ACES Pillars Film Project:Playground Wonjung Hwang, Katherine Townsend, Maggie Mahoney, Rachel Spohr, Paige Wilt

Summary of Playground ● Plot: Filmmaker Libby Spears goes undercover in Southeast Asia to expose the tragedy of child sex trafficking -- only to learn that this shocking practice leads right back to the United States, where hundreds of thousands of children are at risk. ● Main “Characters”: Michelle and Nia ● Topic of Discussion: The child sex trade in America ● Setting (time and place): Multiple cities throughout the U.S. and other countries such as Cambodia and Canada, current day

Clip of Film

Example of Positive Social Change ●Profile of the victims are changing ●Characteristics of a trafficking victim ●No one volunteers to be exploited ●Reluctant to come forward with information ●Everyone can be a victim

Example of Advocacy ●Proposed changes to the Sex Offender Registry ●Researchers push law enforcement to use more graphic pictures ●“We cannot criminalize children” ●First Time Offender Program

Example of Service In the movie: Michelle’s mom took time out of her day to spend time with her out in the fields riding horses because she knew that would help her calm down and feel like she had control in her life. Her mom was selfless and always wanted to help her become mentally and emotionally strong. In today’s society: Today there is an organization called the NEST Foundation and it was founded by Libby Spears, the director of the film. Its goal is to end sex trafficking and get children out of the horrible system. Also, there are many group homes such as halfway houses designed to help women get back on their feet and make a better life for themselves.

Parts Most Relevant to Current Day Events ●Sex offender registry (33:22) ●Many offenders do not have current registrations ●Able to move near elementary schools without being initially noticed ●Usage of computers and internet ●a tool for people to meet children for the purpose of sexual activity ●bookstores vs internet (38:55)

Parts We Connected With the Most ●I am a criminal justice major and hope to someday be a part of a special victims unit, which would have a heavy focus on sex trafficking. ●We are all exposed to sexual objectification in the media, along with assigning “values” to ourselves based on external influences. ●We all can easily access the prostitution websites on the Internet through the ads.

Parts We Connected With the Most ●Of all the countries in the world, the United States of America, a country I consider to be extremely developed, is the capital for human sex trafficking. ●As we are all growing up and experiencing college, we are all thinking about our future and what we want later in life. In terms of family, I want kids and the part that hit me the most was when the mothers talked about losing their daughters to the sex trade and how it can happen to unsuspecting children and families because thinking about bad things happening to those I love tears me up.

Example of Community ● Most Americans consider the problem of child prostitution to be an issue affecting other countries ● Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam ● In 1981, if you were to file a missing child report there would be a mandatory waiting period ● In the late 1970's and early 1980's there was a whole series of children who were abducted and murdered ● This created a national response to the problem ● Today, police are immediately required to enter this report ● U.S. citizens account for 25% of sex tourists worldwide ● 300,000 American children are at risk of being in the sex trade ● Investigative efforts to find Michelle

Critiques of Playground ●While examining the impact that child pornography has had on the sex trade in America, I felt that the images used were a bit too graphic.

People that Would Benefit the Most from Viewing Playground ●Parents ●Potential Victims ●Detectives and other law enforcement personnel ●Politicians ●Teachers

Course of Action this Film Calls For ● More investigative services dedicated to the search for international/national trafficking rings ● Stricter punishments for sex crimes ● Improvement of sex education in the school system

References ● playgroundhttp:// playground ● ● ● a2ac-c3b036deb0f6https:// a2ac-c3b036deb0f6 ●