Head Mentor Paul S. Waugh contributes to debate about online anonymity through our Parents Against Trolls initiative
“Do you know where this outrage comes from? Where you sit down with someone and you feel one billion per cent helpless because they’ve lost their child to online trolling. They don’t want to live for the rest of their life like that. They can’t see a reason, they can’t see the next day.
And to hear the noise that a parent makes, you don't want to hear that pain, that noise. You don't want to hear it, you will not sleep well for the rest of your life. You don’t want to hear the screams of a parent, you don’t want to hear the noise that a parent makes, you certainly don't want to be that parent making that noise.”
Paul S. Waugh, Head Mentor, Lighthouse Global
At Lighthouse International Group, now known as Lighthouse Global, we have recently launched Parents Against Trolls in response to the life-decimating impact that trolling makes on our children. As a result, our Head Mentor Paul S. Waugh was approached by ITV reporter Amrit Birdi to contribute to a feature on online anonymity.
He spoke with Ms Birdi for over an hour about the subject and has subsequently been asked to consult ITV on projects relating to trolling and bullying. In this news feature, Paul S. Waugh made it clear he wanted his contribution to focus on;
The need to regulate anonymity so there is accountability for anyone wishing to be anonymous.
If there’s a debate as to whether we need to compromise any freedom for online behaviour, then we need to err on the side of protecting our children (the child standard).
He called for the need to have an organised authority to look at the area of online anonymity in order for there to be safeguards that enable children to be safe online. He hit home the point that when we do anything in name of freedom that puts the lives of children at risk, then that’s not freedom.
You can watch the news feature in this 5-minute video clip that was broadcast on ITV News on the evening of 21st December 2021.
“I’m not against anonymity, I think we have got to find the genius of the AND. Not anonymity or not, anonymity AND protection. Anonymity AND responsibility. Anonymity AND regulation. Anonymity AND administration. Anonymity AND responsibility.”
Paul S. Waugh, Head Mentor, Lighthouse Global
The reality is that we have got to look after our children first as any healthy grown adult would agree. Ultimately it doesn’t matter whether we are a policymaker, a corporate executive, parent or teacher… the safety of children needs to be our biggest priority that governs our standards for how we make decisions.
In a debrief conference call with the Lighthouse Global Associate Leadership Team, Paul S. Waugh shared more about the underlying principles behind his key messages on the interview with ITV.
“Anonymity, as a principle, not as a secondary idea, as a principle, is extremely important, because in that comes our freedoms, our choices, our security, our safety, our own determination and that’s what we want. The key is that while anonymity is our right, we need to be able to regulate it, in a way where, if somebody wants anonymity they ought to pay for it. Because let’s face it, there’s lots of people who want anonymity for many reasons. Paedophiles want anonymity. Bank robbers want anonymity. Thieves, rapists, trolls; they all want anonymity, all of that pathology wants it and there’s a reason why they want it. There are many reasons, bad reasons, why people would want anonymity.”
He added,
“When our rights to be anonymous are not regulated, there’s no safeguards or responsibility-taking here. And essentially, you know, the rights and the safety of people, and other people, and specifically our most vulnerable, our most fragile, our children. The ones most in danger, the ones who need the most protection.”
How 18 years of research has led us to the point where we cannot ignore the needs of our most vulnerable children
At Lighthouse Global, the focus of our work is about enabling conscientious people to become benefactors so that they always have the resources to be able to help themselves, their families and any child in need of help.
From our 18 years of research and discovery with more than 70,000 people, what we have found is that there are many good-hearted people out there who lack the resources and the influence they need to make a difference to the causes they feel most passionate about. They are not able to be as benevolent as they would like to be because they are not realising their human potential in line with the value they want and need to produce.
What we’ve discovered is they lack the foundation which means they have chronic underlying problems that inevitably sabotage their attempts to progress. You can learn more about the work we do to help people build the foundation they need on the Mentoring Experiences section of this site.
Earlier this year Paul S. Waugh spoke from the privacy of his own home about what we've learnt about the root cause of online trolling; toxic narcissism. You can discover more about this subject and how it is the main obstacle that gets in the way of us realising our potential.
Additionally, you can learn more about what we’ve explored over the last 18 years from our pioneering research into human potential on social media.
Hearing about the parents of children who have chosen there was no alternative worth living for and the sound they make in that depth of despair, is heartbreaking and chilling. Starting to rally community to come together, like Parents against Trolls, who all want to achieve the best way of living is so critical to easing the suffering. Thank you for sharing James.
This is such an important issue to address, it really feels like the Internet is like the Wild West and everyone can do what they want in the name of freedom. Our children, who are most vulnerable are suffering massively as a consequence and people get more and more scared to share online out of fear of being trolled themselves. I definitely feel the internet is a great tool but it needs laws and standards like everything else to stop abuse. Thank you to Paul for raising this important issue publicly!
Thank you for sharing this James!
Its amazing how more and more opportunities are showing up as Lighthouse puts itself and the PATT initiative out there. Not only was Paul hosted by ITV News to share his opinion on online anonymity but also to now consult ITV on trolling and bullying related topics.
It’s shocking that the internet is such a wild west. I agree the anonymity is important to protect people but not if your intent is to harm.
It's hard to believe its been part of our lives and caused so much suffering for so long.We should be identified with prove firstly,then if for a reason that person needs to be anonymous its ok for them to have a nick name,we still know who that person is! Anyone abusing another will be identified even if it's a nick name or other...
Would you walk down the street abusing another with a cover on,no,would you scream racial abuse or sexual innuendos to a stranger covered up,no...Its abuse in the most cowardly way creating an enormous tsunami of malfunctions,destruction and possible danger to an already depressed or suffering from mental health.It's painful in my heart thinking of the precious children,it…