Excitement filled the air as 8 of our Campus Ministry Student Leaders prepared for their taping of Mayor Bollwage's bi-weekly cable television show. This was the action taken in follow-up to their meeting in our library with the Mayor of Elizabeth a few short weeks ago. The show was taped live (no editing) in two segments.
In the first segment of the show, Mayor Bollwage asked the girls questions pertaining to bullying in and out of schools and human trafficking.
What is bullying? How common is bullying? What should a person do if they are being bullied? If you have asked these questions yourself, there is an informative website that provides simple and concise answers.
http://www.stopbullying.gov/ They also discussed the growing problem of human trafficking.
"What is Human Trafficking? How do people recruit their victims? Which countries are affected by Human Trafficking?" If you are interested in learning more about this growing epidemic, visit our Campus Ministry Human Trafficking website and check the United Nations Blue Heart Campaign -
http://www.unodc.org/blueheart/ The last segment of the show focused on Child Slave Labor in the chocolate industries.
"What exactly does child slave labor entail? How do we know if the chocolate we are eating is from a company who uses slave labor? How can people take a stand against child slave labor?" A few of our students from the SHAC SQUAD (Students Helping All Children) explained that this is a form of modern day slavery to young children between the ages of 12-16 that must be stopped. The best chocolate to buy is Fair Trade Chocolate that carries the Fair Trade Logo. Otherwise, you can go to the Green America website to check out your favorite brand of chocolate. Are there any brands that definitely do not honor the UN Protocol to use cocoa plantations that pay fair wages and do not use child slave labor? Unfortunately, we discovered Hershey Chocolate has made little effort to ensure that their product does not use child slave labor. You can speak out against these unfair practices by not buying Hershey Chocolate or writing to David West at the Hershey company. All the information may be found on Green America's website. http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=238 Join us in becoming a Voice for the Voiceless. We can do something by speaking out in the light about these grave injustices that are affecting our society, locally and globally.
