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Navigating the Digital World: A Parent’s Guide with Cyber Savvy, Part 1

Overview

Season 1: Episode 2, Part 1

In this episode, we engage in a compelling conversation with Kathy Loomis of Cyber Savvy. Cyber Savvy’s mission is to equip parents with the essential tools and resources needed to safely guide their children through the digital landscape. This is part one of a two-part series.

Kathy shares her journey from a technology professional to founding Cyber Savvy, driven by her own experiences as a parent. They discuss the rapid evolution of technology, the increasing screen time among children, and the challenges parents face in keeping up.

The episode covers the importance of parental engagement in children’s online activities, the risks of cyberbullying, and the alarming statistics of online predators. Kathy emphasizes the need for education and proactive communication between parents and children to navigate the digital world safely.

Listeners will also learn about the classes and services offered by Cyber Savvy, including tips on securing devices, setting privacy settings, and preparing children before giving them their first smartphone. This episode is a must-listen for parents looking to protect their children in the digital age.

NOTE: As of June 7, 2024, it has been noticed that Cyber Savvy may no longer exist. However, the content in this 2-part podcast is still worth a listen if you have children who you have allowed to have smartphones or access to other Internet-connected devices.

Transcript

View podcast transcript

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Music.

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

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I’m your host, Jim O’Brien. This episode, we’ll be talking to Kathy Loomis of Cyber Savvy.

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Cyber Savvy’s mission is to provide parents with the tools and resources necessary

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to effectively and safely guide their children through the digital landscape.

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This is part one of two. Hi, Kathy. How are you?

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I’m great. Thank you for having me today. So we’ve got some exciting material

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to cover and let’s get started. I’m excited.

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Okay. Let’s talk a little bit about you and how you got this thing fired up.

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I have been in the technology arena since 2000.

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When I first started, I co-founded a company called Synergy Network Solutions,

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which is a company that specializes in recruiting technology professionals,

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specifically in the area of development, engineering and cybersecurity specialists.

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Socialists and a big portion of my job was always

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to stay ahead of the changes in technology over the

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years so which is no

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easy task because you know just believe it or not over 10 years ago just over

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10 years ago the first iphone was released and today it is the rare american

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that does not have one and they’re mostly under the age of 10 so roughly about three quarters of

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Americans own a smartphone today with the average child owning one by the age of 10. So.

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And we’re going to continue to see that grow. Absolutely.

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And so being in technology, I thought as a parent, when my child was ready to

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enter the digital world, I thought I was completely ready until I wasn’t.

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I learned that I wasn’t. I handed her an iPad and she discovered a lot of things on it.

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She played a lot on it. And then YouTube came over and she, I think she typed

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in mermaid because she went through a whole mermaid fetish for a while.

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And we started out with a really benign video that quickly moved over to a very inappropriate video.

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So at that point, I started doing some research and, you know,

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just to kind of help prepare myself.

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And I just realized there was nothing for parents. There was a whole lot of information.

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It was almost kind of drinking from a fire hose, though. You didn’t know what

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to believe, what was what was workable, what was usable.

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So at that point, I decided to found my new venture, Cyber Savvy.

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And my mission is to provide parents and students with the tools and resources

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necessary to effectively and safely guide their children through the digital

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landscape. So that’s my mission.

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Sounds great. Yeah, I think with the popularity and the increasing growth and

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usage of smartphones or phones in general, mobile devices, whether it’s phones or tablets,

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really keeping on top of and keeping tabs of what your children are doing and

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looking on those devices is paramount.

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Right. Well, we, our kids, believe it or not, are clocking in about four to

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nine hours of screen time every single day.

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It’s not just on their mobile devices, but it’s all screen time.

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Nine hours? Up to nine hours. That’s more time than they spend.

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They spend more time in front of a screen than they do sleeping.

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I remember watching a lot of television as a child, but I don’t know that I

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ever spent nine hours in front of the TV back then.

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Right. Well, they’re literally never without it.

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For those kids who have a mobile device or a phone that they carry with them,

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they are never without them.

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And when they’re without them, you can see that they become very anxious.

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Us so my child happens

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to be part of the iGen generation and

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she just doesn’t know life without her digital device yeah

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but most of the you know scary they’re spending that much time on their devices

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and it’s it’s really I call it a parentless society because it’s all peer-to-peer

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parents aren’t really engaged enough in their online worlds.

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So a lot of, it’s like the wild, wild West really. I mean, they are doing things

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to each other, you know, cyber bullying, doing things that just aren’t nice.

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They have that keyboard courage. They’re doing everything behind the digital screen.

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So they, they do things that they wouldn’t normally do.

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Makes it a lot easier to each other. Yeah. Yeah. They can hide that keyboard.

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Like you said, I know. Yeah. So, you know, I’m just kind of helping guide parents

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to get more engaged so that they can create some more teachable opportunities for their kids. Sure.

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And I know that Cyber Savvy has some classes that they offer and even some services.

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So you want to talk about those? Sure.

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I do a lot of presentations at schools and organizations from student presentations

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just to teach students how to be a good digital citizen.

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And we talk about cyberbullying, what that means, and not in the traditional

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sense where all the media talks about, oh, if you’re sending these terrible

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texts, this is what cyberbullying looks like.

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But it’s different. I think that kids today cyberbully books.

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A lot in the way of exclusion. So they’ll post things to their Instagram accounts

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or their Snapchat stories that will include everybody in a group that traditionally

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is together with the exception of one person.

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And then they just pummel that person with a bunch of photos and videos and

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stories that really are designed to make kids feel excluded.

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And that’s a big, you know, that’s kind of a paradigm shift a little bit from

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what we traditionally think as parents is what cyber bullying it is it’s not

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so overt it’s just kind of these little subtle things that they do to make.

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Other kids feel excluded it’s crazy to think that something like bullying has

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evolved from the days of you know me getting beat up in the bathroom the boys

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room and in middle school you know now Now it takes on different forms that

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make it not just hard to deal with, but also to respond to as well.

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Right. And parents, I think that parents don’t realize how much it’s changed.

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So if they’re not engaged, they don’t really see it.

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So they don’t realize that there is a teachable moment.

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Absolutely. So before we get into the classes, because I’m intrigued by a couple

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of those and the services too, just to kind of run down some of the statistics

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that you have on the cybersavvy.com site.

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80% of parents never talk to their kids about appropriate internet use,

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not because they don’t care, but because parents just don’t know how.

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So what do we do about that?

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Well, education. So that’s the biggest piece of it.

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I think that parents traditionally, especially if they didn’t grow up with a

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cell phone. And that’s really my generation.

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So it’s educating them what the devices can do, what their kids will have access

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to, and how to become more involved.

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And I think the main thing for parents is, you know, they just think,

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gosh, my kid knows more about this than I do. So what am I going to bring to the the table.

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So I’m just going to let them, I’m just going to stick my head in the sand and hope for the best.

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So what my classes are designed to do is to, to really shed some light on what do their devices do?

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How can you become more engaged?

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And, and just let them know that, yeah, their kids know a lot and they can adapt

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more to the new technology than we can because we’re not playing on it every

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single day and we don’t spend as adults do but they spend.

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Their time in front of the screen in a different way. But, you know,

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just to educate them on that and just say,

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you know, it’s not so much staying abreast of the ever-changing technology because

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that’s going to be too hard to do,

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but to open lines of communication with your kids in a very traditional parenting

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way so that kids will eventually feel comfortable,

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having those bi-directional conversations with their parents.

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Absolutely. Makes a lot of sense. And, you know, it’s okay if the parents aren’t

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technologically savvy, but it’s important that the parents also still let their

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kids know that they’re the ones in charge because they are the parents at the end of the day, right?

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Exactly. So one of the few of these other statistics to breeze through real

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quick, one in five U.S. teenagers who are active on the Internet have received

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unwanted sexual solicitation online. That’s 20%. Isn’t that scary?

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That’s scary. It’s a very scary statistic.

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So, almost every popular social media site is being used to recruit sex trafficking

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victims, according to the FBI.

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So, I know it’s very scary, but for the sex trafficker, it’s a very easy way to target kids.

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One in five kids the age of 10 to 17, like you said, have been solicited for sex online.

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But one in 33 has been aggressively solicited where the predator is attempting

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to set up a meeting with a child in person.

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And that’s scary. And I think that parents in general don’t know how prevalent it is.

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Atlanta especially is sadly a sex trafficking hub. It is.

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So it’s, you know, our kids, if they, you know, if they even go to the mall

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unaccompanied, they’re being bullied.

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Targeted. So I was talking to a parent the other day, and she said her child

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just incessantly was asking to go to the mall with a group of her friends,

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and they just wanted to be able to walk around by themselves.

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So my friend said, well, I’m not going to let you walk around by yourself,

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but I’ll go with you, and I’ll be in the mall in the same location as you,

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so you’ll know where to find me and I’ll be close.

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And literally, she said, within a 20-minute period, they had broken away.

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Her friends, their friends went to like this popular kid’s stores.

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And within 20 minutes, they were approached by a man and a woman, a young woman.

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And they said, oh my gosh, you girls are so pretty. We are looking for young

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models. Would you be interested?

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Come with us and sign this paperwork and we’ll, you know, figure out a time to take pictures.

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But that’s when they get them. And some gullible kids who parents don’t talk

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to their kids about stuff like this because it’s too scary or they think it’s

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not happening. Sure. They become victims.

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Fortunately, my friend, it was a former model, but she said she told her daughter, expect this.

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Know that that somebody might come up and use this line on you and just know

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that it’s not true. So fortunately, she had that discussion with her child.

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And so they immediately went into the store. They told the store manager and those people left.

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But that’s scary. But that’s the key in the parent taking the initiative to

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drive these conversations, to talk about cell phone safety, to talk about cyber predators.

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And yes, they’re scary topics, but our children need to know if we’re not having

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these conversations with them, then they’re basically dead.

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You know, staring in the dark. Yeah. And, you know, it hasn’t changed over time, right?

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When we were kids growing up, whatever, the importance of parents talking to

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the children, having those hard conversations is so important.

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It’s just that the conversations now are having to evolve and include technologies

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and incidents that we didn’t necessarily have to deal with, but it doesn’t change

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the fact that the conversations are important.

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Right. Says 36% of children message People they have met online,

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but don’t know in person.

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That’s, you know, that’s a testament to why it’s so important to monitor these,

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the usage of these devices with your children, because young kids don’t really

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have the cognitive development yet to understand what it means or could imply

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or the consequences is to talk to strangers.

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I mean, when I was growing up, you know, don’t talk to strangers was a promoted

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policy for kids, right? Right. Right.

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Right. So, OK, so our our kids, the main thing that’s important to them today is becoming famous.

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They all want to become the next famous YouTuber.

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They want to, you know.

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So the more likes they can get, the more people who see their things makes them

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feel more popular, more liked, more.

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They can hopefully start getting some advertising dollars from their YouTube channel.

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So they friend essentially anyone.

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So I don’t know if you recall a couple of actually it was last year there was

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a guy who was targeting local schools in Atlanta and mostly Instagram accounts.

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So he would friend all of these kids and then start sending inappropriate emails

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and photos and texts to these kids.

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You know, you’d think some of these guys using these methods would realize,

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hey, everything I’m doing is going to be recorded or traceable.

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And you’d think it would thwart more than, you know, cause it.

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But I don’t think, you know, it’s been said many a time, criminals and those

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with ill intent aren’t necessarily the smartest folks in the world either.

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So that’s always kind of interesting to me. Right.

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But, you know, these cyber predators, believe it or not, are getting more savvy

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than we give them credit for.

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On the dark web, they are all sharing information.

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They share information on what works for them when they’re grooming a child,

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you know, as a victim. them.

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These are the things that work. These are the points that I used that made the

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person either send me a new photo or send me more information or,

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you know, agree, had them agree to meet me.

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And most kids, believe it or not, when I.

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When they agree to meet with a sexual predator, it’s because they’ve been through

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a grooming, a long grooming process where this person befriends them,

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even to the point where our kids think that they know this person.

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And as parents, we have to remind them that it’s probably ugly Charlie on the other end.

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It’s not, you know, cute Jason. It’s not what you think. Ugly Charlie.

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And that’s a good point. Mike, that brings me to the last statistic here.

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It says in 100% of the cases where a teen has fallen victim to a sexual predator,

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the team has unknowingly but willingly met the sexual predator.

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Right. That’s really scary. And that’s part of the grooming process.

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Like I said, these predators are so much more savvy than we give them credit for.

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They will work as long as it takes. If once they target somebody and they really

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want to get this person, they’ll just keep at it and they they’re pretty aggressive in it.

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And they have they have a way of convincing our kids that they’re their friend

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and they’ll start things like, you know, saying your parents are terrible because

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they’ll start out in a way like,

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oh, you know, I saw that you go to this certain school because kids will post

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pictures of them in their school attire and some kind of sports thing.

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So it has the name of their school. So they’ve they’ve targeted them that way.

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And then they find out who in that group is associated.

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And, you know, when they want to reach out to somebody, they’ll say,

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oh, I see that you’re friends with so-and-so. I’m also a friend of so-and-so.

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Let’s become friends together. And then that’s how it starts.

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So they do a lot of predators, do a lot of investigative work. A lot of research.

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Yeah, a lot of research. And it’s all available because kids love.

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They posted all posting information that they they probably to the level of detail they should not.

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Well, I think if if I recall right, even with programs like Snapchat,

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when you share a story out, you can share it with just your connections or you

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can share it out to everyone. Right.

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That’s kind of scary if you think about it, because now you’re just opening

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your door to yourself. Right.

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Right. And what kids fail to understand is what I one of the things that I talk

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to them about when I do a student presentation is that when they download apps,

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a lot of these popular apps, they come.

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The default the default setting is that there is no privacy.

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All the information is going to be collected and you’re going to push out to

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everyone unless you specifically go in there and change those settings to be more private. it.

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So, you know, I literally walk kids through whatever popular app it is today.

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And most of it is either Snapchat or Instagram.

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And I’ll walk them through specifically how to turn on those privacy settings

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because it’s so important and you just need to lock it down a little bit.

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And it’s not a catch-all.

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I think that a lot of information still gets out because it’s designed to do that.

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And, you know, but kids aren’t aren’t really aware of it. And at this point,

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they they don’t really care.

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Yeah. And why would they? Right. Because it’s not going to happen to me.

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I’m not aware of such a thing going on.

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But, you know, Facebook social graph is powerful, even if they don’t necessarily

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know who you are specifically or directly.

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They still are collecting an awful lot of information, a lot of,

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you know, rich, potentially expensive data to have available for others to use.

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And you never know how that’s going to get used ultimately.

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Exactly. So there’s a saying in our industry that says, if the product is free,

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then you are the product.

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00:19:32,435 –> 00:19:37,155
That’s a good point. Yeah. That’s a t-shirt in the making right there. Exactly.

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Apps collect and sell personal information to advertisers.

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And that’s the way that they make money. They make billions.

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Facebook has made billions and billions of dollars on our personal information.

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They collect it, they package it, they tout to the advertisers that you can

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target anything that you want.

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You just tell us what you want to target, it, we’ll collect the data and package it for you. Yeah.

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So with. And to be clear and in fairness, it’s not, I don’t believe that any

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of it, you know, maybe some Chinese apps that you install on your iPhone or

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whatever might have malicious intent.

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But in fairness, I don’t think any of it’s out of bad intent,

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you know, or malicious intent.

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It’s just about business and making the almighty dollar. And that data,

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the more I have, the more specific detailed data I have, the more I can charge

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for it and the more I can do with it. Right, right.

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So there are a couple of Facebook defectors. And I agree with you.

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I don’t think the developers are terrible people.

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I think that these are unintentional consequences that…

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That we’re facing now, I think they, their specific goal was to keep the user engaged.

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That was their mission. And I think that they’ve done that and they’ve done that effectively.

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So they’ve done their job. What we have failed to do as parents is to adequately

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discuss this with our kids, let them know that every app that you use,

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data is being collected on you, regardless of how old you are,

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even, you know, so most apps are not supposed to disseminate information of

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kids that are under the age of 13, but it happens anyway.

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They just build that dossier. Once they reach the age of 13,

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then they can sell that information to anybody.

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So, but the point is we’re, as parents, we’re not having these conversations with our kids.

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So So they freely give out information.

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So, for example, a new app that a kid will download will always ask to connect

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with your contacts and connect with location services.

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Immediately. Every app. Can I share all of your personal information immediately? No. Right.

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So, but kids just say yes to all of that.

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Yeah, because they’re just trying to get to the app, right? And so you’ve got

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to get through those gateways, so to speak, in order to get to what you’re trying

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to do and want to do in the first place.

283
00:22:18,569 –> 00:22:23,669
Exactly. Exactly. So it’s important that we have those conversations that they

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that and parents are engaged, especially with younger kids when they’re downloading

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app, not to let the kids download those apps by themselves.

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That parent needs to do it, set up the privacy setting, set up the restrictions

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so that they’re not accessing your contacts and your location.

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And then send their children on their way.

289
00:22:44,989 –> 00:22:50,589
Absolutely. Great point. I know we wanted to talk about this cyber-savvy parents class.

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That’s one of the classes that you offer and talk about.

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But I thought this one was just as important, and I want us to talk about this

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for just a second, is what to know before giving your child a smartphone.

293
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I think that’s a great heading for that section.

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So that was the first parenting

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class that i actually designed and there was

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so much information in there so we talked a lot about you know when you know

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when should a child get their first smart device and and when you know basically

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i said parents are going to know their kids better than anybody else.

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So if you quite honestly in your gut think your child is not ready,

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then don’t give them one, regardless of whatever the social pressure is.

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But biologically, just to talk about our kids.

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In a biological way. So they have their prefrontal cortex, which is their executive

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decision making ability.

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It touches on their insight, their empathy, their impulse control and risk taking behavior.

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That part of their brain up until the age of 22 and in some cases a little bit later is underactive.

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But in the meantime, they have a limbic system, which is that pleasure seeking area of the brain.

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You know basically it’s kind

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of like the angel and the devil on your your shoulder yeah the prefrontal cortex

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is the angel it says don’t do that i was wondering why that happened to me as

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a kid and your limbic system is a little overactive so sure when kids get a

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device like a smart device.

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They just you know it is like they

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take it and go with it with wild abandon

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and so it there’s no control they

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don’t make good decisions but biologically they’re not

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able to make good decisions they’re just not wired yet

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they’re not wired right exactly they’re not

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wired that way so their decisions are largely based on what feels good what

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immediately will satisfy them so they never consider things like privacy safety

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don’t be distracted while you’re walking They never even think about those things.

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So that’s what I talk about with parents in these classes is the first thing

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that you need to do is just secure the device, like simple thing,

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like secure the device with a password. That’s first and foremost.

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Make sure that people who aren’t intended to use that device can’t use that

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device. I had a scary story.

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And I know I’m going to share with you a lot of scary stories.

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No, that’s good. We need to know. We need to know this stuff.

328
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We need to know what goes on in the real world because we base everything on

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00:25:44,051 –> 00:25:49,791
what we see on TV. So we talked about predators and they’re everywhere, even on our playground.

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So there was a child who had a phone and she put it down and went to go play

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00:25:58,371 –> 00:25:59,591
with her friend on the slide.

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And then she came back. Her phone was still there, but there was a predator

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00:26:04,671 –> 00:26:08,711
sitting there watching her the whole entire time, picked up the phone,

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00:26:08,871 –> 00:26:12,551
installed some spyware on her phone.

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And then proceeded to monitor her, harass her with phone calls.

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The parents, she told, luckily, this child told her parents, and she told them,

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They changed their telephone number, but because the spyware was on the device

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00:26:28,586 –> 00:26:32,126
itself, they didn’t get rid of the device. They just changed the telephone number. True.

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00:26:32,306 –> 00:26:36,186
The predator was able to continue to harass her. Wow.

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00:26:36,726 –> 00:26:42,446
So it’s really scary. And that’s just one of the simplest things that parents

341
00:26:42,446 –> 00:26:46,666
can do for their children is make sure that they secure all of their devices

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00:26:46,666 –> 00:26:51,586
with a password and discuss with the child why it’s important,

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00:26:51,846 –> 00:26:55,846
because it just protects them from any unauthorized user.

344
00:26:57,006 –> 00:27:00,186
Yeah, that’s a great point. It’s just basics, as so oftentimes it is.

345
00:27:00,206 –> 00:27:02,426
Just basic 101 type stuff.

346
00:27:02,506 –> 00:27:05,166
You should secure your things.

347
00:27:05,686 –> 00:27:10,466
Right. And then, so once it’s secure, a lot of parents forget that,

348
00:27:10,506 –> 00:27:14,126
okay, so now I’ve locked down my phone, but now it’s locked down.

349
00:27:14,206 –> 00:27:19,226
So if something happens with my child and how is somebody going to get in touch with them?

350
00:27:19,886 –> 00:27:25,946
So they need to put an emergency contact information on the lock screen.

351
00:27:26,186 –> 00:27:30,926
A nice number in case of emergency. I even have that on my phone. Right.

352
00:27:31,306 –> 00:27:35,986
Right. So but, you know, don’t put the name of who they’re calling.

353
00:27:36,146 –> 00:27:40,126
You just want to say in case of an emergency, here’s the number. Please call.

354
00:27:40,466 –> 00:27:44,586
So but that’s that’s so important. And parents forget that step, too.

355
00:27:45,166 –> 00:27:51,486
Yeah. So there’s an app that I use just so, you know, for parents who want to do this.

356
00:27:51,586 –> 00:27:55,266
And if you if you’re a parent of a teen, they’re always going to going to change

357
00:27:55,266 –> 00:27:56,486
their lock screen photo.

358
00:27:57,706 –> 00:28:03,846
So there’s an app called over that they can download, which will display text

359
00:28:03,846 –> 00:28:08,806
over any pictures that the kids want to use for their lock screen photo.

360
00:28:09,006 –> 00:28:11,986
And then they have, you know, you teach them how to use it though.

361
00:28:12,066 –> 00:28:15,906
Whenever they change that lock screen photo, they always have to put the ice

362
00:28:15,906 –> 00:28:17,866
information on front of the screen.

363
00:28:18,126 –> 00:28:22,486
And what is it called? Over O V E R? O V E R.

364
00:28:23,166 –> 00:28:26,346
So and it’s just an app that displays text over pictures

365
00:28:26,346 –> 00:28:29,026
sure so it’s one of many but that’s the

366
00:28:29,026 –> 00:28:31,746
one i like to use sure not to

367
00:28:31,746 –> 00:28:34,706
break stride but just to go back to when is a good time

368
00:28:34,706 –> 00:28:38,066
to give your child a smartphone or when should you know

369
00:28:38,066 –> 00:28:41,046
at what point what age and i know recently

370
00:28:41,046 –> 00:28:43,786
and we won’t mention any names but i know recently you did

371
00:28:43,786 –> 00:28:51,106
a spot on a local news network tv news spot And I think I remember a data point

372
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being something to the effect that the FTC says that 13 is the earliest age

373
00:28:57,246 –> 00:29:02,746
that you could give a child or should give a child a smartphone. Is that right?

374
00:29:02,926 –> 00:29:13,826
Or was that just… FTC regulations say that 13 is the age that kids should get on social media.

375
00:29:13,826 –> 00:29:19,766
And at the after the age of they use 13 or most apps use the age of 13,

376
00:29:19,886 –> 00:29:23,426
because at that point they are beyond mature.

377
00:29:25,050 –> 00:29:30,030
COPPA regulations, which is Children’s Online Protection Agency regulations.

378
00:29:31,630 –> 00:29:38,670
And that’s the agency that says you can’t sell a child information under the age of 13.

379
00:29:39,050 –> 00:29:44,350
So most social media sites say, okay, well, we’re going to avoid that and say 13 or over.

380
00:29:44,590 –> 00:29:48,730
It seems like, and maybe it’s just me, but it seems like kids are getting younger

381
00:29:48,730 –> 00:29:50,590
and younger that have phones, right?

382
00:29:50,710 –> 00:29:55,430
It’s one thing to have a phone that’s locked down to just being able to call mom or dad at home.

383
00:29:55,530 –> 00:30:02,750
But is it just me or are kids getting younger and younger that have access to smartphones?

384
00:30:03,070 –> 00:30:05,910
They are getting younger and younger. And the reason being for that,

385
00:30:06,090 –> 00:30:10,290
I think a parent’s number one fear is that their child is going to go missing.

386
00:30:10,630 –> 00:30:18,210
So when they give them a phone, they feel like they can protect them or they

387
00:30:18,210 –> 00:30:19,770
can at least know where they are.

388
00:30:20,190 –> 00:30:25,770
Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. So that’s why I, they view it as a tether,

389
00:30:25,830 –> 00:30:28,490
but it’s not necessarily working that way.

390
00:30:28,850 –> 00:30:34,650
Right. Right. It’s just a way for the parents to stay connected to their child.

391
00:30:35,390 –> 00:30:41,390
But back to your original question, like when determine your child’s readiness

392
00:30:41,390 –> 00:30:49,390
as a parent, I know that my child matures at a different rate than other children.

393
00:30:49,870 –> 00:30:56,790
And I think that there’s no easy answer for that. So I get that question in every seminar that I do.

394
00:30:57,210 –> 00:31:03,790
And it’s just, I can’t give them a definite answer because the child is so different.

395
00:31:04,750 –> 00:31:08,710
So as a parent, I always just say, I’m gonna toss that back to you.

396
00:31:08,890 –> 00:31:10,750
Just use your gut instinct.

397
00:31:11,050 –> 00:31:16,250
You know your child better than anyone else. If you feel like they’re.

398
00:31:17,524 –> 00:31:27,044
A little bit more impulsive or a little less responsible with keeping up with things, then hold off.

399
00:31:27,464 –> 00:31:31,104
I’ve never had a parent come to me and say, gosh, I wish I would have given

400
00:31:31,104 –> 00:31:35,184
my child a phone earlier. Right. I wish I’d give it to him at eight instead of 11.

401
00:31:35,344 –> 00:31:38,004
That would have been better for all of us. Right. Right.

402
00:31:38,244 –> 00:31:42,364
You know, that’s, that’s a good point to be made because, and recently we’ve

403
00:31:42,364 –> 00:31:44,904
just completed a podcast on gun safety, right?

404
00:31:44,984 –> 00:31:49,304
And whether you’re, you know, proponent, an advocate for guns or a gun control

405
00:31:49,304 –> 00:31:51,904
advocate, everybody can use some safety tips, right?

406
00:31:52,004 –> 00:31:57,604
But part of that is the same exact question. When is too early or when is the

407
00:31:57,604 –> 00:32:02,824
right point to talk about gun safety with my child or introduce firearms to

408
00:32:02,824 –> 00:32:04,744
my child? And that’s the answer.

409
00:32:04,804 –> 00:32:10,424
Like they want a hard, you know, steady, oh, it should be 13 or 15, right? Whatever.

410
00:32:10,724 –> 00:32:14,244
But But the answer is the same. You know your child best.

411
00:32:14,424 –> 00:32:18,224
You have to make that determination as to, you know, are they mature enough

412
00:32:18,224 –> 00:32:21,484
to understand basic safety and to be able to handle that firearm?

413
00:32:21,644 –> 00:32:27,264
So it applies on both sides. So I understand exactly the answer and why it’s provided that way.

414
00:32:27,644 –> 00:32:31,244
Right. To give a little bit more guidance to parents on that vein,

415
00:32:31,364 –> 00:32:40,124
I pretty much say when you are ready to be fully engaged in your child’s digital world,

416
00:32:40,324 –> 00:32:46,084
then you’re one step closer to being able to give your child a device.

417
00:32:46,264 –> 00:32:49,824
That is a great answer because that really does put the onus on them to think

418
00:32:49,824 –> 00:32:53,524
through all the angles that as a parent they need to be working when they do

419
00:32:53,524 –> 00:32:57,164
give a device like that to their child. Right, right.

420
00:32:58,084 –> 00:33:04,004
So, and, you know, when I talk about that, I say, are you committed to educating

421
00:33:04,004 –> 00:33:09,884
yourself at least one hour a month, which I know sounds like that is no time at all.

422
00:33:09,924 –> 00:33:14,664
But some parents don’t ever educate them themselves on technology.

423
00:33:14,964 –> 00:33:19,504
But I said, you have to commit to at least one hour a month of,

424
00:33:19,504 –> 00:33:20,864
you know, just reading through.

425
00:33:21,184 –> 00:33:24,564
Common Sense Media is a pretty good website for parents.

426
00:33:24,564 –> 00:33:27,924
It gives you an overview of

427
00:33:27,924 –> 00:33:30,984
a lot of different apps it gives you

428
00:33:30,984 –> 00:33:33,664
security alerts so that’s one that

429
00:33:33,664 –> 00:33:36,964
i like to recommend and what’s the name again it’s common

430
00:33:36,964 –> 00:33:42,744
sense media common sense that which a lot of folks don’t have but there’s opportunities

431
00:33:42,744 –> 00:33:50,444
to pick some up along the way right correct that concludes part one of two of

432
00:33:50,444 –> 00:33:55,344
our podcast with kathy loomis of cyber savvy Abby. Be sure to tune in to part two.

433
00:33:56,080 –> 00:34:16,305
Music.

Younger crowd aghast at what they may be looking at on a smartphonePin

Navigating the Digital World: A Parent’s Guide with Cyber Savvy, Part 2

Overview Season 1: Episode 2, Part 2 We dive into part two of our conversation with Kathy Loomis from Cyber Savvy in this continuation of our chat.…

microphone in front of laptopPin

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