Ten years ago this town was different. Back when people still trusted the web and thought it had a place for innocence — not just for selling junk.

Yesterday’s study hit close to home, revealing that UK children are swamped with online advertisements for dangerous products like weight-loss drugs, anabolic steroids, and skin-lightening creams.

The internet has changed. It used to be the playground of childhood imagination; now it's a place where companies can hawk anything without blinking an eye.

Parents out there need to wake up — this isn’t just about kids seeing ads for sugary drinks or violent video games anymore. This is serious stuff, folks.

I’ve lived here 40 years and seen my share of changes. The web was supposed to be a place where learning happens, not where young minds get poisoned with unhealthy messages.

Parents need to learn the warning signs — what kind of ads are creeping in when their kids go online?

The study shows that these predatory practices aren't new; they've been building for years. Remember back when people still thought social media platforms would self-regulate?

But now we know better, don’t we? The internet isn’t the wild west anymore — it’s worse.

And what about those who say regulation is overreach? Ask a parent whose child has seen ads for skin-lightening creams. What do they think then?

I've watched as these platforms grew from being community hubs to something else entirely, and I'm not the only one who's noticed.

The question now isn’t whether we need regulation — it’s how much damage has already been done.

What will it take for us to start taking this seriously? When do we decide that kids deserve a safer online world?