MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS THROUGH AN ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN’S BOOK

EASTERN UNIVERSITY

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS THROUGH AN ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN’S BOOK

A thesis/project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Urban Studies: Arts in Transformation By Bethany Reiff

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2012

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK ii MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS THROUGH AN ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN’S BOOK By Bethany Reiff A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Urban Studies: Arts in Transformation Eastern University 2012

Approved by: Dr. J. Nathan Corbitt, Graduate Thesis Advisor Date: May 11, 2012 Research Advisor: Sandra Asher Eastern University Institutional Review Board Approval: March 2, 2012

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK iii ABSTRACT The purpose of this project is to write an illustrated children’s book about modern day slavery.

With upper estimates of 27 million people trapped in human trafficking today there is no denying that modern day slavery is a critical problem. Storytelling is a powerful tool used to educate children. While there has been much attention to the topic of human trafficking in the last 12 years, most of the information has been geared toward an adult audience. Children need more purpose than being a consumer and have a great capacity to care about the plight of others.

A qualitative approach using a phenomenological research design is used in the study on children’s perception and understanding of modern slavery. Three focus groups of children from grades three, four, and five, respectively, are chosen with six to ten children in each group.

The focus groups confirm that children’s knowledge of modern slavery is lacking, and that their sympathetic imagination is ignited through story telling, resulting in a greater desire to do something about modern slavery. The research is used as an aid in the development of an illustrated story to raise awareness about the issue. An online thesis presentation can be viewed at https://voicethread.com/?#u2663697.b2991934.i15818118 Keywords: human trafficking, modern slavery, awareness, illustrated children’s book

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK iv TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

v

GLOSSARY

vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOY

13

CHAPTER 3: THE PROJECT

15

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSIONS

16

BIBLIOGRAPHY

18

APPENDIXES

21

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to thank: Sandra Asher for her writing expertise, help, critique and guidance through the children’s book writing process.

Dr. J. Nathan Corbitt for his encouragement, guidance, advice, humor, and belief in my ability to complete this project.

Lori Quirk for her encouragement, feedback, and wide knowledge of children’s literature.

Melissa Engle for inspiring me to create and giving excellent artistic feedback.

Stacy Nofziger for her tireless proof reading, enduring encouragement, and deep friendship.

The students of Hinkletown Mennonite School who inspire me through their concern for those in need, desire to learn, and potential to make a positive difference in the world.

Finally, the women of Nightlight International in Bangkok, Thailand who remind me that though there is a sea of need related to the issue of modern slavery there are also stories of healing and hope.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK vi

GLOSSARY Human Trafficking “an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them.”

(United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, n.d., para.1)

Slavery “the total control of one person by another for the purpose of economic exploitation.”

(Bales, 1999, p. 6)

Sympathetic Imagination “ [the] understanding of a perspective of another [having] potential to alter awareness and understandings of humanity.” (Phillips, 2010, p. 364)

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Rationale for the Project In The Slave Next Door Bales and Soodalter write that slavery is defined by violent control and the resultant loss of free will (2009, p.13). The awareness of worldwide human trafficking is growing in recent years. No longer can it be assumed that slavery was abolished in 1865, as today it is known there are more slaves than ever before in history. According to the International Justice Mission, more children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade: Millions toil in bondage, their work and even their bodies the property of an owner (Injustice Today, n.d. para. 2). Polaris Project’s Human Trafficking Statistics Sheet cites from 2.4 million, according to The International Labor Organization, to 27 million, according to Kevin Bales of Free the Slaves, people are caught in modern day slavery (n.d. Human Trafficking Worldwide). In the US, the FBI estimates that 100,000 women and children generally ranging in age from 9-19 are involved in the trafficking industry (Cannon, 2009, p.227). With numbers like these the great numerical impact of the trafficking industry cannot be denied, yet many children in schools across America are being taught that slavery has been eradicated.

Introduction to the Problem Drowning in a sea of consumerism, most children’s great concern is who will win their next soccer game or what newest Wii game is about to hit the market. Noting Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Zohar and Marshall in their book Spiritual Capital: Wealth We Can Live By, maintain that most people in Western society actually are most motivated by a desire for meaning in their lives. While the desire to shelter children from the horrors of human trafficking

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 2 is understandable, children are no more exempt from a desire to give their lives to something meaningful than adults. Therefore, the aim of this project is to raise awareness about the issue of human trafficking among children in third to fifth grade.

Literature Review While the slave trade of Africans in 1600-1800’s is well known among Americans, current day slavery and slavery that happened after the Civil War are less widely discussed.

Mary Renck Jalongo tells of a less well known Padrone System in her article “Little Italian Slaves: Lessons Learned from the Padrone Boys” (2008). Under this system poor families from the countryside of Italy and Greece were promised education and work in America, with the agreement of return to their families after these promises were fulfilled. However, in reality these children where brought to American slums and forced to work menial jobs or be street performers by their masters or Padrone. Most ended up dead before their term of servitude was over, leaving families in Italy and Greece waiting in vain for their return. While there are many similarities of this system to present day trafficking, Jalongo notes that history highlights the great progress we have made in the development of the rights of children. However, as much as there has been progress there is yet room for improvement.

Susan C. Mapp in her book Global Child Welfare and Well-Being writes that ending child trafficking will require [r]aising awareness among both those who are at risk for trafficking as well as the general public (2011, p. 66). With UNICEF’s 2006 estimate that 1.2 million children are trafficked worldwide each year the need for raising this awareness is necessary.

Mapp outlines the concepts detailed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) listing child trafficking along with other issues such as child labor and child soldiers to be major threats to the well being of children world wide. This convention recognized that childhood is a special

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 3 time in the development of a human, maintaining that giving special attention to this stage will build healthier, stronger nations. In this book, Mapp gives the main causes for child trafficking, stating poverty as the greatest facto,r and lists the many types of exploitation in which trafficked children are involved such as prostitution, forced labor, begging, factory work, and agricultural work. This is a well-written and informative text that provides solid information about the current, global well-being of children.

In the last 12 years human trafficking has gotten much attention in books, articles, news reports, and the media. Kevin Bales was a forerunner of this movement bringing attention to the issue of human trafficking. In his book, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy (1999), Bales provides an uncomfortably realistic picture of this modern, global issue believed by many to be abolished long ago. In his search for the truth about modern day slavery, Bales traveled to five countries including: Thailand, Mauritania, Brazil, Pakistan, and India. In each of these countries he found disturbing examples of slavery, whether in new or old form, that is not a horror safely consigned to the past, [but that] continues to exist throughout the world, even in developed countries like France and the United States (Bales, 1999, p. 3). Although the circumstances differ from country to country, the same threads of economic exploitation and threat of violence run through each situation.

Since 1999 Bales has spoken and written extensively about the issue of slavery in the world. In 2007 Bales wrote Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves where he clearly presents the challenge of slavery and practical plans for its end. In this text, he collects stories from around the world of the freeing of slaves. He also attempts to give direction to how governments, organizations, and individuals can be involved in ending slavery. Through equipping and multiplying liberators, passing anti-slavery legislation, and helping freed slaves

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 4 find healing from their past, Bales presents many examples from his own work and models ways of ending slavery for others who want to join the fight.

In 2009 Bales brought the discussion on slavery to the home front with his book The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today. Partnering with Ron Soodalter, the two authors tell stories of slavery happening in towns all across America. Stories like a New England woman who played a brief, yet crucial role, in helping free her Indian neighbor’s long-time indentured servant and a Texan homemaker who traveled across the border into Mexico to smuggle into the United States a twelve year old girl with promises of an education and better life, only to chain her in the backyard, treating her with less dignity than an animal. This book is full of examples of the reality that human trafficking is not happening just on the other side of the globe but right in American neighborhoods. Along with these terrible stories, Bales and Soodalter provide suggestions including how to spot slaves, making law enforcement aware of trafficking, passing government policies, and providing better victim services.

David Batstone’s Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade-and How We Can Fight It (2007) is another important text that has raised much awareness about the issue of slavery in the world. Badstone, an award-winning journalist, tells the stories of modern day abolitionists working to bring an end to slavery around the world. From Thailand to Uganda to the United States, Badstone names and tells the stories of men, women, and children who are freeing others from slavery or being freed themselves. To conclude, Badstone gives readers the advice of seeking a vocation that fits together meaningful endeavors instead of just jobs. He gives examples of how some are pursuing abolitionist vocations and gives a list of organizations that are working to end slavery in the world.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 5 Many other books tell stories of first hand accounts of human trafficking. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl DuWunn focus on the injustices against women in their book Half the Sky: turning oppression to opportunity for women worldwide (2009), giving special attention to the issue of human trafficking. Aaron Cohen with Christine Buckley tells of his dangerous journey around the world seeking to free slaves and gain their freedom in the book Slave Hunter: One Man’s Quest to Free Victims of Human Trafficking (2009). Other books tell the story of one place and the people who risk their lives to free women and children from trafficking. Conor Grennan’s Little Princes tells of the quest of one man to reunite trafficked children in Nepal with their parents. While Somaly Mam shares her own story of freedom from slavery and her work to free others in The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine (2008).

With vivid detail Somaly recounts her journey in a way that, in the end, leaves the reader angry at the corrupt system in which she and many others around the world are trapped.

With the exception of Susan Mapp’s text, all the above listed books about trafficking have made great strides in raising awareness about trafficking, due largely to the fact that each of these books uses real life stories as a vehicle of raising awareness. One might question what is the impact of storytelling?

Most people could probably attest to a time that their emotions were affected by the powerful story in book or movie. Not only do stories have cathartic affects, but they also create the ability for the person hearing or reading the story to enter into another world. Time seems to pass quickly when, with wrapped attention, we are fully engaged in a story. Robert McKee, well-respected screenwriter with a PhD in cinema arts, even proposes that Chief Executive Officers of major company could become better at instilling vision in their employees if they could embrace the art of storytelling. McKee maintains that our appetite for story is a reflection

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 6 of the profound human need to grasp the patterns of living, not merely as an intellectual exercise, but within a very personal, emotional experience (McKee, 1997, p. 12).

One example of the benefits of using story telling in the business world is found in Peter K.J. Tobin’s study, Once upon a time in Africa: a case study of storytelling for knowledge sharing. Tobin studied the impact of story telling on a large mining company in South Africa. In his review of literature he identified the following as some of the benefits to storytelling: stories remain in our minds longer; stories help people to understand things in relevant, succinct ways; stories communicate complex ideas simply; and stories engage both the mind and emotions (Tobin, 2010). Tobin evaluated the use of storytelling as a way to communicate information in the South African mining company and, though he found the current use of story telling to be immature, he gave recommendations as to how better use storytelling in a business setting.

Tobin notes that his research has made a contribution to an improved understanding of the potential to enhance the sharing of knowledge in one organization through the use of stories and storytelling… (p. 137). While it is clear that storytelling has the potential as a powerful communicative tool in the business world, among adults, what impact does it have on children?

Louise G. Phillips, in her paper Social Justice Storytelling and Young Children’s Active Citizenship, explores the affect of storytelling on raising awareness of social justice issues and the participation of children as active citizens. She refers to the term sympathetic imagination coined by Nussbaum (1997), which is an understanding of a perspective of another [having] potential to alter awareness and understandings of humanity (Phillips, 2010, p. 364). Phillips proposes that it is sympathetic imagination that is at work when children are engaged in hearing stories. They are able to relate to another person’s world, culture, and life enabling them to have a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. Furthermore, she maintains that the

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 7 sharing of tragedies with children acquaints them as citizens with understandings of tragedy (p.

364). While Phillips notes that in Australia school curriculum states that issues such as child labor should not be presented to children under the age of ten, she chooses to do her study with a kindergarten aged class.

In the study Phillips, tells the children a story about poaching, which inspires one boy called Denmark to begin a list of people opposed to poaching. This list turns into a rudimentary petition, which is sent to a minister in the government, who then responds, but does not recognize the list as a petition. There are further stories that Phillips tells the children, one about child labor, which then inspires them to collect wood and toys to send to build a school in Afghanistan. These actions bring Phillips to conclude that storytelling can provoke a critical awareness in even young children for social justice issues and inspire action.

A further challenge of bringing awareness about an issue as complex and disturbing as human trafficking is the appropriateness of the presenting it to children. Chris Lealand and Jerry Harste write about this very issue in their article Is this Appropriate for Children: Books that Bring Realistic Social Issues into The Classroom. In this article they discuss the feelings and reactions of three children’s books that feature complex social issues. Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne (1998) is presented to several classroom teachers. While some thought this book would be a good vehicle to share complex social issues with their students, others objected commenting that it was too sad. Lealand and Harste tell the story of two classes that were both read a book about the African slave trade entitled Nightjohn by G. Paulsen (1993). While the teacher of one class read the book word for word the other teacher censored some of the rough language. The conversation that the librarian had with each group of students was quite different. The first, the uncensored class, had a lively discussion and the children were notably

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 8 impacted by the story, while the censored class had a blasé attitude and only gained interest in the topic after the librarian shared her own feeling about it. Lealand and Hurste end their article with the declaration that these conversations are not only appropriate for children; but they are too important for them to miss (1999, p. 6).

In Chad Curtis Schneider’s 2009 dissertation entitled The Use of Children’s Books as a Vehicle for Ideological Transmission, Schneider explores the extent to which educators use children’s literature, specifically works by Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr Seuss) to convey their own ideology. Focusing on qualitative research done in a Central Ohio School district, Schneider found that many educators had strong opinions about what topics could be discussed in the reading groups at their public schools. They felt comfortable using literature to discuss environmentalism and civil rights, but believed that sexual orientation was a taboo topic.

Schneider’s research supported his theory that literature is used to convey ideologies and he maintains that the power of literature lies in its ability to impel children to develop into productive, open-minded adults, who will contribute tremendously to the future of our society (Schneider, 2009, p. 149). More applicable to the topic of this paper is the assertion he makes about the ability of children to comprehend and mentally digest complex issues in stories.

Elementary students are able to make judgments about controversial and abstract issues, and they are equipped to consider moral implications of the picture books that they read (p. 141). As proposed in the introduction, children, like adults, desire for their lives to have meaning and, though they are young, they have the ability to care about and act upon the inspiration of the things they are taught.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 9 Not only are children able to comprehend and make judgments about stories with complex themes but they also need stories to help shape their identity. In The Uses of Enchantment Bruno Bettelheim (1976) writes as follows: Many parents believe only conscious reality or pleasant and wishful images should be presented to the child – that he should only be exposed to the sunny side of things. But such one sided fare nourishes the mind in only a one sided way, and real life is not always sunny (p.7).

Children, aware of their own inner conflicts, are not ignorant to the existence of struggle.

Bettelheim proposes that stories, specifically fairy tales, help children discover their identity, answer their most important questions, feed their imagination, and suggest experiences that are needed for future character development. Fairy tales help children process their internal worlds as they identify with the story at hand. This assertion seems to support the idea of using a children’s book in the form of a story to raise awareness of human trafficking. So what work has already been done to create awareness of human trafficking among children?

In 2009, National Geographic published a book entitled Every Human Has Rights. It is based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and uses pictures and additional text and definition to illustrate each of the items of the declaration. Number four on the list is nobody has the right to make you a slave (Robinson, 2009, p.5). The text, along with a poem by 13-year-old Tegen Dunnill Jones, is illustrated by pictures of children working in a carpet factory and another in a cotton field.

Other books have been written specifically about slavery. Reg Grant’s Slavery: Real People and their stories of enslavement tells the background of slavery but focuses much of the text on the Atlantic Slave trade and slavery in the Americas. It gives many historical facts and

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 10 has drawings, photos, charts and timelines that delineate the role of slavery in history. With over 185 pages filled with information about slavery, there are two pages that tell about slavery today.

These pages give relevant information about the picture of slavery today by providing real life photographs of children and adults in slavery, information about rug makers in Pakistan, Hatian child slavery, and debt slavery in Africa.

Marjorie Gann and Janet Willen’s book Five Thousand Years of Slavery tells the long history of slavery in the world. The book starts with the story of 7-year-old Francis who was kidnapped at a market and forced to be a cowherd for a man named Ginemma, who spoke a foreign language. While most the book contains factual details about slavery throughout all time around the globe, this one story ties the book together. In the last chapter about slavery in the modern world, Gann and Willen tell of slavery during wars, and in places from Mauritania to the United States. They also mention the issue of human trafficking using short vignettes of real life examples throughout the most recent reports of slavery. In the end, they tell how Francis finally gained his freedom from Ginemma; eventually making his way to the United States and accepting a job with the American Anti-Slavery Group telling his story.

More focused on the topic of child slavery is Shirlee P. Newman’s Child Slavery in Modern Times. This is an informational text that details the realities of child slavery today around the world. It defines terms such as debt bond, migrant worker, trafficker, and sweatshop.

Child Slavery in Modern Times is filled with real life pictures, a glossary, and reference section with other books, and information about organizations doing work related to slavery. In addition, there is a section where the author explains how she went about finding information for the book.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 11 I Want to Be Free by Joseph Slate and E.B. Lewis is a children’s picture book that tells the story of one man’s quest for freedom from slavery. The text for the book is an adaptation of sacred Buddhist literature. While no location is noted, pictures of a plantation are reminiscent of those in the Southern United States during the time of the Underground Railroad. The story ends with the man’s ankle cuff from slavery falling off with the touch of his young son and the boy telling him that by his care for his son the man gained his freedom.

While each of the books bring awareness to the issue of human trafficking and some use elements of stories, none use the format of a children’s illustrated storybook as a vehicle to bring awareness to modern issues of slavery.

Further basis for the use of stories can be found in a theory of faith development. Robert Coles in his book The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination maintains that stories contain a solid capacity to guide us through life. Coles noted the children who lived through the violence of desegregation in the United States as evidence to this hypothesis. Most notably is the story of Ruby Bridges, a kindergartener who was the first to be integrated into a white school and at six years old, when confronted by an angry white woman for seeing her lips moving, she stated that she was not talking to the people in the mob but praying for them. This deep faith and understanding of basic Christian ideology to love your enemy is attributed to the stories told in her church. This idea of stories transferring directly to our lives supports the idea that children have the ability to gain deep knowledge from stories (Bridges, R. n.d., The Education of Ruby Nell).

Although great basis for the need of raising awareness among children of human trafficking through story has been presented, the question of how to write a book about such a horrible topic still remains. While this book might be the first of its kind about human

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 12 trafficking, there have been other children’s books written about difficult topics such as the atomic bomb, civil rights, and the holocaust.

Eleanor Coerr and Ed Young’s book Sadako is set in Hiroshima, Japan. It tells the story of a Japanese girl’s battle with leukemia attributed to the atomic bomb. More than anything Sadako wants to run, but her disease will not allow it. Her best friend reminds her of folklore of a sick person who folds one thousand paper cranes being healed by the gods. This begins a campaign by Sadako to fold one thousand cranes. While she dies at the end, her classmates fold the last 356 cranes to bury with Sadako and today a statue of her can be seen at the Hiroshima Peace Park. While this story does not give all the gory, horrific details of Hiroshima, it does paint a realistic picture of the awful affects of atomic bombs that will make an impression on the minds of the children who read it.

Rosa’s Bus by Jo S. Kittinger and Steven Walker tells the story of Rosa Parks, with focus on the bus. Almost each page tells of the activity and events on bus number 2857. Recording sounds and details, this story brings to life the events of the evening of December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus. It goes on to chronicle the bus boycott by black people, leaving bus number 2857 with many empty seats, and then being full of people again after civil rights were won. The story ends with almost forgotten bus number 2857 being restored and placed as a monument at the Henry Ford Museum. By using a different vantage point of focusing the story around the bus, this story weaves an interesting tale while bringing awareness to children about the struggle for civil rights.

Finally, Rose Blanche is another excellent example of presenting a complex social issue to children in a story. The book, set in Nazi Germany, is about a girl named Rose Blanche. She tells, from a child’s perspective, what it was like when soldiers with tanks and trucks came to her

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 13 town. After seeing a boy unsuccessfully try to escape from the back of one of the trucks, Rose follows the truck and discovers one of the Nazi concentration camps and begins bringing food to the children in the camp. At the end of the story, as people begin fleeing the town, even soldiers in torn uniforms, Rose goes back out to the clearing in the woods to find it altered and the concentration camp gone. As she stops to look at it there is mention of the soldiers seeing an enemy everywhere and then there was a shot (Innocenti, 1985,p.23). Though it is never said, Rose is killed and the story ends with her mother waiting for her to come home. While Innocenti tells a gripping and powerful story about the occurrences during the Holocaust, he does it in a way that is subtle and appropriate for children to understand.

The methods employed in these three stories, of using details a child would notice, sounds, different perspective, and objects, are all ideas to consider when writing a book about a similar issue such as human trafficking.

Storytelling is a powerful tool used to educate children. While there has been much attention to the topic of human trafficking in the last 12 years, most of the information has been geared toward an adult audience. The issue of the appropriateness of the topic for children, though valid, is not enough to make a children’s book about human trafficking invalid. Children need more purpose than being a consumer and have a great capacity to care about the plight of others. Through the use of children’s input, good feedback about a potential story can be obtained and awareness of the issue of human trafficking can be raised among children through an illustrated children’s book.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 14 Chapter 2 Methodology Participants This study consisted of upper elementary (grades three to five) children of any race who attend Hinkletown Mennonite School (HMS) in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. While HMS may not well represent the whole of the population of upper elementary students throughout the nation, the researcher’s access to this school makes it a convenient population from which to draw.

Three focus groups of six to ten students were used. Both male and female students were selected. Due to the need for parental consent for students taking part in this study, a true random sampling was not be possible. A combination of random stratified and convenience sampling was used. Of the students who obtain parental consent, a random sampling was selected from each grade. Students were be split into groups by grade level.

Research design A qualitative approach using a phenomenological research design was used in the study on children’s perception and understanding of modern slavery. Three focus groups of children from grades three, four, and five respectively were chosen with six to ten children in each group.

A qualitative research approach was chosen because the perceptions and understandings of children are complex and multi faceted, which are hard to investigate through quantitative data.

In addition, a focus group was employed as the children might have been more comfortable talking in a group and the interaction of their responses together was more informative.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 15

Instrument A list of guiding questions (see Appendix A) and scripted story (see Appendix B) were used in each focus group. Questions centered on the children’s reactions, feelings, and understandings of the issue of modern slavery. In each focus group students were asked about their knowledge of human trafficking. Then after being told a story about human trafficking, the participants were asked for a response to the story. How did it affect them? How have their thoughts about slavery changed? What do they think they could do about the issue of modern slavery? In addition a digital video camera was used to record the focus group sessions and a computer was used to review the content.

Data Collection Procedure Once the parental consent forms were collected (See Appendix C), children were randomly selected for one of three focus groups by grade level. The researcher scheduled a time to meet with each focus group for a one-hour session. Sessions took place in a familiar, comfortable setting. Since students already knew each other and the researcher, introductions were not necessary. The focus groups were recorded by a digital video camera to aid in reviewing the dialogue and interaction of the children during the sessions.

Data Analysis Procedure Data gathered from the focus groups was analyzed using an unfolding matrix (see appendix F). An unfolding matrix is a dialogical technique used for qualitative data analysis.

1.Themes based on the questions from the discussions were chosen. A phrase from the responses was used to form the theme. 2. The students’ responses to each theme was coded and recorded according to whether they agree, disagree, have no response, or do not follow the line

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 16 of conversation and organized in a chart. This was done for each of the three interviews using the same themes for each interview. 3. The researcher analyzed the responses and then used them to draw conclusions about children’s understanding and perceptions of modern slavery. The conclusions drawn were then used to aid in the writing of a children’s book to raise awareness about the issue.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 17 Chapter 3 The Project Drawing upon the sympathetic imagination of children, the researcher has written and illustrated a children’s book about the issue of modern slavery. The information from the three focus groups was used to both confirm the need for such a book and influence the writing of the story. With feedback from the accomplished children’s book author, Sandra Asher, the researcher wrote a story about slavery that spans from the time before emancipation to the present. The story is told from the perspective of a tree that was planted by a house in an unidentified location in the Southern United States. It draws upon the knowledge that many children have about an old form of slavery, while also informs about the current issue that still exists. This book directly confronts the misconception that many American children have that slavery either ended with the Civil War or if still occurring, is happening in other countries.

Information for the modern part of the story was based upon actual life events in the case of Sandra Bearden, a Loredo, Texas homemaker who smuggled a 12-year-old girl across the boarder from Mexico. While not all the details of the horrific case are included, newspaper articles from the case served as the basis for the modern story in the book. The goal of this project is to create a children’s book for publication.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 18 Chapter 4 Conclusions Based on the three focus group discussions with children in grades three to five, the need for increased awareness about the issue of modern slavery is evident. Almost all the students who responded to the question “What is slavery” described a type of slavery that was present in the United States back in the 1800’s. Many of the students expressed that they think slavery does not still exist, and those who do think it still exists, believe it only happens in other countries where it is not illegal. Finally, none of the students knew what the term “human trafficking” meant and only a few had ever heard it before.

When discussing the response to the story “To Be a Slave” from Five Thousand Years of Slavery by Marjorie Gann and Janet Willen, the influence of sympathetic imagination was evident. Though many students said they could not relate to the main character, Francis, or that he was not like them, most the students who responded to later questions about their reaction to the story gave comments that showed they were putting themselves in Francis’s place. Such comments as “it’s not fair…he was taken away from his family just the first time to the market and [he’s] gone” or “he’s only seven and had to do everything perfectly or was beaten” illustrate that through hearing the story, the children could relate Francis to themselves or people they know. Furthermore, most of the children agreed that people should hear stories like Francis’s and that they should care about slaves. This ability to relate and care about a character in a story not only is a sign of sympathetic imagination, but also an example of the desire of children to help those in need.

The last component of the discussion questions asks what can be done about slavery.

Many of the students had ideas of things adults could do. Anything from changing laws, talking

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 19 to leaders of countries, and gathering groups of people to tell stories of slaves around the world, to befriending the slave owners and convincing them that owning slaves is a bad idea was mentioned. When asked what they could do themselves, many responded with things such as “save up my allowance, buy a slave and set them free,” donate money, support people who work to set slaves free, or “take Francis’s story and others like his and share it with people I know.” In response to the question of whether hearing the story made them want to do something to help slaves there was almost unanimous reply of “yes.” Therefore, it is clear that the children who took part in the focus groups have misconceptions about modern slavery, can sympathize with stories about slavery, and have ideas and motivation to help slaves.

In conclusion, an illustrated children’s book will enlighten and inform the misconceptions that children have about modern slavery. It is also evident from the study that children can sympathize with stories about slavery, and the book, through the use of sympathetic imagination, will clearly present the issue of modern slavery to children in a way that can bring a deeper understanding about the plight of slaves in America. Finally, the book will also help to inspire in children ideas and solutions that they clearly contain and expressed during the focus groups. All of these things will be part of the cog in the wheel that will bring modern slavery to an end.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 20 References Bales, K. (1999). Disposable people: new slavery in the global economy. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Bales, K. (2007). Ending slavery: how we free today's slaves. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Bales, K., & Soodalter, R. (2009). The slave next door: human trafficking and slavery in America today. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Batstone, D. B. (2007). Not for sale: the return of the global slave trade-- and how we can fight it. SanFrancisco: HarperSanFrancisco.

Bettelheim, B. (1976). The uses of enchantment: the meaning and importance of fairy tales. New York: Knopf.

Bridges, R. (n.d.). Ruby Bridges. Ruby Bridges. Retrieved October 26, 2011, from http://www.rubybridges.com/story.htm Browne, A. (1998). Voices in the park. New York: Dk Pub..

Cannon, M. E. (2009). Social justice handbook: small steps for a better world. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Books.

Coerr, E., & Young, E. (1993). Sadako. Barcelona: Putnam.

Cohen, A., & Buckley, C. (2009). Slave hunter: one man's global quest to free victims of human trafficking. New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

Coles, R. (1989). The call of stories: teaching and the moral imagination. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Grant, R. G. (2009). Slavery: real people and their stories of enslavement. New York: Dk Pub..

Grennan, C. (2010). Little princes: one man's promise to bring home the lost children of Nepal.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 21

New York City: William Morrow & Co. Herald Press. Information for Authors and Illustrators. (n.d.). Herald Press. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://www.heraldpress.com/authors/ Human Trafficking Statistics. (n.d.). Human Trafficking Statistics-Polaris Project. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from dreamcenter.org/new/images/outreach/RescueProject/stats.pdf Innocenti, R., & Gallaz, C. (1985). Rose Blanche (American ed.). Minnesota: Creative Education.

International Justice Mission - IJM Home. (n.d.). International Justice Mission - IJM Home.

Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.ijm.org/ Jalongo, M. R. (2008). Little Italian Slaves’’: Lessons Learned from the Padrone Boys.

Early Childhood Education Journal, 36, 209-212.

Kittinger, J. S., & Walker, S. (2010). Rosa's bus. Honesdale: Calkins Creek.

Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Lealand, C., & Harste, J. (1999). Is this Appropriate for Children: Books that Bring Realistic Social Issues into The Classroom. Practically Primary, 4(3), 4-6.

Lubbock Online: Lubbock Avalanche Journal. (2001, October 19). Women sentenced to life in prison for torturing maid. Retrieved April 9, 2012, from http://lubbockonline.com/stories/101901/upd_075-4746.shtm Mam, S., & Marshall, R. (2008). The road of lost innocence. London: Spiegel & Grau.

Mapp, S. C. (2011). Global child welfare and well-being. London: Oxford University Press.

McKee, R. (1997). Story: substance, structure, style and the principles of screenwriting. New York City: Reganbooks.

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Newman, S. P. (2000). Child slavery in modern times. United States: Franklin Watts.

Newton, J. (n.d.). 187: Hidden in Plain Sight. Human Trafficking Awareness Partnerships, Inc. (HTAP). Retrieved April 9, 2012, from http://www.humantraffickingawareness.org/news-topmenu-40/228-187-hidden-in-plainsight.html Paulsen, G. (1993). Nightjohn. New York: Delacorte Press.

Phillips, L. G. (2010). Social justice storytelling and young children’s active citizenship.

Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 31(3), 363-376.

Police: Woman chained 12-year-old maid to backyard pole - CNN. (2001, May 14). Featured Articles from CNN. Retrieved April 9, 2012, from http://articles.cnn.com/2001-0514/us/chained.girl_1_maid-laredo-mexican-girl?_s=PM:US Robinson, M. (2009). Every human has rights: a photographic declaration for kids. Washington DC: National Geographic.

Schneider, C. (n.d.). The Use of Children’s Books as a Vehicle for Ideological Transmission.

OhioLINK ETD Center. Retrieved October 26, 2011, from http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi/Schneider%20Chad%20Curtis.pdf?osu1243969728 Shange, N. (1997). White wash. New York: Walker and Company.

Slate, J., & Lewis, E. B. (2009). I want to be free. New York: G.p. Putnam's Sons.

What is Human Trafficking?. (n.d.). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-ishuman-trafficking.html Zohar, D., & Marshall, I. N. (2004). Spiritual capital: wealth we can live by. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

APA formatting by BibMe.org.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 23 Appendix A: Guiding Questions for Focus Groups Pre Story Questions: 1. What is slavery?

2. Do you think there are still slaves today?

3. Have you ever heard of human trafficking and if so can you tell me what it is?

Post Story Questions: 1. How did hearing this story make you feel?

2. Do you think Francis is like you? Can you relate to him?

3. Do you think we should care about people in a situation like Francis’s situation?

4. What do you think was most difficult or unfair about Francis’s situation?

5. Did this story change what you think about slavery? Why/how or why not?

6. Do you think people should know the stories of people like Francis?

7. What do you think could be done to help people who are slaves?

8. What do you think you could do to help slaves?

9. Does hearing this story make you want to do something to help slaves?

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 24 Appendix B: Scripted Story From Five Thousand Years of Slavery by Marjorie Gann and Janet Willen To Be a Slave Francis felt honored and excited. His mother was sending him to the marketplace to sell hardcooked eggs and peanuts, with only the older village children to watch out for him. Francis was just seven years old, but he knew his mother was giving him a big responsibility. He was determined to make her proud. She handed a bigger boy the buckets of food to carry, but Francis took them from him. If I am big enough to go to the market without my parents, he thought, I am strong enough to carry two pails.

The market was crowded, and pungent odors of fresh meat and fish, fruits, vegetables, and tobacco filled the air. People were chattering and bargaining and joking. Suddenly the mood changed. Smoke began rising from a nearby village. Sellers hastily packed up their goods. Before Francis and the other children could decide what to do, men on horseback galloped into the marketplace, their firearms blasting and their swords slashing. Everyone was terrified.

By the time the attack was over the sun was setting. A man grabbed Francis, dropped him intro a basket tied to a donkeys back, and rode off with him. When they finally stopped at a clearing, Francis recognized children from the marketplace, crying and clinging to each other.

Another man, big and bearded, hoisted Francis onto his horse and set off into the night. Francis was terrified and confused. Where were they going? Who was this man?

Francis found out when they reached a farm. The man, Giemma, was greeted by his wife. The couple watched and laughed as their children, by way of welcome, beat Francis with sticks until his skin burned.

Francis had become Giemma’s slave. His new master put the boy to work as a cowherd.

Sometimes when Francis was in the forest with the cattle, Giemma sent armed riders to spy on him. If they reported that the child had done something wrong, Giemma would beat him.

At first Francis could not speak Giemma’s language, but he listened carefully so that he could learn. One day he was able to ask Giemma a question: “Why does no one love me?”

Giemma did not answer. Francis tried again. “Why do you make me sleep with the animals?”

For two days Giemma said nothing, but then he replied, “Because you are an animal.”

The years went by, and Francis grew up without a kind word or gesture. “I’d been longing to see someone…come one day and give me a smile and actually say ‘hello’ or ‘How did you sleep last night?’” he explained later, “but I never heard such things.”

But he did remember how his father had called him muycharko, which means “twelve men,” because even as a small boy he had worked hard. “He said when I am a grownup, I will do something that twelve men can do.” He consoled himself by thinking of his mother’s kindness.

“When you’re alone, you’re not really alone, because God is watching over you,” she had told him.

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 25 Appendix C: Parental Consent Form You are being asked to give consent for your child to participate in a study of upper elementary children’s perceptions and understanding of modern day slavery. I, Bethany Reiff, am doing this study as part of my graduate studies as Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa. This study will examine third to fifth graders perception and understanding of modern day slavery and help inform the writing of a children’s book on the subject.

With your consent your child will be considered to participate in a randomly chosen focus group of six to ten students from his/her class. The focus group will take place during the school day and last no more than an hour. The children will be asked about their knowledge of slavery and current day slavery. They will be read a story about slavery and then asked a series of questions about their reactions, understanding, and perceptions.

While modern day slavery is a serious topic it will be presented in a way that is appropriate for children and will cause minimal to no risk or discomfort to your child. You and your child will incur not cost as a result of your participation in this study.

Students’ names will not be used in the report of the study. Participation in this study is completely voluntary. If at anytime during the study you or your child decides he/she should not participate he/she may withdraw without prejudice or penalty.

To eliminate influencing students’ responses please do not discuss the topic of the study with your child prior to the study. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at (215) 429-8105 or breiff@eastern.edu.

This study has been reviewed and approved by the Eastern University Institutional Review Board. If you have questions or concerns regarding this study you may contact the Chairperson of Institutional Review Board (IRB): Institutional Review Board Mailbox 859, McInnis, 1300 Eagle Rd., Eastern University, St. Davids, PA 19087 Email: IRB@eastern.edu AUTHORIZATION: I have read the above, and understand the purpose of the research being conducted.

I understand that by agreeing to allow my child to participate in this study, I have not given up any legal or human rights and that I may contact the researcher Bethany Reiff at any time.

------------------Please detatch and return the below form to Bethany Reiff by ***-------------------I agree to allow my child ________________________ to participate in a Focus Group for the purpose of (your child’s name) exploring upper elementary children’s perceptions and understanding of modern day slavery. _____________________________________ Your Name (printed)

_______________________________ Your Signature

Best way to contact you____________________________________________________

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 26 Appendix D: Subject Consent Form I agree to take part in Miss Reiff’s project. I understand that I will be part of a group that listens to a story and is asked to respond to questions. I understand that I am not required to give an answer to any of the questions and am allowed decide not to take part in the project at any time without any negative consequences. If I have questions or concerns about what is discussed I know I can talk to Miss Reiff, my teacher, Mrs. Gordon (school counselor), my parents, or Mrs. Stoltzfus (principal). _____________________________________ Your Name

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 27 Appendix E: School Administrator Consent Letter

MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 28 Appendix F: Unfolding Matrix A: I agree D: I disagree “Slavery was white people owning black.”

“There are no slaves in the US.” “I don’t know what human trafficking means.”

“The story made me feel sad, angry, bad, or disappointed.”

“I can relate to Francis (main character of story)” “We should care about slaves.”

“My idea of slavery was changed by the story.”

“People should know about slavery.”

“I have an idea of something that can be done to help slaves.”

“I have an idea of something I can do about slavery.”

“Hearing this story make me want to help slaves.”

“Slavery was white people owning black.”

“There are no slaves in the US.” “I don’t know what human trafficking

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MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 29 means.” “the story made me feel sad, angry, bad, or disappointed.”

“I can relate to Francis (main character of story)” “We should care about slaves.”

“My idea of slavery was changed by the story.”

“People should know about slavery.”

“I have an idea of something that can be done to help slaves.”

“I have an idea of something I can do about slavery.”

“Hearing this story make me want to help slaves.”

“Slavery was white people owning black.”

“There are no slaves in the US.” “I don’t know what human trafficking means.” “the story made me feel sad, angry, bad, or disappointed.”

“I can relate to Francis (main character of story)” “We should care about slaves.”

“My idea of slavery was changed by the story.”

“People should

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MODERN SLAVERY AWARENESS CHILDREN’S BOOK 30 know about slavery.”

“I have an idea of something that can be done to help slaves.”

“I have an idea of something I can do about slavery.”

“Hearing this story make me want to help slaves.”

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