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A group of Asbury Park High School students were honored Wednesday night by the City Council through the ceremonious adoption of a Human Trafficking Resolution they crafted.

The 90 students were all a part of the district’s Dream Academy homestead social studies class or the general education world history class, all administered by Janice Kroposky and paramentor Toni Terry.

“We spent about 2½ weeks studying the human rights abuse known as human trafficking,” Kroposky said. “Because we learned that January was Human Trafficking Awareness Month, we knew that collectively we wanted to reach out to the stakeholders of our town to let them know this was something that we are concerned about.” According to a recent Polaris report on the subject, the United Nations estimates that more than 40 million people in the world today are living in some form of the modern slavery.

“We really wanted to give a voice to the voiceless,” Kroposky said of the collaborative effort. “The students are part of a larger group who are learning how to become human rights advocates,” Kroposky said. “It is not only to advocate for themselves but on behalf of others.”

In their presentation during the Wednesday evening City Council meeting students Micah Wright, 15, Kayla Byrd, 14, Tatiana Laurore, 15, Anyea Myles, 16, and E’Niah Preston, 16, outlined their findings.

“Human trafficking is a global problem that is too often hidden from the public’s view,” Wright said.

“There are more human beings held in bondage today than at any other time in history,” Byrd said.

“The International Labor Organization estimates that forced labor and human trafficking is a $150 billion industry worldwide,” Laurore said.

“The US Dept. of Labor has identified 139 goods from 75 countries made by forced and child labor,” Myles said. “In 2016, an estimated one out of six endangered runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were likely child sex trafficking victims.”

“As global citizens and caring young adults, Mr Mayor and Councilmembers, we graciously ask you to accept a proclamation declaring January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in the City of Asbury Park,” Preston said.

After thanking the students for their hard work, Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn read their resolution into record and the Mayor and Council unanimously voted on its adoption.

The student-crafted resolution asks all municipalities across to the state to join in raising awareness and educating the public on the signs and consequences of human trafficking.

Copies will be sent to the offices of Gov. Phil Murphy, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, NJ Attorney General, Senators and Assembly-members who represent the community, the NJ Commission on Human Trafficking, NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking, the NJ League of Municipalities, and members of the NJ Congressional Delegation, Quinn said.

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