Empowering today’s youth,
to protect tomorrow’s future.
We believe that our youth have the capacity to become champions in the fight to end Human Trafficking.
Project Protect Our Children (PPOC) is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to preventing child sex trafficking, exploitation, and abuse through proactive community engagement, preventative educational programs, awareness, and empowerment opportunities.
The Youth Action Board (YAB) program was conceptualized in 2019 and launched in 2020 to engage, educate, and empower today's youth to become part of the solution. The YAB is a student-led/student-driven anti-human trafficking high school campus club program that comprises students in grades 9 to 12 who feel called to make a difference in the fight to end human trafficking utilizing the power of Youth Voice.
Human trafficking campaigns, events, and activities that are created and championed by students can undoubtedly reach and impact their peers at a level that cannot be attained otherwise. The YAB is a collective body of students with diverse perspectives, experiences, identities, and cultural differences that come together to work towards the same shared goal.
YAB members collectively collaborate, brainstorm, and reflect on solutions and event ideas to raise awareness about human trafficking amongst their peers, educators, and community. The Youth Action Board program provides students with the tools and resources needed to inspire, conceptualize, plan, and implement school-wide Human Trafficking Awareness events and/or activities on their school campus during Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
The Youth Action Board program is age-appropriate, research-based, survivor-informed, trauma-informed, and available to school campus sponsors AT NO COST through our online Community of Practice (CoP) platform. The online CoP is a powerful space for collaboration and knowledge sharing amongst the YAB campus sponsors, harnessing their collective intelligence while providing invaluable resources for sustainable impact across the nation within our schools and communities.
Help us grow the youth-driven anti-human trafficking movement to create positive change in our schools and communities by bringing the fully replicable/scalable anti-human trafficking club program for high school-aged youth to your community. We even provide the campus sponsors with a stipend!
Our Youth Action Board Members have brought Human Trafficking Awareness to
We believe in the POWER of YOUTH VOICE.
Tell us WHY you want to join the Youth Action Board.
Many people have no idea how common sex trafficking actually is. I would love to have the opportunity to spread awareness and help people realize this is not just something that happens in remote parts of cities, or out in the country, but on the streets of their own neighborhoods.
I think it is really important for all of us young people to learn more about this subject. No one talks about this at school and not many adults do either. The more we know the better we can fight this crime. I would like to serve on the Youth Action Board for Project Protect Our Children so I can help spread the word about this crime.
Unfortunately, human and sex trafficking are big issues not only within our country but in our community. I believe that I can really help make a difference and I would like to help be a part of educating others.
Spreading awareness about injustices affecting kids just like me is necessary to evoke change...work[ing] closely with Project Protect Our Children through the Youth Action Board would have an immense impact on my ability to incite a positive change for children all around Houston and eventually nationwide.
I can no longer sit in the comfort of my safe home knowing that a girl my own age, in my own city, could be out there suffering. I desire to make a difference in my time.
I will be a voice for the silent. I will be a leader for social justice, and most importantly, I will be the ears and heart for the ones who need to be heard and felt.
Some might say that our generation is too young to do anything about it. Or that we don't know enough to make an impact. But in reality, it is people our age that are the ones being exploited. Shouldn't we be the ones stepping up in courage and boldness to help them? Shouldn't this generation be the ones who are working to bring awareness to the harsh reality that slavery still exists today so that the generations after us can live in an overall safer world? I believe the answer is yes, and I am willing to serve and take action today to see the captives set free. I want to be a part of the change, to be a part of the solution, not the one pouring into the problem! And through young students joining together with one voice, there truly is no better time to change than now.
I want to be able to educate others to be able to recognize the signs of human trafficking and I want to help stop it from happening. Since it is such a significant problem in our community, it is important for everyone to be aware of it. I want to share my knowledge with others so that they can be aware of potential trafficking situations and know how to report it.
As a member of the Youth Action Board, I'm interested in fighting against the injustices that affect children and hope to make a positive change within society. I do not want to be a bystander and watch children my age be taken away from their families every day, knowing that I have a chance to prevent it from happening. I feel that this is an issue no one talks about and thus goes unheard of. Therefore, I joined the YAB to encourage others in my community to educate themselves and their families about human trafficking and how to recognize it so that they won’t be manipulated, as countless others have. The more we educate people and spread the word about the dangers and consequences of human trafficking, the better society can be as we can take preventative actions to not let this crime continue happening in our community.
I believe this is a very important topic that as a teenager not many of us are educated about. So with that being said one of my goals would be to not only educate myself and learn more about it but educate my peers around me.
Throughout my life I have strived to serve my fellow man and my community. I love seeing the difference people can make in their community through service, and have seen it in my own life. I want to join your youth action board because I feel I could be of service, and that together we could make a difference in our community.
In a survey done in 2018, 55% of respondents reported being in school while they were being trafficked. Looking at this statistic, it is essential to spread the message to highschools around the Houston area because of the commonality and because teenagers are some of the most vulnerable to this danger. I think that the Youth Action Board can truly make a difference in our community, and I would love to be a part of the amazing work that the board does.
Although we are unable to change the factors that place a child at risk for trafficking, we are able to provide these children with awareness in order to prevent it from occurring. Therefore, by being on the youth action board, I would be able to educate today’s youth and prevent them from being exploited. Given the tools and knowledge, I will be able to educate my peers, teachers, and community in preventing the spread of human trafficking.
The statistics surrounding the issue of human trafficking really demonstrate the ongoing problem. Because of this, I want to continue to spread awareness to make a difference in my community.
As an older sister to three, my family is everything to me. I believe in doing my part in the community and doing my part to keep my family safe and educated about the risks and signs. Human trafficking cannot be stopped by just a few people, it takes a village and I want to be apart of the village that brings an end to it.
I want to bring about awareness regarding human trafficking, and help in any way that I can possible. From hanging up posters around school, or providing gifts for children in need during the holidays, I will work hard and fight to end child human trafficking and abuse. The youth action board would be a perfect opportunity for me to help alongside others who are passionate about this, as well as learn about and spread knowledge about human trafficking, and how the youth of today can prevent it. I want to bring about awareness regarding human trafficking, and help in any way that I can possible.
BIG NEWS!!!
Launching the Middle School Youth Action Board Program for 7th and 8th Grade Students in January 2024!
What are people saying about our Youth Action Board?
The young people on stage with me today have set a powerful example, not just for their fellow students, but for our entire community here in Houston. They're stepping up to improve our city and the lives of children who have been subjected to the horrible evils of trafficking. We all have a role to play in rooting out this evil, and these young people have gone above and beyond to meet the moment and truly serve our community. I passed a little bit of legislation, but these kids have put hundreds and hundreds of hours into this. It's incredible. I was talking to them earlier about what exactly they do. They've reached thousands and thousands of their peers which really is amazing.
Human trafficking is not just a law enforcement issue, but that it takes all aspects within the community to help resolve the issue. Today's event is a true example of that with the Youth Action Board doing just that. As young students, they have identified a critical issue that primarily targets their age group, and they've decided to make a difference.
One of my favorite quotes happens to be from Winston Churchill says, 'We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give,' and what these young people are giving is a testament to them, testament to their parents, testament to this organization (PPOC). It's so wonderful to see that it is going to take everyone in this fight.
In the 15 years that I've been doing the work in human trafficking, mostly in the victim services side, but now working the last year with the Houston Police Department and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance of the Southern District of Texas, I've seen the importance of what's really going to be the game-changer for how we combat human trafficking in our community. And that is how we raise up the next generation of leaders. So these 6 students here have taken the step in doing exactly that - raising their level of interest and acknowledgment of the problem in their own community and saying something and doing something to challenge us as citizens of our country. Members of our communities, it's important that we recognize their efforts and so I do, as well, commend their great work and their great discipline of doing something that's extraordinary beyond most students in today's world.
I was extremely impressed with the amount of information that was provided; I found everything to be accurate and useful information. The information was provided in a very clear way, which was easy to understand and grasp. I was really happy that the training touched on the grooming process and victim blaming, which I find to be valuable pieces of information. Overall, I find that the program delivered A LOT of accurate and beneficial information.