The Importance of Awareness Education
We talk a lot about Awareness and we talk a lot about Education, but what is the connection between them, and why is that connection valuable in combating issues like Human Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation?
Well for one thing, it is my personal belief that you cannot combat something, or for that matter, protect yourself from something you know nothing about. If we are to apply this belief contextually, you cannot protect yourself or others from trafficking situations, if you choose to believe that trafficking does not happen, and could not happen in your community. Once you know about something, you can begin to see it and recognize it.
Psychologists put it this way, "How can we process something, if we didn't consciously, and accurately perceive the situation or stimulus in the first place?"
Awareness Education is a tactic used by organizations all around the world in order to address wide spread public health crises. If we are to think of an obvious example, particularly during the turn of the century and one that has persisted into the 21st Century we think about the campaign against cigarettes. This form of awareness education has been vastly successful according to the CDC and The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. Studies have shown that there is a correlation between increasing the rate at which information is dispersed regarding the harmful effects of tobacco and the rate at which the tobacco product is used. Other organizations combating issues such as Brest Cancer, drug abuse, and pornography addiction are also using similar strategies to the CDC's in combating tobacco use. These examples are excellent in demonstrating why talking about an issue, raising the level of discourse at which the issue is discussed, and therefore raising awareness about a certain topic is essential to preventing its ubiquitously harmful nature from entering into our homes, schools, and communities.
In my journey over the last three years with founding, and carrying out the mission of KQ I have come to the belief that awareness education is most certainly a form of ‘preventative medicine’—one that has the ability to prevent and protect individuals from some of the darkest evils that our world wrestles with today. This medicine has the ability to cure the world of trafficking, and child sexual exploitation in combination with rescue and reintegration efforts. We have the cure to human trafficking, the cure to child sexual exploitation. But, we must work to further implement awareness education practices into the environment of both current students, but also within the communities that we live and work in. By making our world more aware of the issues we face, we are more likely to ignite passion in individuals to rise and fight for what they believe in, to fight for the world that they want to live in. By making our world more aware we more are likely to prevent individuals from getting to a place they don't want to be, or heading in a direction they don't want to head in.
Today in the United States we educate teachers, doctors, social workers and so many others on the power of awareness, on the power that they hold in fighting social issues. But, it is other members of the general public, according to sources, that are reporting cases of human trafficking and taking to the front lines to combat the issue. So with that in mind, it is now time to educate everyone on both how to recognize these issues but also on this power of awareness, because through the power of education we hold the power to prevent and protect. We hold the power to illuminate the darkness of human exploitation, and we hold the power to make our world a better place.
Until Next Time-
Jacob
Well for one thing, it is my personal belief that you cannot combat something, or for that matter, protect yourself from something you know nothing about. If we are to apply this belief contextually, you cannot protect yourself or others from trafficking situations, if you choose to believe that trafficking does not happen, and could not happen in your community. Once you know about something, you can begin to see it and recognize it.
Psychologists put it this way, "How can we process something, if we didn't consciously, and accurately perceive the situation or stimulus in the first place?"
Awareness Education is a tactic used by organizations all around the world in order to address wide spread public health crises. If we are to think of an obvious example, particularly during the turn of the century and one that has persisted into the 21st Century we think about the campaign against cigarettes. This form of awareness education has been vastly successful according to the CDC and The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. Studies have shown that there is a correlation between increasing the rate at which information is dispersed regarding the harmful effects of tobacco and the rate at which the tobacco product is used. Other organizations combating issues such as Brest Cancer, drug abuse, and pornography addiction are also using similar strategies to the CDC's in combating tobacco use. These examples are excellent in demonstrating why talking about an issue, raising the level of discourse at which the issue is discussed, and therefore raising awareness about a certain topic is essential to preventing its ubiquitously harmful nature from entering into our homes, schools, and communities.
In my journey over the last three years with founding, and carrying out the mission of KQ I have come to the belief that awareness education is most certainly a form of ‘preventative medicine’—one that has the ability to prevent and protect individuals from some of the darkest evils that our world wrestles with today. This medicine has the ability to cure the world of trafficking, and child sexual exploitation in combination with rescue and reintegration efforts. We have the cure to human trafficking, the cure to child sexual exploitation. But, we must work to further implement awareness education practices into the environment of both current students, but also within the communities that we live and work in. By making our world more aware of the issues we face, we are more likely to ignite passion in individuals to rise and fight for what they believe in, to fight for the world that they want to live in. By making our world more aware we more are likely to prevent individuals from getting to a place they don't want to be, or heading in a direction they don't want to head in.
Today in the United States we educate teachers, doctors, social workers and so many others on the power of awareness, on the power that they hold in fighting social issues. But, it is other members of the general public, according to sources, that are reporting cases of human trafficking and taking to the front lines to combat the issue. So with that in mind, it is now time to educate everyone on both how to recognize these issues but also on this power of awareness, because through the power of education we hold the power to prevent and protect. We hold the power to illuminate the darkness of human exploitation, and we hold the power to make our world a better place.
Until Next Time-
Jacob
Comments
Post a Comment