PROTECT THE CHILDREN

Background

The first time I talked to a psychiatrist, she called me a skater. A kid who skated by every mandatory reporter I met growing up. There were no obvious signs of abuse. No bruising, no poorly explained injuries. I excelled in school and had no behavior issues. I even spent a lot of time talking to my teachers and the librarians at school. They fed my curiosity that wasn't allowed at home. There was no way they could've known. From my perspective, what happened at home was completely normal. I didn't realize the extent of how not normal my family was until adulthood.

One of the reasons I'm telling my story is to provide a voice for the other skaters out there. The silent, invisible children holding the worst secrets.

Goals

Quit my day job

I can't take on this project full time AND work a full time job. I've tried. In a perfect world, I'll generate enough income from this to not need a real job. I'm more than ready to end my career in software development and no longer be a minion of the corporate overlords. If you'd like to help fulfill this pipe dream, click the link to donate. 😍

Research, research, research

I'd love to get involved in the research side of childhood trauma. We need to have more discussions with adults like myself who skated through undetected. Perhaps our experiences will help us figure out the signs we're missing to help identify them. We also need more clinical studies that investigate the long term effects of childhood trauma and PTSD. Our trauma is complex and deep rooted. Traditional therapy doesn't work. Medication only treats the symptoms, not the cause. And advanced therapy like ketamine treatment or psychedelic retreats are too expensive for most, myself included. The society we've created sets our children up for failure. First we traumatize them, then we expect them to go about life like nothing happened and wonder why they struggle as adults. It's disgusting.

Build an easter egg

The general idea here is to create an app or game that solves the biggest issues I had as a kid. I was completely isolated, living in constant fear, with zero support system, and major trust issues. It doesn't have to be that way. 50% of kids these days have cell phones glued to their hands. No one suspects a thing if they're playing Roblox, Fortnite or watching YouTube. Let's give them an easter egg embedded in apps they already use where they can access a support system undetected. For example, create a game within Roblox that looks like a regular hangout with friends type game but lets kids talk with human social workers in real time. Not only would it serve kids in bad situations at home, it would also serve as a tip line where kids could report inappropriate behavior within the game itself. Because let's be honest, the CEOs of tech companies do NOT have our kids best interest in mind, only their bank accounts. If they won't help keep our kids safe, we will.

Local outreach

We have to figure out a way to reach the other half of kids without a phone or easy access to the internet. They're the most vulnerable. High level ideas so far; fundraise to help support programs that provide internet access to rural communities, figure out a way to provide similar services as the easter egg concept but in the real world. I have ideas but have no idea how feasible they actually are. I'll need a bunch of input from local communities on this one for sure.

Fight rape culture

I'm not sure how to actually do this but we gotta do something. It'd be great if people were actually held accountable for their crimes but we all know how that goes. We can crush assumptions, though. Just because you've never participated in a rape, doesn't mean you're entirely innocent. Ever congratulated a friend for hooking up with the drunk girl from the bar? Thought while watching a crime documentary that it wasn't rape because the woman orgasmed? Or told a guy friend it wasn't rape because the girl was hot so of course he wanted it? I'd like to at least bring awareness to how often we dismiss abuse because it's been so normalized and even glamorized in society.