first make sure that you are really restricting their access, right?

Mm-hmm. You really do need to know what apps your kids are going on. You really do need to know what, what they're doing on the internet. There are parental safeguards that you can put on most apps and most you know, web browsers, and you really [00:14:00] do need to lock it down and then slowly loosen up as they get out, right?

Mm-hmm. You don't want it still locked down at age 17 the way it should be for a 7-year-old, right? That's unrealistic. Mm-hmm. But at seven, you don't want your kid just typing in willy-nilly into the internet and seeing what pops up. I mean. Right. You can even go onto regular YouTube type in Disney and some really inappropriate stuff can pop up.

Cynthia: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So 

Erin Williamson: you just need to be really careful, but. The other thing is as you give your kid their own device, and especially a device that they're gonna take out of your house, like a phone, um, which many kids get, you know, that is a time to say, if you're old enough for this device, you're old enough for us to have some pretty serious conversations about what might happen.

Cynthia: Mm-hmm. 

Erin Williamson: Mm-hmm. Most kids are being approached and it's just a matter of whether or not. They know to not respond to that person and or they know how to handle that situation. And so instead of saying, you know, there are dangerous people out there that [00:15:00] say, you know, it's possible that there's gonna be someone who you don't know who reaches out to you, let's talk about, let's work through what our expectations are as a parent, as a family, how you can protect yourself.

The other thing that we, I really, really strongly encourage parents to say, especially to preteens and adolescents and to repeat often is, look, we're gonna set household rules, right? I'm gonna tell you what my expectations are. I'm gonna tell you what my consequences are, and. You are going through a period in life where it is very normal for you to push back and at times even break those rules.

And I know that. And what I want you to know is in those moments, the most important thing to me is your safety. Mm-hmm. It's not that you broke a rule. It's not that you didn't listen, it's your safety. The most important thing for me is that you tell me and we figure it out together. Mm-hmm. Because so often traffickers and predators in general, they'll use [00:16:00] that rule breaking against.

Mm-hmm. The kid or that kid will say, well, I didn't go because. I was afraid my mom would've blamed me because I wasn't supposed to be out past curfew. And the reality is, a lot of times our first instinct is to blame the kid for breaking the wall. Yes, right. So we have to also kind of ke hold ourselves accountable in those moments.

If we've set the expectation that the most important thing is their safety, then when they come to us or when something happens, we have to start with their safety with, are you okay? What is happening? Re your safety's the most important thing. I'm so glad you came to me. And then begin to address kind of all of these other things like, okay, okay, now that we've established your safety, let's go back to the rules and why they're on place and what we can do.

Cynthia: Mm-hmm. Well, I love that you were saying that you have that rule. Your family, like, you know, our family doesn't keep secrets so that if someone asks your [00:17:00] child, they're gonna be like, oh, well we don't have secrets or whatever. Because when I listened to a presentation this last week from an FBI, former FBI person who investigated these kinds of crimes, she said that they got to talk to the.

The perpetrators, you know, people who had already been arrested, they had 'em in a room and asked them a lot of questions because if you know the other side, maybe you can come up with ways to stop this. And the number one reason that they said that they. Would stop targeting a certain child was if there was any resistance because they're like, there's so many kids and we don't wanna get in trouble.

So if anyone's a little bit like, uh, I don't know if I wanna do that, or I don't know if I should keep this secret or whatever, they're gonna move on to another kid. Now that's terrible. They're moving on to another kid, but your kid is gonna be safe because they have said. I don't think I wanna be involved in this and, and there's so many, [00:18:00] unfortunately, eager and easy targets that they're gonna move on to someone who is gonna keep their secret or is gonna, you know.

Follow through with whatever they're wanting 'em to do. So I think that's, I think that that seems like a really good thing for parents is to have these kinds of really good discussions and make sure that their child understands that that's what the, you know, the expectation of the family is. So that.

They are gonna at least seem resistant to what is going on, and then maybe the perpetrator will move on to a different person and stop talking to them. So, um, absolutely. But that is scary to think about that. Probably almost every kid is going to be, I. I don't know at least approached online. Um, and that is so scary to think about.

But we do, we, even though it's scary, we need to know that so that we can be helpful to our kids. Now, do you work for a certain program or company that kind of helps with this stuff? Can you tell us [00:19:00] more about that? 

Erin Williamson: Sure, sure. And I definitely wanna talk about Love 1 46. I do wanna say, when you say it's scary, the one thing as an adult I would, I would attribute it to is the spam you get on your phone.

Right. Uh, we've all gotten that spam. Yeah. Where it's like you owe a late fee for it. Yeah. And at this point you're just like, delete. Delete. Right. Because you know it's 

Cynthia: spam, 

Erin Williamson: but obviously some people don't know it's spam. Right. And they click on it. It's the exact same thing, right? Yeah. If your kid is educated, they will know when someone's coming into their inbox.

Mm-hmm. Or trying to DM them. Ugh. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. If they don't know, then they might engage. Yes. So that's a good kind of way to think about, it's a little less scarier of a way to think about it. Yeah. Yeah, because it's kind of like spam for them. Mm-hmm. It is just so it can be so pervasive.

Yeah. I work for an amazing organization and thank you so much for asking me about it. It's called Love 1 46, and we have been around for a little over 20 years now and we work [00:20:00] with kids in the United States. We also work with kids overseas. And our focus is really to, like you said, prevent trafficking from happening in the first place.

We have an amazing prevention education, curricula called not a number, where we teach educators, uh, social workers, people who normally are engaging with and working with youth, how to implement this curricula. It's a five module curricula. And it focuses on things like what is a healthy relationship?

What, how do you practice refusal skills? It's really skill-based because we know that just giving kids information isn't enough, right? Mm-hmm. Kids know drugs are bad. They still do drugs, right? Right. We have to teach them these skill sets and teach them really how to utilize them and practice them. And we also have a survivor care program where we work with youth who have been identified as being really suspected or confirmed survivors of trafficking.

And, and those two programs really they really inform each other, right? Mm-hmm. So we, a [00:21:00] lot of our prevention education is based on what we've learned in our survivor care program. A lot of our survivor care program is based on kind of our lessons, helping them understand what theoretically they should have gotten in some sort of prevention, education program to begin with.

Cynthia: Okay. So this prevention program, you were saying educators, social workers, so it's not really a parent program. It's mostly like schools would be. Teaching this to kids or social workers would be using it in their offices. Is that kind of how it works? 

Erin Williamson: We have that. We also do have resources for parents.

So if you go on our website at Love one four six.org, we have a number of resources for parents. We also, uh, right now if you go on there's a link on the top of the intro page where you can actually sign up for caregiver emails, where we really walk you through this idea of. How do you introduce technology to your kid?

How do you talk to them about websites, about appropriate [00:22:00] engagement? What do you do if things go wrong, right? Mm-hmm. What is kind of an appropriate response? You know, we, we kind of, we attribute it to or make it to kind of teaching your kid to cross the street, right? Yeah. When they're young, you hold their hand, you talk, tell them to look both ways.

You practice, you make sure they're not crossing busy streets on their own. As they get older, they might, at some point they're gonna cross the street on their own. It might not be a highway, you know, but, or a very busy street. And then, and then, you know, by the time they're 18 and they're leaving your household, theoretically, they should be able to cross any street that they need to to get around it.

Right? Right. Mm-hmm. And the same is true for introducing technology, right? It's the exact same thing. Initially. You really wanna be with them, you wanna be talking them through it, you wanna be checking in with them. And then as they get older. You kind of allow for more and more freedom and um, and then eventually you're going to allow all the freedom.

Another example of [00:23:00] this is there are phones. We have one in, in our family where there is monitoring. So we have mm-hmm. We got our kit, what's called a bark phone. Mm-hmm. And that does AI assessments of when he's texting with his friends when he is online, if anything comes up related to bullying, related to drugs and alcohol.

Inappropriate communication, inappropriate, sexual, we get pinged, right? Mm mm-hmm. He will have that. He's young. He's not gonna have that when he's 17. Right, right, right. When he's 17, 18, he will have a different type of food, a phone. We don't need to be pinged with everything. We wanna make sure that he has established kind of good habits around being on the internet.

Yeah. Um, good. And it really does work. You know, the other day he told us, he actually removed himself from a group chat because he went, he was invited into a group chat. He saw who was in the group chat. He knew what, how those people spoke because he mm-hmm. He is friendly and he knew there was gonna be inappropriate [00:24:00] content and so he proactively removed himself from that group chat.

And I love that. I mean, that's the type of behavior and And thinking you want to instill in them. Yes. At an early age. 

Cynthia: Mm-hmm. Oh, I love that so much. And this is stuff that, like you said, early age like this needs to start at the beginning, maybe even not even with technology, but I. Everything that you do as you're raising your kids, like you want them to have good problem solving, you want them to be able to figure things out, you want them to have some autonomy with some guardrails.

Like you're, we're teaching that in every area, but technology it just became so fast, so quick before we really realized what we should be doing with it. And you know, now we're having to pull back a little bit and trying to figure out what does all that mean. Um, but. Programs like yours and, and the ideas that the resources that parents can get from you and educators can get from you will be so helpful for these kids [00:25:00] and families to, to figure this out.

And again, I'm so glad I'm not doing it in my own home, but I do have three grandkids and I'm already like thinking about, oh no, you know, what is this gonna be? Now, luckily their parents are all saying, you know, we're gonna limit technology and we're gonna limit. Social media access and things like that.

And I believe that they are going to do that. So I, it makes me feel better. I feel like they'll be teaching things along the way that will be helpful. But I do think that every kid probably gets approached at some point and we just need to give our kids the words and the skills and stuff to be able to handle that when they do get approached.

Erin Williamson: Absolutely. And the other thing to think about is, you know, a lot of times we teach our kids rules as if there's a always a right and a wrong and not a gray. 

Cynthia: Right. Uhhuh. 

Erin Williamson: And you know, I think it's really important for kids to learn to navigate the gray. And I'll give you an example of something that happened for my younger child when she was [00:26:00] younger and a couple of years ago she was on the bus and it was her stop.

An older kid had sat down next to her and she said, I have to get out. It's my stop. And the older kid wouldn't move and said, you know, what do you say? She said, it's my stop. I have to get out. And the older kid just kept staying there and wouldn't, like, wouldn't move. And I. And started really kind of it, my, my child started getting really scared and she goes, I have to go out.

And she started crying and she ended up hitting that child and, and kind of kicking her way out. Mm-hmm. And, you know, she came running home with my older kid and my older kid's like, oh my gosh. She, you know, hit a, hit somebody and kicked somebody and she was crying because she was so worried that I was gonna be mad at her and in trouble.

And I looked at her and I said. If you ever feel like you are stuck in an unsafe situation, you do whatever you need to get out of that situation. Mm-hmm. And I said, I am happy if to, you know, to get a phone call, any phone call from that school and explain what was happening. [00:27:00] Do I want you to go up and randomly hit and punch kids?

No, I don't. Mm-hmm. You felt unsafe. And from what you're describing to me, you were trapped. Mm-hmm. And I said, I'm okay with that. And. And nuancing that. Like when that there is kind of this gray area where things aren't just black and white, right? A lot of times we teach our kids, you know, respect teachers, not there are teachers.

Some of 'em are not good, not okay, right? We hear stories, right? Mm-hmm. So telling your kids like, look, generally. These are people who you can trust teachers, you know, social workers law, but not always. Right? Yeah, not always. And, and you really gotta trust your gut. And when your gut says someone's unsafe, you go with your gut, right?

Mm-hmm. And, and teaching kids to kind of learn to lean into that gut guttural feeling that we all have naturally is a really important skillset. 

Cynthia: [00:28:00] Well, and because we're letting them know that they, their feelings are true and that they mean something, instead of trying to shut that down or saying that's doesn't matter or whatever.

My daughter used to get the gut feeling and there was a guy one time, a man, and she was maybe in middle school, and she was like, I just feel really weird when I'm around him. And I said, pay attention to that. That means that that person is not safe. I. And that's okay. You don't have to be around that person by yourself.

You don't have to be alone or, you know, make sure you aren't ever alone around that person because that feeling means something. And I'm, I'm, she's always been the one that kind of could sense things about people. And I always felt like I didn't have that. But I know I do have it. I think it was shut down by people, adults in my life when I was younger.

Like, oh, that's. Dumb or why do you think that? Or don't worry about it, or whatever. And so then I started to question maybe I don't know what I'm feeling or [00:29:00] knowing. And I just wanted to make sure she never got that message that that's not true or good. Because I do think that we get those feelings for a reason.

Like, something is off about this person or the situation. You need to stay, you know, out of it or away from them. So I'm glad. That is a good thing for parents to be teaching too, so. Absolutely. Um, well you have one of these tip sheets, I think, or a resource for our parents that they can get in the show notes.

And how would you, if people wanna contact you and ask questions or find out more about you, what can they do? 

Erin Williamson: Absolutely. So, you know, my information is on our website also, please, you know, follow us. Uh, love 1 46. We're on all of the social media, you know, LinkedIn and Twitter and Facebook, or I guess not Twitter anymore now, X, but Facebook.

Mm-hmm All we're on all of them. Instagram. You know, we, we really rely [00:30:00] on people to spread the word about this issue and to your point mm-hmm. We don't, we don't wanna scare people, but we do want parents to be aware of that. Aware of Yes. How they can support not just their kids, but all kids in their life.

Mm-hmm. Um, and how educators can support. Mm-hmm. You know, if you're interested more in our work and support. Supporting our work. That would be wonderful too. Our, our work is supported by kind of braided funding, but we really do rely on, on donor support. Most of our, our average donation is actually $25, so, you know, we're not talking about large donations.

Of course, if you have those resources, we would love that too. But, but most, mm-hmm. People who support us, you know? Support us with whatever they can. And so please go on our website, take a look at what we have to offer for you as parents and educators. Share the information. You can go to your school district and ask them what they're doing to educate, uh, your kids about internet safety, about potential predators.

I mean, it's really interesting to know. [00:31:00] What schools are doing. Um, because again, I think a lot of us assume, oh, they're getting internet safety in their schools. You know, I recently asked my school, what are they doing? And when they talked about internet safety, they talked about, well, we tell kids not to share their password.

And I was like, what? And they said, well, we tell, we tell kids not to show, share their address. Okay. But that's like, that was internet safety back in like the 1990s when I was Yeah. That's, you know mm-hmm. That is not what we need today. So making sure there's robust internet safety in your schools as well as information on, on trafficking and grooming and what that can look like is really important.

Mm-hmm. 

Cynthia: Well, and I, as you were talking about grooming, I was groomed when I was, um, in high school and by a teacher, and people weren't talking about that like. It. I was an adult. When I finally thought, I finally realized, oh, I didn't cause that. Like I kept thinking it was me. Like I did this and this [00:32:00] happened, and that's not it at all.

And when I finally got more information, went through education classes and you know, started learning about psychology and all that stuff, I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, but I had no idea. And so I didn't tell anyone because. I didn't even know that anything was happening that wasn't supposed to be happening.

Like, I just thought, oh, well, that, that was me causing all this. So I'm glad that we're talking about this more because so many people can make better decisions and have, you know, get out of situations if they have this information. So absolutely. I appreciate you being on my show and, um, telling us about this stuff because this is a great conversation to have and I want more people to be educated about everything.

Erin Williamson: Yeah. No, thank you so much for having me. It's, it really is important to, to talk about this. I think there's so many yous out there in the world. We talked to so many kids who say I had no idea. I had no idea. I thought everyone was going [00:33:00] through this. I thought everyone was sexually abused at home and had their daddy touch them, or I thought, thought everybody, I thought it was, I thought I was making decisions.

Right. That's, yeah, and that is, it's. Part of the grooming and recruitment process Yeah. Is that predators make kids feel like it, it is their choice or their fault, or it's normal or they have no autonomy in it. And, and, um, and unfortunately it, we should be farther along in, in making, in realizing as a society that it, that it's not their fault.

It's, it's the perpetrator's fault, but yeah. 

Cynthia: Yes. Yeah. We have a ways to go, but we are better. Yes. Better and we're, we're educated, so I love that so much. So. Well, we'll just keep educating people so we can get this to be better. 

Erin Williamson: I love it. Absolutely. 

Cynthia: Well, thank you for being with us. 

Erin Williamson: Thank you so much for having me.

Cynthia: Mm-hmm.