Brooke Morris was away on a trip when she got the call.
Her husband had taken their 15-year-old daughter to a Dallas Mavericks game. By the time the game ended, she was nowhere to be found.
They discovered her 10 days later — unaware of her surroundings — in an Oklahoma hotel.
Morris told her family’s story during Arlington ISD’s “Shatter the Silence: Take Action Against Human Trafficking” workshop, where she urged families to be aware of who their children are communicating with on social media.
Arlington will host signature sporting events in the coming months that include the IndyCar Grand Prix and the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Such major events may bring an increased risk of sexual exploitation, cautioned Aaron Perales, AISD’s executive director of family and community engagement.
“As a lifelong soccer fan, I’m excited to see the highest level of the sport right in our backyard,” Perales said. “But at the same time, with major entertainment events like this, it becomes a shared responsibility to stay informed and mindful.”
Attendees were guided through an interactive workshop by panelists where they could ask questions, address misconceptions about sexual exploitation and trafficking, and learn about the different types of danger.
Much of the conversation specifically focused on how predators target children through social media.
Sonya Brooks, director of youth prevention at Unbound Now, emphasized that social media has muddled the idea of what personal boundaries are, making it easier to reach impressionable youth. Unbound Now is a nonprofit focused on the prevention and identification of human trafficking.
“We teach a child about safe touch. But how do you teach them a safe conversation with someone on social media?” Brooks said.
Parents should have open and honest conversations about the risks of sexual exploitation to become the trusted adult in their child’s life, the panelists stressed. Although it is a common misconception, many predators aren’t strangers but already are or are attempting to become that trusted adult for youth, they said.
Morris described how her daughter was trafficked by a man who had claimed to be in a similar age group as her. At the time, the teen was grounded from her cell phone and willingly left with the stranger before the game had ended.
The mother frequently must challenge the narrative that her daughter was “kidnapped,” she said. Her daughter said she felt safe for several hours with her trafficker before she began feeling like something was wrong, Morris said.
“This big event happened not because of a scary guy in a van that pulled up and said, ‘Hey, I got a puppy,’” Morris said. “The threat is a really cute-looking guy that tells you he’s 20-something years old, and he just wants to hang out with you for a little bit.”
Arlington mom Niesha Jones said she feels anxious about bringing up the conversation of sexual exploitation with her children. However, the workshop helped her realize that the conversation isn’t just about sexual exploitation but also about setting personal boundaries within relationships and teaching her children to trust her if they feel unsafe.
“I felt like it was definitely very convicting as a parent to just be sure that I’m having open, honest, transparent conversations with my kids,” Jones said. “Maybe not just trafficking specifically but just around relationships with people who are close to them.”
Bianca Rodriguez-Mora is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at bianca@fortworthreport.org.At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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