Family IT Guy Podcast
by Family IT Guy
Ben Gillenwater helps families protect children from digital dangers, bringing 30 years of cybersecurity expertise to the parenting journey. His background includes working with the NSA and serving as Chief Technologist of a $10 billion IT company, where he built global-scale systems and understood technology’s risks at every level.His mission began when he gave his young son an iPad with ”kid-safe” apps—only to discover inappropriate content days later. Despite his deep technical background, Ben realized that if protecting children online was challenging for him, it must be even more difficult for parents without his expertise.Through Family IT Guy, Ben creates videos and articles that help parents and kids learn how to leverage the positive parts of the internet while avoiding the dangerous and risky parts. His approach bridges the knowledge gap between complex technology and practical family protection, making digital safety accessible to everyone.
Episodes
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A Computer for Kids With No Internet, Built So They Put It Down
This is a conversation with the software engineer and dad who made a computer for kids with no internet, built so they put it down on their own. My guest is Tavi Nathanson, creator of Purple Computer, which turns an old laptop into an offline computer for kids. He started as a software engineer…
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My 11-Year-Old Builds Video Games With AI. These Are My Rules.
My 11-year-old builds his own video games with an AI assistant. Here are the rules that make it safe. This is the first time I've talked about this publicly. He works on a Mac Mini connected to a TV I can see from my desk, and there are two hard rules: it only runs under my full supervision, and…
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Should Kids Use AI? Where I Draw the Line
AI is already in most kids' schools, usually with no training for the kids or the teachers. Here is where I draw the line for my own family. My position is that parents need to learn AI first, before their kids do, because you can only really teach something you understand from experience. If…
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Best First Phone for Kids: The Four Options
Bark Phone or Watch, $30 off: https://www.familyitguy.com/go/bark/direct?src=yt-gNnx6Z-TK7w I earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and that supports Family IT Guy's mission to set kids up for success. If you want a first phone for an 11-year-old that does calls and not much else, you have...
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A Phone for a Social Tween: Start With Nothing, Add Back Slowly
Choosing a phone or device for a very social tween means fighting two fears at once: that they'll be left out, and that they'll be exposed. My answer is to start with a device that does nothing and add functionality back one piece at a time, instead of buying a device that does everything and...
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A Federal Agent on How Kids Get Targeted Online, and What Parents Can Do
This is a conversation about how kids get targeted online and what parents can do about it, with a federal agent who works these cases. My guest is Special Agent Dennis Fetting of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of the Department of Homeland Security. He has been a special agent for…
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What I’m Building at Family IT Guy, October 2026
I'm sharing the Family IT Guy plans as of October 2026: guidance for choosing apps and devices, device setup classes, and education for parents and kids. I also talk about Boring, my phone-accountability prototype; private AI projects; school curriculum; and literacy education. I explain why...
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Accidental Kids Games: Why Many Games Kids Play Weren’t Built for Them
This is a conversation about how to tell whether a video game is safe for your kid, with a game developer who has spent 25 years making games, including Club Penguin. My guest is Stephen MacDonald, CEO of Magic Potion Games, the studio making Imagine Island, an online game built for kids under…
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Adult Ads in Kids’ Mobile Games: What a Lawsuit Alleges and What to Check
A game's age rating doesn't tell you which ads it will show. San Diego County alleges that AppLovin, which supplies the technology that puts ads inside mobile apps and games, sent adult ads into children's mobile games even with parental controls turned on. The county's lawyers say their tests in...
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Is Perplexity Safe for Kids? Common Sense Media Rates It Unacceptable Risk
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...
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A Screen for the School Bus? A Book or an Old Nintendo DS Instead
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...
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My 11-Year-Old Asked to Text His Friend. I Said No.
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
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...
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When Your Child Says Everyone Else Has It
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...
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iOS 27 Parental Controls - Make Your Kid’s iPhone Boring
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,...
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When Your Child Is in Trouble Online, How You React Matters
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…
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Roblox Is an Adult Platform Marketed to Kids
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...
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School Requires an iPad. What Can Parents Control?
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...
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Meta’s Child Safety Settlement Leaves the Main Risks in Place
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…
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Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Sep 2 2026
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
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...
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Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 19 2026
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
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)
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…
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How to Make Video Games Safe and Actually Good for Your Kids
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…
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Should You Accept or Reject Cookies? What the Pop-Up Does
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...
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The Cloud Is Someone Else’s Computer (Where Your Data Goes)
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…
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It Started With Bacon: How ”Free” Apps Make Money
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...
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Bark’s Chief Parenting Officer on Predators, AI, and Keeping Kids Safe Online
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...
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Porn: The Conversation That Protects Your Kids | Chris McKenna
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...
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Apple iOS just made kids’ phones safer.
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...
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The Hidden Risk of Instagram’s New Instants Feature
Meta's new Instants feature has drawn comparisons to Snapchat for one simple reason: both are built around disappearing photos and messages. For parents, the important question isn't which app your child is using—it's whether they understand how these features actually work. Platforms market...
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Age Verification Laws Explained: Why They Won’t Protect Kids
Age verification laws are spreading fast, and the "prove your age to use the internet" approach will make every family less safe, not more. Governments across the US and around the world want everyone to prove their identity before going online. In places like California, that's moving down to…
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Your Kids Are Not the Customer. They’re the Product.
One of the most important skills parents can teach kids today is how to think critically about business models. Because if kids don’t understand how internet companies make money, they can’t fully understand what these platforms are designed to do. In this video, I break down: • Why “free” apps…
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The Two Biggest Online Threats to Kids Right Now.
If you're new here, welcome. My name is Ben Gillenwater, also known as The Family IT Guy. I’m a dad and a cybersecurity expert with 30 years of experience, and my mission is simple: help families keep kids safe online while raising healthy, capable humans in a digital world. In this video, I…
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The Dark Truth About Snapchat Parents Aren’t Being Told
This video is dedicated to Avery, a 15-year-old boy who died after buying MDMA through Snapchat. Avery grew up with strong boundaries around technology. Waldorf education. Outdoor adventures. Shared screen time rules. Minimal exposure to social media. But once Snapchat entered the picture in high...
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If You Use AI for Therapy Watch This
A growing number of adults and teens are using AI chatbots for therapy, emotional support, advice, and difficult conversations. Some people say it helps them feel less alone. Others are relying on it daily for mental health guidance. But there’s a major problem most people are missing: AI can…
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Why We Removed Phones From Our Bedrooms (And What Changed Immediately)
If you are trying to keep your kids safer online, this is where I would start: keep internet-connected devices out of bedrooms. Bedrooms should be calm places. Places for sleep, rest, conversation, quiet, and recovery. But phones, tablets, gaming systems, and social media feeds bring noise into...
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How to Remove Hidden Data From Your Photos
Most people crop photos for aesthetics. Few realize that every photo can also contain hidden metadata. When you take a picture on your phone, it may include location data, timestamps, device information, camera details, and other digital markers that create a larger story over time. In this…
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How Predators Went From Playgrounds to Your Kid’s Phone
Mike Lemon investigates crimes against children for a living. He's done it for over 20 years. He trains 5,000 parents a year on what he's learned. He still built layered defenses for his own kids' devices, because he knows no child can handle a professional predator alone. We talked for almost 90...
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Meta to pay $375 million for knowingly putting children in danger on Facebook and Instagram.
A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for knowingly putting children in danger on Facebook and Instagram. It's being called a historic win, but is it really a win for kids? In this video, I break down exactly what happened in court, what evidence the jury saw, and most importantly,...
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Age Verification Laws Won’t Protect Your Kids Online (Here’s What Will)
At least 20 states are pushing bills that claim to protect your kids online. I've read them. I testified against one in South Dakota. The problems they're trying to solve are real. The bills don't solve them. I'm Ben Gillenwater — dad, cybersecurity expert, 30 years in the field. In this video I...
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What to Do When Your Kid Is Melting Down Over Screens
Dr. Carrie Mackensen is a clinical psychologist with 25 years of experience directing addiction and eating disorder treatment programs. She's raising two boys without iPads and is writing a book on parenting in the digital age. In Part 2 of our conversation, we dig into the places where parents...
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Is Roblox Safe for Kids? Chris Hansen’s Investigation Explained
Is Roblox safe for kids? In this interview, Chris Hansen shares findings from his investigation into predators, grooming tactics, and why thousands of families have reported harm on the platform. Chris Hansen, who has exposed online predators for over two decades, explains how grooming works on...
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”Screens Are a Drug.” How to Get Your Family Back with Mike McLeod
Mike McLeod is a speech-language pathologist and ADHD executive function specialist who has worked with over 500 families to eliminate screens since 2016. He hosts the ADHD Parenting Podcast and has two books that released in January 2026. In this conversation, we get into the hard stuff: why...
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Social Media on Trial: The Case Against Meta, YouTube, TikTok & Snapchat
For the first time, social media executives are being forced to answer to a jury for the impact their platforms have had on children. This trial in Los Angeles (MDL 3047) brings together claims from more than 2,000 families who allege that platform features such as infinite scroll, autoplay,...
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FBI Psychologist: Your Kid’s Phone Is More Dangerous Than a Gun
Dr. Lisa Strohman spent 30 years studying what hurts kids—from profiling at FBI Quantico after Columbine to serving as an expert witness in New Mexico v. Meta. Her conclusion? The phone in your child's pocket is more dangerous than a gun on your kitchen table. At least the kid knows to be afraid…
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AI Videos vs Deepfakes: How to Tell What’s Real Online (With Jeremy Carrasco)
How do you protect your kids online when even adults can’t tell what’s real anymore? AI-generated videos, deepfakes, and synthetic audio are not just a tech issue. They are showing up inside the apps our kids use every day, mixed in with cartoons, music clips, and “safe” educational content. Most...
About this show
Ben Gillenwater helps families protect children from digital dangers, bringing 30 years of cybersecurity expertise to the parenting journey. His background includes working with the NSA and serving as Chief Technologist of a $10 billion IT company, where he built global-scale systems and understood technology’s risks at every level.His mission began when he gave his young son an iPad with ”kid-safe” apps—only to discover inappropriate content days later. Despite his deep technical background, Ben realized that if protecting children online was challenging for him, it must be even more difficult for parents without his expertise.Through Family IT Guy, Ben creates videos and articles that help parents and kids learn how to leverage the positive parts of the internet while avoiding the dangerous and risky parts. His approach bridges the knowledge gap between complex technology and practical family protection, making digital safety accessible to everyone.
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