The Unseen Toll: Why I've Dedicated Over a Decade to Children's Online Safety
⚠️Trigger Warning - CSAM/Abuse/C-PTSD references that some may and actually should find disturbing ⚠️
A Decade of Warnings
For over ten years now, I’ve been writing blog posts, guides, and articles, sharing everything I know to help parents and teachers protect children online. Today, I want to talk about why I do it.”
These posts rarely get more than a couple of hundred views, and honestly, the effort of writing them often leaves me triggered. But I keep going. If I am honest the header image I created for this post is a visual representation of the “How” I have managed to keep doing this for so long, without the support of My Rock and My Pebble I would have surrendered to the darkness long ago and I owe my everything to both of them for continuing to be in my life to this day.
The “Why”, comes from a very different and much darker place that many of you are aware of, but one that I need to talk about to make it real and not something that people think is more akin to a fable that isn’t to be believed.
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The Origin Story: The Cost of Knowledge
My unique understanding of online danger isn’t academic; it was forged in a very difficult role within the RAF Police. My job involved the grim, meticulous task of analysing illegal web browsing over a period of 8 years.
8 Years of seeing the tragic results of what happens to a child who becomes a victim of a predator, part of their collection to share with other predators, just pixels on a screen, right? As parents, who thankfully don’t have to see those things, it is very easy to fall into the “It will never happen to me or my child” trap or think these are just fables told to scare people.
Analysing those images was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. Ultimately, that constant exposure to the very worst of humanity led to my medical discharge with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD).
I was able to unmask many depraved individuals during that time; they were from all ranks and backgrounds, which is why I have huge trust issues with humans, because you never know who a person really is unless you know the person they are when nobody is watching.
My story going forward from that diagnosis is not something that would be considered inspirational. I don’t climb mountains or run ultramarathons, although mentally I climb an Everest every day to get through and writing an article exhausts me just as much as any marathon.
Over the years, I have realised that algorithms, media organisations, and personalities have avoided helping me to spread awareness of my blog and the campaigns I previously started (see below) to try and get a proper online child safety program, created by SMEs from Industry and have it placed on the national curriculum.
I know the reasons for that are simple; anytime I have attempted to discuss the topic, even the mention of the words “Child Pornography”, you can see people physically flinch and become uncomfortable and the reality is that predators often rely on the fact that people are uncomfortable discussing the topic. Having seen these horrors firsthand, people should rightly feel uncomfortable, but should also ensure they do everything in their power to prevent children becoming another statistic or image that somebody will have to view and analyse.
The Mission: Turning Pain into Purpose
The things I have seen I will never be able to unsee. I will carry this fridge on my back for the rest of my life. This also means that I carry with me an indelible understanding of the very real and immediate threats that face children online today, threats that many parents and teachers may not even know exist.
I continue to write, despite the emotional cost to me and the effect it has on those around me, because I truly believe that my pain can be a shield for your children. Every piece of advice I have ever given is informed by real-world, hard-won knowledge and designed to protect children from online predators.
Many people will have heard of the butterfly effect or the ripple effect. Imagine just one indecent image, one child will suffer for that image, probably for the rest of their lives, that child’s family will suffer, an analyst will suffer, a therapist will suffer, as will the people around them.
All because the depravity of some humans knows no bounds and their ability to hide in the very darkest corners of the online world protects them in ways they have not had available to them in the past, therefore I and people like me will continue to try and shine a light into those dark corners and arm parents and teachers with knowledge of the dangers and risks that exist so they can better protect their children.
The Frustrating Truth: Why 1,000 Views is a Pipe Dream
When a post I agonised over only hits the 100-250 view range, it’s crippling. It’s a cruel feedback loop: the writing triggers my C-PTSD, and the low engagement makes me wonder if the sacrifice is worth it. But then I remember the one child whose life might be a little safer because their parent read an article on my blog.
Recently, I decided to look back at my all-time stats, and I found a small silver lining—and a massive frustration. Three of my older posts broke through the usual barrier, clocking in at 639, 694, and 934 views.
The common denominator? Two were about Roblox and one was about Minecraft. Topics that, for a brief window, trended just enough to capture attention. Yet, even with all that effort, I can’t even crack the 1,000-view mark.
I’m writing about illegal web browsing, online grooming prevention, and the real-world safety of your child. I’m up against the ‘influencers’ who post content about whatever the latest viral dance or fleeting ‘life hack’ is, the ‘sexy’ subjects that drown out genuine, life-saving advice. My subject isn’t sexy; it’s terrifyingly real.
This is where I need your help. I can write the warnings, but I need your help to amplify them.”
The Final Ask
I will not stop writing. I will not stop fighting the internal battle to share this knowledge on CyberSafetyGuy.com. I will not stop trying to protect the children.
But I need your help to make that sacrifice count.
If my decade of painful work has ever helped you or your child, or if you simply believe that C-PTSD-informed experience should serve the greater good, please don’t just read this post and subscribe.
Share this post.
A single click from you can put this vital advice in front of ten more parents. You are the only thing that can bridge the gap between my 934 views and the thousands of children who deserve to be protected.
If you have reached this point and have subscribed, I thank you, but if you have also reposted or shared, then you have helped to make an impact and helped to make the lives of online sexual predators just that little bit more difficult.
As always, thank you for your support. Please share this across your social media, and if you do have any comments, questions, or concerns, then feel free to reach out to me here or on BlueSky, as I am always happy to spend some time helping to protect children online.
Remember that becoming a paid subscriber means that you will be supporting a charity very close to my heart and doing amazing things for children. Childline all subscriptions will be diaries to the charity every six months, as I don’t do any of this for financial gain.
Just wanted to say thank you for what you do. Learned about you today. I’m terrified of online abuse and wanting to protect my son and others.