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Family IT Guy Podcast

Family IT Guy Podcast

Family IT Guy 59 Episodes Oct 10, 2026

Ben Gillenwater, a cybersecurity expert with 30 years of experience including work with the NSA, helps parents protect their children from online dangers. He shares practical advice on digital safety, bridging the gap between complex technology and family protection. The podcast covers topics like internet risks, safe app usage, and parenting in the digital age.

Episodes

Is Perplexity Safe for Kids? Common Sense Media Rates It Unacceptable Risk
Is Perplexity Safe for Kids? Common Sense Media Rates It Unacceptable Risk Oct 10, 2026 322 Is Perplexity safe for kids? Common Sense Media tested the AI search tool with accounts set up as a 15-year-old and gave it its lowest rating, unacceptable risk. My opinion and my suggestion is that kids should never use AI alone. The testers set the age to 15 in Perplexity's phone app, and Perplexity still treated them like adults. It discussed pornography, engaged in romantic role play, and o
A Screen for the School Bus? A Book or an Old Nintendo DS Instead
A Screen for the School Bus? A Book or an Old Nintendo DS Instead Oct 8, 2026 338 I think boredom is good for kids, and a school bus ride is a good place to practice it. A parent in my livestream chat has two boys, six and seven, with no phones or tablets of their own, and the youngest wants a screen he can play with on the bus. My first answer is that the internet is for adults, not children, for technical reasons and for legal and regulatory ones. Once you buy a device wit
My 11-Year-Old Asked to Text His Friend. I Said No.
My 11-Year-Old Asked to Text His Friend. I Said No. Sep 25, 2026 74 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
Teach Kids About Tech and Set Limits: Why I Recommend Both
Teach Kids About Tech and Set Limits: Why I Recommend Both Sep 24, 2026 93 Someone in the live chat asked why we don't just teach children to use devices well instead of banning them. It's a fair question and I think the premise is sound. My answer is that it depends on the device. A phone is not usually the thing you are protecting a child from. It's a door to other things, and those things are what need restricting. Some of them I don't think have a safe version
When Your Child Says Everyone Else Has It
When Your Child Says Everyone Else Has It Sep 22, 2026 149 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 foo
iOS 27 Parental Controls - Make Your Kid’s iPhone Boring
iOS 27 Parental Controls - Make Your Kid’s iPhone Boring Sep 18, 2026 1670 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. Communic
When Your Child Is in Trouble Online, How You React Matters
When Your Child Is in Trouble Online, How You React Matters Sep 18, 2026 323 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 gettin
Roblox Is an Adult Platform Marketed to Kids
Roblox Is an Adult Platform Marketed to Kids Sep 17, 2026 145 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 lives
School Requires an iPad. What Can Parents Control?
School Requires an iPad. What Can Parents Control? Sep 16, 2026 391 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
Meta’s Child Safety Settlement Leaves the Main Risks in Place
Meta’s Child Safety Settlement Leaves the Main Risks in Place Sep 14, 2026 1651 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
Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Sep 2 2026
Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Sep 2 2026 Sep 3, 2026 3394 Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Sep 2 2026
How to Report an Online Predator: Two Ways to Get Help
How to Report an Online Predator: Two Ways to Get Help Aug 31, 2026 262 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 comp

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