Family IT Guy Podcast
By Family IT Guy
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Category: Parenting
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Subscribers: 7
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Episodes: 88
Description
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.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
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My 11-Year-Old Builds Video Games With AI. These Are My Rules.
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Nov 03, 2026 |
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Should Kids Use AI? Where I Draw the Line
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Nov 03, 2026 |
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Best First Phone for Kids: The Four Options
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Nov 03, 2026 |
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A Phone for a Social Tween: Start With Nothing, Add Back Slowly
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Nov 03, 2026 |
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A Federal Agent on How Kids Get Targeted Online, and What Parents Can Do
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Oct 30, 2026 |
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What I’m Building at Family IT Guy, October 2026
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Oct 17, 2026 |
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Accidental Kids Games: Why Many Games Kids Play Weren’t Built for Them
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Oct 16, 2026 |
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Adult Ads in Kids’ Mobile Games: What a Lawsuit Alleges and What to Check
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Oct 16, 2026 |
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Is Perplexity Safe for Kids? Common Sense Media Rates It Unacceptable Risk
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Oct 10, 2026 |
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A Screen for the School Bus? A Book or an Old Nintendo DS Instead
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Oct 08, 2026 |
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My 11-Year-Old Asked to Text His Friend. I Said No.
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Sep 25, 2026 |
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Teach Kids About Tech and Set Limits: Why I Recommend Both
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Sep 24, 2026 |
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When Your Child Says Everyone Else Has It
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Sep 22, 2026 |
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iOS 27 Parental Controls - Make Your Kid’s iPhone Boring
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Sep 18, 2026 |
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When Your Child Is in Trouble Online, How You React Matters
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Sep 18, 2026 |
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Roblox Is an Adult Platform Marketed to Kids
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Sep 17, 2026 |
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School Requires an iPad. What Can Parents Control?
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Sep 16, 2026 |
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Meta’s Child Safety Settlement Leaves the Main Risks in Place
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Sep 14, 2026 |
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Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Sep 2 2026
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Sep 03, 2026 |
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How to Report an Online Predator: Two Ways to Get Help
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Aug 31, 2026 |
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Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 19 2026
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Aug 20, 2026 |
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Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 12 2026
|
Aug 13, 2026 |
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You’re the Product, Not the Customer (The Paid, Private Internet)
|
Aug 11, 2026 |
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How to Make Video Games Safe and Actually Good for Your Kids
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Aug 06, 2026 |
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Should You Accept or Reject Cookies? What the Pop-Up Does
|
Aug 04, 2026 |
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The Cloud Is Someone Else’s Computer (Where Your Data Goes)
|
Jul 28, 2026 |
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It Started With Bacon: How ”Free” Apps Make Money
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Jul 21, 2026 |
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Bark’s Chief Parenting Officer on Predators, AI, and Keeping Kids Safe Online
|
Jul 03, 2026 |
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Porn: The Conversation That Protects Your Kids | Chris McKenna
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Jun 18, 2026 |
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Apple iOS just made kids’ phones safer.
|
Jun 09, 2026 |
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The Hidden Risk of Instagram’s New Instants Feature
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Jun 08, 2026 |
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Age Verification Laws Explained: Why They Won’t Protect Kids
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Jun 02, 2026 |
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Your Kids Are Not the Customer. They’re the Product.
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May 30, 2026 |
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The Two Biggest Online Threats to Kids Right Now.
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May 29, 2026 |
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The Dark Truth About Snapchat Parents Aren’t Being Told
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May 29, 2026 |
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If You Use AI for Therapy Watch This
|
May 12, 2026 |
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Why We Removed Phones From Our Bedrooms (And What Changed Immediately)
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May 07, 2026 |
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How to Remove Hidden Data From Your Photos
|
Apr 30, 2026 |
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How Predators Went From Playgrounds to Your Kid’s Phone
|
Apr 11, 2026 |
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Meta to pay $375 million for knowingly putting children in danger on Facebook and Instagram.
|
Mar 26, 2026 |
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Age Verification Laws Won’t Protect Your Kids Online (Here’s What Will)
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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What to Do When Your Kid Is Melting Down Over Screens
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Mar 06, 2026 |
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Is Roblox Safe for Kids? Chris Hansen’s Investigation Explained
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Feb 27, 2026 |
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”Screens Are a Drug.” How to Get Your Family Back with Mike McLeod
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Feb 19, 2026 |
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Social Media on Trial: The Case Against Meta, YouTube, TikTok & Snapchat
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Feb 14, 2026 |
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FBI Psychologist: Your Kid’s Phone Is More Dangerous Than a Gun
|
Feb 11, 2026 |
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AI Videos vs Deepfakes: How to Tell What’s Real Online (With Jeremy Carrasco)
|
Feb 03, 2026 |
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Why schools are ditching phones!
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Jan 31, 2026 |
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3 AI Rules for Kids, from a cybersecurity expert.
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Jan 28, 2026 |
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Grok exposes the risk of posting kids online.
|
Jan 19, 2026 |
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Protecting Kids Online: Missing Children, AI Scams, and Digital Exploitation with Shawnna Hoffman
|
Jan 11, 2026 |
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764 Update: The Online Network Targeting Kids Is Getting Worse
|
Jan 07, 2026 |
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The Antidote to Internet Chaos
|
Dec 12, 2025 |
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Inside the Mind of Predators: Forensic Psychologist Dr. Leslie Dobson on Child Predators & Risk
|
Dec 08, 2025 |
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How One Parent Took on Smartphones in Elementary School — and Changed a Community
|
Nov 30, 2025 |
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AI Toys for Kids - My Thoughts
|
Nov 29, 2025 |
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Bark Phone Review: What Works, What Doesn’t, How to Set It Up
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Nov 26, 2025 |
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Facial Scans & IDs for Kids—Think Before You Agree
|
Nov 24, 2025 |
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Is It Really ADHD? How Devices Are Rewiring Our Kids’ Brains with Dr. Carrie Mackensen
|
Nov 22, 2025 |
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Dear Tim Cook: Make Parental Controls as Easy as Apple Pay
|
Nov 14, 2025 |
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Sora: Why This New AI App Is a Predator’s Dream - What Parents Need to Know
|
Nov 12, 2025 |
|
Device Addiction in Kids: The Parenting Mistake Everyone Makes
|
Nov 10, 2025 |
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Sora AI Lets Kids Deepfake Themselves - Parents Need to Know This”
|
Nov 08, 2025 |
|
Getting Hired in Cybersecurity: What Hiring Managers Actually Look For (with Orlando Padilla)
|
Nov 07, 2025 |
|
Roblox CEO on Fox News: ’400 AI Systems’ - I Tested It and Found Sexual Content
|
Nov 06, 2025 |
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Mom Uncharted: The Truth About Sharing Kids Online
|
Nov 05, 2025 |
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No Phones in Bedrooms: The One Family Rule That Eliminates Most Online Harm
|
Nov 05, 2025 |
|
The Internet Your Kids Use Is Not Like the One You Grew Up With
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Oct 17, 2025 |
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Instagram’s PG-13 Lie: What Meta’s Own Research Says About Teen Mental Health
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Oct 16, 2025 |
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Roblox Is Rated 12+ But Partners With Barbie and SpongeBob - Here’s What Parents Need to Know
|
Oct 14, 2025 |
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Kids Trading Sex For Cell Phone Time: School Resource Officer Gomez (part 2)
|
Oct 09, 2025 |
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Why OpenAI Built Sora Like TikTok: The Truth Parents Need
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Oct 04, 2025 |
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ChatGPT’s New Parental Controls Are Broken By Design
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Oct 03, 2025 |
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2 Red Flags That Cover 90% of Online Threats to Children
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Sep 29, 2025 |
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Why I Never Let My Kids Use AI Alone (ChatGPT Danger)
|
Sep 27, 2025 |
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Free 24/7 Family IT Consultant: Ask Anything About Kids & Technology
|
Sep 26, 2025 |
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Simple Fix for YouTube Kids Dangers - Cybersecurity Expert Shows How
|
Sep 25, 2025 |
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Why Meta’s Own Researchers Are Now Testifying Against the Company
|
Sep 25, 2025 |
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To David Baszucki (Roblox CEO): The One Safety Fix Parents Need
|
Aug 29, 2025 |
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ChatGPT and Teen Suicide: What Every Parent Needs to Know
|
Aug 29, 2025 |
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The 764 Group Killed His Daughter - Here’s What Parents Need to Know
|
Aug 28, 2025 |
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Roblox Banned the Guy Who Got 6 Predators Arrested - Here’s What Parents Need to Know
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Aug 21, 2025 |
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Settings Kids Up For Success: When Algorithms Replace Family Conversations (ep4)
|
Aug 15, 2025 |
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25 Years Fighting Predators: What Every Parent Needs to Know To Keep Kids Safe | Conrad Woodall ep3
|
Aug 14, 2025 |
|
We’re Winning Against Child Predators (And They’re Mad About It)
|
Aug 09, 2025 |
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Why Your 10-Year-Old Can’t Stop Scrolling (Bottomless Feeds Explained)
|
Aug 09, 2025 |
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Strong Moms and how to protect your kids on the internet - with the Family IT Guy team
|
Aug 08, 2025 |
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”100% of Boys Will Be Targeted” - Officer Gomez - How Predators Hunt Kids Online (part 1)
|
Aug 08, 2025 |