Family IT Guy Podcast

Epizode

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  My 11-Year-Old Asked to Text His Friend. I Said No. 25.09.2026 1min

  My son uses his Apple Watch for emergencies, with a short list of family contacts. When he asked to add a friend, my wife and I said no. Here’s why texting friends would change what we use the watch for.https://www.familyitguy.com
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  Teach Kids About Tech and Set Limits: Why I Recommend Both 24.09.2026 1min

  Someone in the live chat asked why we don't just teach children to use devices well instead ofbanning them. It's a fair question and I think the premise is sound. My answer is that it dependson the device.A phone is not usually the thing you are protecting a child from. It's a door to other things, andthose things are what need restricting. Some of them I don't think have a safe version at any age:pornography, social media, anonymous chat, anything running an addictive algorithm.So it isn't teach or restrict. It's both. Restrict the things that don't have a good version, andfor everything you do hand them, teach them how to use it. Education is a dependency for anythingthat matters, whether it's a hammer or an app.Full livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmj519CTr9o
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  When Your Child Says Everyone Else Has It 22.09.2026 2min

  A mum wrote in during the livestream. She has two boys, nine and five, she wants to protect them from what is online, and she does not want to do it by frightening them. How do you balance that?I use an analogy at those ages. Most of us would not drop a child off in a dangerous part of town and leave them there. The internet is that same part of town, reached through a screen instead of on foot. There are people there who like to hurt others, and there are companies making money the same way.Then there is the part every parent hears: my friends have this. In our house the answer is that we do not do things because other people do them, and we do not do things because of social pressure. We do things based on our principles and on keeping each other healthy. Being normal is not what we are aiming for.Full livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmj519CTr9o
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  iOS 27 Parental Controls - Make Your Kid’s iPhone Boring 18.09.2026 27min

  iOS 27 parental controls are out, and in this video I go through what changed for parents and how I'd set up a kid's iPhone with them.First, the new Screen Time features: suggested starting apps by age, Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse, contact requests, time allowances by app category, schedules, Pause Device, requests for more time, and sharing your child's age range with the App Store. Communication Safety, Apple's filter that tries to block nude photos in messages, now covers gore and violence too. I also explain why updating to iOS 27 may not give you the new controls yet, and how to tell which version your family has.Then I go through the settings I suggest changing so a kid's iPhone gets used for a specific purpose and then put down: contacts, the internet, app installs, the camera, notifications, the Home Screen, grayscale and the AI features in Siri, plus a first aid app and maps and languages that work offline. I run grayscale on my own phone, and I suggest parents try it too. The details for each setting are in my iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass.Chapters:0:00 What's new in iOS 270:59 Suggested starting apps1:46 Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse3:24 Contact requests3:57 Communication Safety now covers violence5:09 Time allowances and schedules6:43 Pause Device and requests for more time7:34 Sharing your child's age range8:43 Why you may not see the new controls11:49 Why I'd wait for iOS 27.112:30 How I'd set up a kid's iPhone13:32 Birthday and Screen Time passcode14:37 Contacts and the internet15:29 Blocking app installs16:29 Turning off the camera18:35 Screen Distance and locked settings19:21 Offline tools: first aid, maps and Translate21:23 An empty Home Screen and grayscale22:52 Raise to Wake, Always On and StandBy23:47 Notifications and badges25:01 Siri Suggestions, keyboard clicks and Picture in Picture25:40 App Store settings and stock apps26:25 Turning off the AI features in Siri27:26 Wrapping upSources:Apple's June 2026 announcement of the new child safety features: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/06/apple-previews-new-child-safety-features/Apple Support, setting up parental controls on a child's iPhone or iPad: https://support.apple.com/en-us/105121Apple Support, blocking changes to settings on a child's device: https://support.apple.com/guide/child-safety/block-or-allow-access-and-changes-to-features-nzglr8yl0hwv/webAmerican Red Cross apps, including First Aid: https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/mobile-apps.htmlImages in this video are from Apple Newsroom and Apple Support.Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass:https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclassMore help for parents:https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  When Your Child Is in Trouble Online, How You React Matters 18.09.2026 5min

  A parent shares how their daughter’s abusers got around the restrictions on her device. I discuss what happened and why children need to know they can ask their parents for help when something goes wrong online.I recommend that parents offer their children a free pass: if someone is hurting them, taking advantage of them, or making them uncomfortable, they can tell their parents without getting in trouble. That promise needs a strong relationship behind it. And if they use the free pass, give them another one.Chapters:0:00 A parent shares what happened3:19 Clarifying the Screen Time code3:52 How parents respond4:30 A promise backed by a strong relationshipRelated conversation with Jason Sokolowski:https://youtu.be/MmVnmZICzb8Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass:https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclassMore help for parents:https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  Roblox Is an Adult Platform Marketed to Kids 17.09.2026 2min

  Roblox is an adult platform that is marketed to kids. It does not respect parental authority. It has lied to and misled parents for years, and it has traded safety for profit. I am not a fan.Roblox has 123 million daily active users and about 70 percent of them are under 18. That leaves roughly 36.9 million adults on Roblox every day. Most parents picture a children's game.During the livestream Jason Sokolowski wrote in that Roblox is the gateway, that children get invited from there into a private server on Discord, a chat app where conversations happen out of sight, and that is where the desensitisation begins. He is right. It is not the only gateway, but it is a big one.Jason's daughter Penelope was caught up in 764, an online group that targets and coerces children. He has talked about what happened to her on my podcast, and I would recommend looking him up.Full livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHb5wt_LrMw
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  School Requires an iPad. What Can Parents Control? 16.09.2026 6min

  A parent asks how to control a school-required iPad that their child also uses for homework. I discuss Apple’s Screen Time controls, NextDNS internet filtering, and home router schedules, including how the school’s restrictions may affect which controls parents can use.I also explain why I recommend putting the iPad away after homework and paying attention to how much time children spend away from the internet.Chapters:0:00 A school-required iPad1:28 Screen Time and school restrictions2:16 App and website controls3:27 NextDNS internet filtering3:55 Putting the iPad away after homework5:15 Home router controlsResources discussed:Apple parental controls: https://support.apple.com/en-us/105121NextDNS: https://nextdns.ioGryphon: https://gryphonconnect.comFamily IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass:https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclassMore help for parents:https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  Meta’s Child Safety Settlement Leaves the Main Risks in Place 14.09.2026 27min

  Meta’s child safety settlement leaves addictive feeds and messages from strangers available to kids. I explain why I don’t think the agreement addresses the main sources of harm, what its time limits actually cover, and what parents can do with the controls already on their devices.I also discuss age checks, privacy, who receives the settlement money, and why showing our kids how we manage our own phone use matters. Recorded during my September 2, 2026 livestream.Read the presentation and court filing:https://www.familyitguy.com/meta-settlementChapters0:00 Will this settlement protect kids?1:07 Addictive feeds and messages from strangers4:39 Time limits and the optional chronological feed8:46 What I would change at Meta13:11 Parents leading by example17:23 Age checks, privacy and government control21:41 What Meta admitted and who gets paid25:24 Who can enforce the agreement26:36 Why the safety message mattersFamily IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass:https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=descriptionWebsite: https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Sep 2 2026 03.09.2026 56min

  Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Sep 2 2026
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  How to Report an Online Predator: Two Ways to Get Help 31.08.2026 4min

  If someone targets your child online, here's who's already looking for them and exactly how to report it.I'm Ben, the Family IT Guy - a dad and a cybersecurity expert with 30 years of experience. I made this video in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Know2Protect campaign. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is the part of DHS with dedicated federal agents and computer forensic analysts who spend every day finding and stopping the people who exploit kids online - but they can only act on threats that get reported.In this video I walk through a real case: a teenage boy was sextorted (an online predator posed as another kid, got him to send a private photo, then threatened to share it unless he paid). He told his mom, she reported it, and a federal agent was at their door within 48 hours. That's the system working - the piece missing for most families is knowing it exists.If a predator targets your child, there are two ways to report it:Know2Protect Tip Line: 1-833-591-KNOW (5669)NCMEC CyberTipline: https://report.cybertip.orgBefore anything happens, go to https://know2protect.gov and take the Pledge2Protect with your kids. It walks your family through how predators actually operate, the warning signs to watch for, and practical safety steps you can put in place together.Chapters:0:00 A message to predators0:32 A message for parents1:02 Meet Ben, the Family IT Guy1:23 You're not alone: meet HSI1:48 A real case: sextortion stopped in 48 hours2:43 How to report: two ways to get help3:25 What you can do right now4:04 Take the Pledge2Protect, then share itFamily IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse.Website: https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#Know2Protect #Pledge2Protect #parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 19 2026 20.08.2026 1h 15min

  Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 19 2026
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  Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 12 2026 13.08.2026 1h 23min

  Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 12 2026
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  You’re the Product, Not the Customer (The Paid, Private Internet) 11.08.2026 3min

  The apps are free, the games are free, email and search and videos are free. But free is not really free. The payment is your family's data, time, and attention. There is another internet where you pay a few dollars and become the customer instead of the product, and here is what it costs and where to start.One question sorts the whole internet: how does a company make its money? If the answer is advertising, the product being sold is your attention, and the app is built to collect as much of it as it can. If the answer is subscriptions, you are the customer, and the company stays in business by keeping you happy. Ben walks through the paid, privacy-respecting options by category: email like Proton or Fastmail for about ten to twenty dollars a month, search like Kagi for about five dollars a month, messaging like Signal, which is free and run by a nonprofit, and paid kids' games without the ads and tracking built into free ones.He also explains how to check a "we're private" claim: open source, which means the app's code is public so outside experts can inspect what it actually does. You do not have to switch everything at once. Start with one, like search, then try getting your close friends and family onto Signal with you.Proton: https://proton.meFastmail: https://www.fastmail.comKagi: https://kagi.comSignal: https://signal.orgChapters:0:00 Free isn't free0:37 The one question that sorts the internet1:07 The paid alternatives, category by category1:47 How to tell honest apps from dishonest ones2:20 Start with one changeWatch the whole series, How the Internet Really Works: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc3jDQHQdQekMore in this series:It Started With Bacon (How Free Apps Make Money): https://youtu.be/FQbVOHcQRMEThe Cloud Is Someone Else's Computer: https://youtu.be/NsYAPKyJhXgShould You Accept or Reject Cookies?: https://youtu.be/EEt33DXh--gYou're the Product, Not the Customer: https://youtu.be/UWBA-VcLOGEFamily IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass: https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclassWebsite and free guides: https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  How to Make Video Games Safe and Actually Good for Your Kids 06.08.2026 55min

  Most parents feel stuck on video games: ban them and your kid feels left out, allow them and you worry about who's on the other end of the chat. Devyn Ricks has spent her whole life in games and now runs Miss Devyn's Video Game Universe, where a team of teachers hosts moderated online gaming clubs for kids. She's also a mom of four.In this conversation she walks through how she decides which games her own kids play, why she's a hard pass on Roblox, the simple signal that tells you a game is doing more harm than good, and how to check whether any game is safe even if you've never picked up a controller. We also get into why a console beats an iPad, which system to buy at each age, and why teaching kids the "why" protects them long after the rules stop working.If gaming is a fight in your house, this one is for you.Chapters: 0:00 Meet Miss Devyn and her video-game clubs 2:14 What the clubs actually do (and why community matters) 13:23 Games are neutral: how you use them is everything 15:16 Why she's a hard pass on Roblox, and reading your kid's cues 18:38 If a game is free, your child is the product: console vs iPad 24:52 How to vet any new game (research, chat settings, observe) 31:03 The hard truth about who's online, and staying involved 34:32 Skills, not rules 38:16 What game system to buy at every age 48:09 The biggest misconception about kids who game 53:49 One piece of advice: play the game with your kidFind Devyn: Miss Devyn's Video Game Universe — missdevyn.com YouTube: @MissDevynsVGUTikTok: @MissDevynGames Classes on Outschool: search "Miss Devyn"Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication. Learn the problems, protect your family, start with yourself.Get the iPhone Parental Controls guide: familyitguy.com
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  Should You Accept or Reject Cookies? What the Pop-Up Does 04.08.2026 3min

  Every website asks you to accept or reject cookies, and most of us click Accept just to clear the box. Clicking Reject barely helps either. Here is what the pop-up actually does and the free change that does more for your family's privacy than the button ever will.A cookie is a small file a website saves on your device so it can recognize you. Some cookies are useful, like the one that keeps you logged in or remembers your cart. Tracking cookies are the problem: they follow you from site to site and build a profile of what you read, shop for, and watch, which advertisers pay for. The pop-up is left over from privacy laws the ad industry has already worked around, so even Reject leaves you tracked in other ways.The real fix is a browser that blocks trackers for you on every site. On iPhone, iPad, and Mac, Safari already does this. On Windows or Android, use Firefox instead of Chrome or Edge, and set it as the default on your devices and your kids' devices. Then tell your kids why you changed it. The lesson is bigger than cookies: everything you do on the internet should be treated as public.Chapters:0:00 The cookie question0:28 What a cookie actually is1:03 Why clicking Reject barely helps1:32 The free fix: a private browser2:12 What to tell your kidsWatch the whole series, How the Internet Really Works: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc3jDQHQdQekMore in this series:It Started With Bacon (How Free Apps Make Money): https://youtu.be/FQbVOHcQRMEThe Cloud Is Someone Else's Computer: https://youtu.be/NsYAPKyJhXgShould You Accept or Reject Cookies?: https://youtu.be/EEt33DXh--gYou're the Product, Not the Customer: https://youtu.be/UWBA-VcLOGEFamily IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass: https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclassWebsite and free guides: https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  The Cloud Is Someone Else’s Computer (Where Your Data Goes) 28.07.2026 4min

  When you save something to the cloud, it does not float in the sky. It goes to a real building full of computers that a company owns, and that company can usually read what is stored there.Ben spent years designing and running data centers, including one for the F-18 fighter jet program, so he can show you what "the cloud" actually is: warehouses full of servers in real cities, keeping copies of your photos, messages, and files. You cannot realistically quit the cloud. What you can control is whether the companies holding your data can read it. That comes down to encryption, which means scrambling your files so only a private key can unlock them, and who holds that key. If you hold it, only you can read your files. If a company holds it, they can too.Ben shares the services he pays for and uses himself for this: Proton for email, files, photos, and passwords, and Signal for private messages and calls. Start by moving one thing you care about to a service that hands you the key.Proton: https://proton.meSignal: https://signal.orgChapters:0:00 Where your data really goes0:40 What the cloud actually is1:12 Watch the data leave a computer2:52 How to keep private things private3:32 Why this matters for our kidsWatch the whole series, How the Internet Really Works: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc3jDQHQdQekMore in this series:It Started With Bacon (How Free Apps Make Money): https://youtu.be/FQbVOHcQRMEThe Cloud Is Someone Else's Computer: https://youtu.be/NsYAPKyJhXgShould You Accept or Reject Cookies?: https://youtu.be/EEt33DXh--gYou're the Product, Not the Customer: https://youtu.be/UWBA-VcLOGEFamily IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass: https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclassWebsite and free guides: https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  It Started With Bacon: How ”Free” Apps Make Money 21.07.2026 6min

  Almost everything online is free because the internet is a marketing engine, and the fuel it runs on is your family's data, time, and attention.In the 1920s a bacon company hired a man named Edward Bernays to sell more bacon. He got physicians to endorse a big breakfast, newspapers ran their opinions as news, and bacon and eggs became "the American breakfast." That method, borrow a trusted voice, hide who is paying, and make the message look like advice, built the modern advertising industry. For most of the last century it had two limits: advertisers could not see exactly who got their message, and they could not change it per person. The internet removed both. Every tap, every pause while you scroll, every video you half watch is measured, and the message adjusts to you in real time.Ben explains why that makes the internet dangerous for kids. The real problem is not screen time, it is marketing exposure time. Youth suicide is now the second leading cause of death among young people, and for kids aged 10 to 14 the rate tripled between 2007 and 2018. He gives you one question to ask about anything your kids use for free: who is paying for this, and what are they buying? If the answer is advertisers buying attention, that is a red flag, and a lot of the most popular apps fall into that category. Tell your kids the bacon story. Once a kid can spot the hidden sponsor in their breakfast, they start spotting it everywhere.Chapters:0:00 The bacon story1:07 The method behind modern advertising1:42 How the internet changed the game3:11 Why this is dangerous for kids5:18 What you can doSources:Meta's advertising revenue, about 98% of its total: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000162828026003942/meta-20251231.htmEdward Bernays and the Beech-Nut bacon campaign: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_BernaysYouth suicide statistics, CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db471.htmWatch the whole series, How the Internet Really Works: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc3jDQHQdQekMore in this series:It Started With Bacon (How Free Apps Make Money): https://youtu.be/FQbVOHcQRMEThe Cloud Is Someone Else's Computer: https://youtu.be/NsYAPKyJhXgShould You Accept or Reject Cookies?: https://youtu.be/EEt33DXh--gYou're the Product, Not the Customer: https://youtu.be/UWBA-VcLOGEFamily IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass: https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclassWebsite and free guides: https://www.familyitguy.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  Bark’s Chief Parenting Officer on Predators, AI, and Keeping Kids Safe Online 03.07.2026 1h 14min

  Titania Jordan is the Chief Parenting Officer at Bark. She sat down with Ben Gillenwater to walk through what she's seeing in how kids actually use their phones, what scares her most, and what you can do about it without being technical.They get into a lot: why the free apps your kid uses aren't really free, why your kid is already using AI and who should be teaching them, the slang and rating systems kids use on each other that most parents have never heard of, and the red flags that an online "friend" is really a predator. They also dig into the parts of Big Tech's parental controls that don't actually work, what good monitoring really does, and one simple thing any parent can do today.A couple of numbers from the conversation: suicide is the second leading cause of death for kids 10 to 14 in the US, behind accidents, according to the CDC. Titania also shares two of Bark's own numbers: about 80% of the time, parents had no idea their kid was struggling until an alert flagged it, and Bark now helps protect around 7.5 million kids.Ben reviewed the Bark Phone earlier this year, and references that review here: https://www.familyitguy.com/bark-phone-review.htmlThe iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass walks you through locking down your kid's iPhone, every setting, step by step: https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphoneIf you ever find out a child is being targeted or exploited online, you can report it to the NCMEC CyberTipline at https://report.cybertip.org/. If you or someone you love is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is there any time at https://988lifeline.org/.Chapters:0:00 Intro: Titania Jordan, Chief Parenting Officer of Bark0:52 How she became a Chief Parenting Officer5:34 Free isn't free: how platforms monetize your time6:48 An MBA for kids: teaching them the business model7:25 Dopamine, frame rate, and overstimulated kids15:08 Nobody is teaching your kid AI, except you17:40 Where AI belongs for kids, and where it doesn't23:16 Why Bark exists: 80% of parents had no idea28:52 Big Tech's parental controls are theater (Apple, TikTok)33:21 Apple walked back catching child abuse images34:45 There's no such thing as a friend in a corporation36:41 Nobody at Bark reads your kid's texts: how it works41:05 You're not authoritarian, you're being a parent42:30 Privacy belongs to your child; you're the steward47:46 Decoding what your kids are really saying (the slang)55:15 The phone that won't let a kid take a nude58:00 The predator playbook: grooming red flags1:00:41 "Disappearing" messages don't disappear (Snap, screenshots)1:04:06 No company is your friend, but some still do good1:06:23 Judge a company by how it measures success1:09:19 Roblox: who are you actually funding?1:10:37 The one free thing every parent can do1:12:28 Close: protecting millions of kidsFamily IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.Website and free guides: https://www.familyitguy.comGuest: Titania Jordan, Chief Parenting Officer of Bark.#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
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  Porn: The Conversation That Protects Your Kids | Chris McKenna 18.06.2026 1h 13min

  How do you talk to your kids about pornography before the internet does it for them? Chris McKenna founded Protect Young Eyes to help parents answer exactly that, and his approach surprises most people: the fix is not a better filter. It is a braver and more frequent conversation.Most of us are scared of this talk, so we put it off, and putting it off is the one move that leaves a kid alone with whatever they find. Chris makes the case for the opposite. Make the conversation normal. Start early, keep it casual, have it often, so your kid runs to you when something feels wrong instead of hiding it. Shine light on the topic.We get into the number that stopped me cold. In every child-on-child case the counselors Chris interviewed had handled that year, the child who had harmed another had been exposed to pornography early in childhood. We talk about why a young brain has no "file" for what it is seeing, then we get practical: ten conversations before age 10, the porn talk you can have in the car without ever saying the word "porn", and how to make yourself the person your kid comes to.MORE FROM CHRIS McKENNAOrder his book, 5 Habits of the Tech-Ready Family (out June 16 2026): https://www.techreadyfamily.comProtect Young Eyes: https://protectyoungeyes.comDigital parenting coaching, The Table: https://protectyoungeyes.com/the-tableThe Ultimate Guide to Understanding Routers: https://www.protectyoungeyes.com/devices/the-ultimate-guide-to-understanding-routersCHAPTERS0:00 Welcome1:05 How Chris got into this10:39 The realities of porn today20:04 Young brains can't process it21:28 The 100% statistic24:00 Make Porn the Norm (the reframe)28:14 10 before 1030:28 Where kids really see it35:11 How to actually have the talk43:42 Porn isn't real sex57:31 The one fix at AppleSOURCESThe 100% figure is from Chris McKenna's interviews with counselors at Children's Assessment Centers, which work with both the child who was harmed and the child who caused harm. More on his research at https://protectyoungeyes.comABOUT CHRIS McKENNAChris is the founder of Protect Young Eyes and president of The Better Tech Project. He testified before the U.S. Senate in 2019, co-authored the Child Device Protection Bill that is now law in Utah and Alabama, and is featured in the documentary Childhood 2.0. Publishers Weekly calls his new book "comprehensive," "illuminating," and "an informative resource for parents eager to establish digital safety nets for their children."ABOUT FAMILY IT GUYBen Gillenwater is a cybersecurity expert and dad who helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication.#digitalparenting #onlinesafety #pornography #raisingkids #parentingtips #protectyoungeyes #screentime #familyitguy
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  Apple iOS just made kids’ phones safer. 09.06.2026 2min

  For years, giving a child their first phone meant starting with a device designed for adults and then trying to lock it down afterward.Apple just announced a major shift.With iOS 27, kids' devices can start as a blank slate—no wide-open access, no endless game of chasing settings and blocking apps after the fact. Parents decide what gets added and when.This is how child-safe technology should work: parental authority first, access second.It's also a reminder that protecting kids online doesn't require invasive age-verification systems or sacrificing privacy. Good design can solve a lot of problems before lawmakers try to.Apple deserves credit for raising the bar on both privacy and parental controls.Would you feel more comfortable giving your child a phone if it started locked down by default?#Apple #iOS27 #OnlineSafety #DigitalParenting #FamilyITGuy