Busing on the Lookout: School Transportation

Thousands of school-age children in the United States and Canada are vulnerable to being trafficked. Some victims will continue attending school during the day — and riding the school bus — even while they are being trafficked or groomed at night and on weekends.  School transportation professionals may observe red flags that a child on their bus is being exploited or can play a preventative role by noticing signs that a child may be at risk of being trafficked or is being groomed for the sex trade.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

School transportation can play a crucial role in identifying and responding to potential cases of child trafficking, especially as it is an integral component of the school environment. Here are four things you can do to help combat human trafficking in your schools:

• Implement industry-specific training for all school transportation employees;
• Find out if your school has a policy on reporting suspicions of child trafficking and share it with your drivers;
• Talk with your school administrators about identifying anti-human trafficking education opportunities for students;
• Introduce BOTL to other school districts, your state director of pupil transportation, or your state pupil transportation association.

Watch our school transportation training video:

BOTL TRAINING RESOURCES

BOTL’s free industry-specific training materials are designed to train bus drivers, aides, and other student transportation staff on how to recognize and report signs of human trafficking they may be seeing in the course of their everyday jobs. Contact info@truckersagainsttrafficking.org for print materials. Click here to access BOTL materials in Spanish or French Canadian.