Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Resources for Teachers

[ Country-by-Country Reports | Additional Teacher Resources ]

An Educational Strategy to Combat Child Prostitution

Child prostitution means the use of a child in sexual activities for remuneration or any other form of consideration, including food, housing, drugs, or other commodities or intangibles such as approval or care. It is an age-old problem found in both developed and developing countries despite attempts to control the practice.

Like all societal problems, child prostitution can yield to a well-thought-out, carefully planned effort by dedicated leaders. One element in a long-term solution will come through education. The application of this strategy here calls for the development of sets of teaching/research tools that are suitable for use by teachers beginning at the middle school level. The website at http://www.gvnet.com/childprostitution offers the foundation for such a set of resources and can be used to facilitate inclusion of the topic, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, into school curricula in graduated increments.

The strategy depends upon (indeed, encourages) replication. The 'how-to’s are clearly spelled out in lesson plans, essay questions, and debate topics. In addition, some assistance is provided with the preparation of lectures via a set of background articles, anecdotes and the beginnings of a treasury of images. Long-term sustainability is assured. Once the subject of Child Prostitution is brought into the classroom, it will be adapted and refined by the thousands of talented educators who will be teaching it. That is just the nature of things in the educational community.

Broad-scale awareness achieved through the education of two or three generations is the surest way to induce long-term, systemic change. An enlightened society, broadly aware of the scale and ramifications of the tragedy of children who engage in prostitution, will not allow this practice to continue.