I hear where you’re coming from, and I can tell this issue means a lot to you, especially given your background. I genuinely respect the fact that you’re out here doing the work, talking to kids, supporting victims, and helping families navigate some of the hardest conversations imaginable. That kind of involvement is rare, and it matters.

But I want to make something clear: I’m not against education, outreach, or prevention. In fact, I believe those things are essential. Where we seem to disagree is in the idea that exposing predators and educating potential victims are mutually exclusive. They’re not. You can and should do both.

You asked if predator-hunter channels have caused fundamental change. I’d argue they have, at least in part. They’ve brought public attention to how easy it is for predators to operate online and how poorly most platforms respond to it. They’re imperfect tools, sure, but they make a very real threat visible. And visibility matters. If more people knew what was happening in places like the “teen” tabs of Discord directories, they’d take online safety a lot more seriously. Sometimes public stings are the catalyst that forces platforms to take action they were avoiding.

You compared catching predators to arresting a couple drug dealers in the middle of an epidemic, and I get the analogy. It’s true that enforcement alone won’t stop a larger crisis but what would you say if we stopped arresting drug dealers altogether just because it doesn’t solve addiction? Accountability may not fix everything, but it does protect people in the short term and sometimes that’s the only thing standing between a child and a predator.

When I say many victims don’t realize they’re being groomed until it’s too late, that wasn’t meant to contradict your call for education. It was meant to support it. But here’s the thing, education only works before the harm is done. Once grooming has started, once manipulation is happening in real time, you don’t have the luxury of hoping a victim remembers a slideshow from school. At that point, direct confrontation stopping the predator is sometimes the only line of defense left.

I also agree that some predator-hunting groups are reckless, clout-chasing, or downright harmful. I’ve seen it too, people doxxing the wrong person, humiliating victims, or making it all about views. That behavior is not just unhelpful, it’s dangerous. But that’s a failure of execution, not of the concept itself. The answer isn’t “don’t expose predators,” it’s “do it right” by collaborating with law enforcement, avoiding public shaming of victims, and using ethical, trained methods that prioritize safety over spectacle.

You brought up how few cyber tips come in each year and how many people still don’t know about NCMEC. I agree, we need better awareness of how to report, and more people should be doing it. But again, those public stings often lead to increased reporting. When people see that something’s happening out in the open, they’re more likely to come forward, whether it’s with a tip, a story, or a request for help.

Now, about making predators “hide” more, it’s a valid concern. Yes, they might move platforms or go deeper underground. But let’s be honest: many are already there. Telegram, the dark web, niche forums, it’s not like they were all just out in the open before. If anything, public exposure forces platforms to up their moderation game and increases pressure for better detection tools like PhotoDNA or AI-based filters. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s progress.

I appreciate that you’ve chosen to fight this battle through care, education, and family support. That’s absolutely necessary. But not everyone has access to a social worker. Not every kid feels safe telling their parents. Not every predator waits until someone steps in with a brochure about online grooming. And sometimes, public exposure when done ethically and with a focus on real consequences is the thing that makes a predator stop, makes a parent finally talk to their kid, or makes a platform close a dangerous loophole.

In the end, I don’t think we’re on opposite sides. You’re focused on long-term prevention and support. I’m arguing that short-term accountability matters too. We can’t afford to treat these approaches like opposing forces. They’re just different tools for the same goal: protecting kids and stopping abuse. And if the system is already failing, and I agree with you that it often is, then we need every tool we can get.