{"id":7748,"date":"2016-09-27T16:41:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T21:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.thechicagoschool.edu\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T15:19:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:19:20","slug":"safeguardingouryouth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/from-the-magazine\/safeguardingouryouth\/","title":{"rendered":"Safeguarding our youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Years before recent graduate Alicia Kozakiewicz even knew about The Chicago School, her story<\/a> had been told around the world.<\/p>\n

Thirteen-year-old Pittsburgh area girl meets boy online. Boy turns out to be a 38-year-old man. Man drives girl to Virginia, holds her captive, rapes her repeatedly, broadcasts explicit video of his crimes online, tipping off the FBI to her whereabouts. Four days later, girl is rescued and reunited with her family.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of news that keeps parents awake at night, the kind kids hear about but never think could happen to them. And that is why Kozakiewicz says she ultimately decided to go public\u2014emerging from the ordeal as an advocate for internet safety<\/a> and tougher laws to protect children from online predators.<\/p>\n

The work that Kozakiewicz has done in the 14 years since she was abducted has been highly publicized. In addition to launching The Alicia Project<\/a> online awareness education initiative at age 14, Kozakiewicz has testified before the House Judiciary Committee; appeared on such television programs as “The Oprah Winfrey<\/a> Show,”
\n“Anderson Cooper Live,” “Investigation Discovery,” and the A&E Biography Channel; and helped create Alicia\u2019s Law, a provision to provide state funding for child rescue efforts.<\/p>\n

But what is less known is the part of Kozakiewicz\u2019s story that happened behind the spotlight, the part where she developed an interest in psychology and law enforcement\u2014an interest that drew her to the Forensic Psychology <\/a>program at The Chicago School.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that I experienced, and in seeking counseling afterward, I found that there were some therapists who were equipped and others who just did not have the appropriate knowledge to work with a survivor of this kind of trauma,\u201d says Kozakiewicz, who earned an undergraduate degree in psychology at Point Park University in Pittsburgh before coming to The Chicago School to receive an M.A. in Forensic Psychology. \u201cI wanted to use what I\u2019ve learned through my own personal experience in therapy to make it a better experience for other victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kozakiewicz says she deliberately chose to spread her graduate studies out over nearly three years\u2014in part to keep balance between her advocacy work and school\u2014but also so that she could devote more time to her The Chicago School internship working with teens through the Youth Crossroads<\/a> organization, an experience she says impacted her in a profound way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with many kids who had significant issues at home and in the community that caused them to struggle in school. We would take the students out of class and work with them on whatever crisis they were dealing with,\u201d she says, explaining that the nonprofit program served youth in several Chicago area suburbs. \u201cThere were so many cases where we were just building self-esteem, helping these teenagers find their self-worth and self-value, and to let them know they can go after their dreams, no matter how big or small.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through most of her time working with them, she kept her own personal story of trauma and resilience a secret, not revealing it until the very end. But it wasn\u2019t always easy to stay silent, especially when the teens would talk about visiting a chat room or engaging in other activities online.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I did tell my story, they were incredibly receptive and inspired, but also shocked because they had no idea,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Staying relatively anonymous and detaching from her life as an internationally recognized advocate and spokesperson<\/a> could also be challenging in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be frustrating at times because I had been working in the field so long. I felt like I was a professional in my own sense, with or without the degree,\u201d she says. \u201cBut in the end, I absolutely loved my experience at The Chicago School. It was fantastic. I learned so much and made some really good connections with a lot of really great people, professors and students alike. And my internship taught me a lot. I saw many kids whose lives were changed for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Kozakiewicz finds herself at an exciting new crossroads, and ready to discover where her degree from The Chicago School will take her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in psychology as a way to help people, and what better way to do that than to help them evolve into the people they want to be,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019d like to do that as a therapist, but I also see myself continuing to advocate and educate through the media.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, she will continue the journey she started 14 years ago. She will continue to remind teenagers<\/a> to be safe online. And she will continue to tell a story that has been heard around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many of these kids are going through their own traumatic experiences. They\u2019re doing what they can just to survive, to get through life,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat I hope is when they see this woman who made it to the other side of trauma\u2014knowing it wasn\u2019t easy, but she did it\u2014they will find that strength within themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Are you ready to take the next step?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you would to learn more about programs at The Chicago School, fill out the form below for more information. You can also apply today through our application portal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Founder of The Alicia Project and recent alumna shares her story of survival<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":107482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191,118],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1064],"class_list":["post-7748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-from-the-magazine","insight_authors-sherry-thomas","insight_issues-fall-2016"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSafeguarding Our Youth - Alicia Kozakiewicz's Inspiring Work<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Chicago School alumna Alicia Kozakiewicz was kidnapped by an online predator in 2002. 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