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94 maskmatters.org FALL - V9
W
endy Whitlock was beyond nervous when discussing the
topic of sex trafficking with her middle schoolers. Just to
be extra cautious, the Norterra Canyon School teacher
sent a letter home reminding parents it was part of a
prevention program piloted at the Phoenix school in the Deer Valley
Unified School District.
“I anticipated parent pushback and that ‘this is inappropriate.’ But
I received multiple responses of thanks,” Whitlock says. “It’s a different
world that these kids are growing up in today.”
According to Kimberly Cabral, founder of Mothers Awareness on
School-age Kids (MASK) and publisher of MASK The Magazine,
that was the basis of launching her non-profit in 2007. “We started
MASK because there wasn’t anyone talking to kids about this stuff,”
she says.
Since then, Cabral has made it her mission to provide kids, parents,
guardians and educators with tools to survive today’s digital world.
Such programs include MASK’s E3 Institute, a comprehensive,“It has created a great partnership
between the parents, school and our
community...it allows us to all work
together to be participants in our
children’s education.”- Mary Smitten, Norterra parent
“When teachers use MASK in the
classroom...it has really reduced
social bullying on campus and
statistically, I can prove it.”- Tish Mineer, Norterra principal
CREATING A GRE
By // Julia De Simone