Cabarrus students produce PSA, Present Age Ministries urges parents to 'be present' against human trafficking

Present Age Ministries and students in Cabarrus County released a peer-to-peer public service announcement aimed at raising awareness of human trafficking and urging parents and community members to be present in children’s lives.

Hannah Arrowood, founder and executive director of Present Age Ministries, said the 2015 North Carolina senate bill requiring human trafficking education in public schools (targeting seventh through ninth grades) helped prompt a partnership with Cabarrus County Schools to create student-made PSAs. "We came up with this idea to do public service announcements," Arrowood said, describing the effort as a way for teenagers to "be a part of the conversation" rather than being lectured by adults.

The PSA combines statements of scope and direct student testimony. An opening narrator said, "North Carolina ranks among the top 10 states for human trafficking with Charlotte as the number 1 city," and the student voice of Cameron, identified in the PSA as a 12-year-old seventh-grader, delivered a testimonial-style passage warning that trafficking can "steal" childhoods. Cameron said, in part, "My childhood won't last long. My innocence will be stolen from me." The PSA also relays numerical claims used in the message: a figure stated for North Carolina ("like 1,700 people"), a worldwide figure ("30,000,000 people worldwide"), and a claimed local average for Charlotte ("78 trafficking cases every year"). Those numbers were presented by the PSA speakers as part of the script and are reported here as stated in the recording.

The PSA provides a concrete call to action and resources: the National Human Trafficking Hotline, +1 (888) 373-7888. Arrowood emphasized prevention through caregiver involvement, saying January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and urging parents and guardians to "be present and safeguard" their children, which she described as the single most powerful preventive factor.

Present Age Ministries is a Cabarrus County-based nonprofit focused on combating the abuse, exploitation and trafficking of teen girls, according to Arrowood. The group said the student-produced approach aims to reach at-risk youth more effectively by using peer language and creative formats developed by the students themselves.

The PSA ends with a direct appeal: "Help fight back. The end begins with you." No formal vote or public-agency action was recorded in the transcript; the item appears to be an informational/community outreach presentation rather than a government proceeding.