Warning signs for education professionals

Education practitioners need to be alert to the warning signs for child criminal exploitation.

Education practitioners may notice that previously attentive pupils disengage from education. Conversely, previously disruptive pupils may become attentive: exploiters are beginning to coach pupils into remaining in schools and avoiding attention from teachers.

Warning signs for education practitioners include:

• a pattern of repeated short-term enrolments in schools, this could be for a term or longer.
• unexplained injuries and vague symptoms
• self-harm or signs of other trauma.

Young people may be

• vague about their lives
• reluctant to share any personal information.

They may may be reluctant to disclose what is happening due to fear about what will happen to themselves or their families.

Educators may notice that they repeat similar stories to others, or use terms they do not understand, as they may have been coached in what to say by their exploiters.

Education practitioners should look for changes in behaviour, appearance or having new unexplained belongings:

...changes in attendance, physical appearance, so if they’re tired and look like they’ve been up all night, clothing so turning up in a £400 pair of Nikes, lots of chains and watches, high amounts of cash that you wouldn’t expect for someone on the free school register, intoxication... and increased frequency of getting in trouble with the authorities.