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Family IT Guy Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
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.
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- 5 days ago1h 27m
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 at Salesforce, then spent about four years writing software for cancer research at a lab at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Tavi's kids were three and five when we recorded. It started with his son, then four, typing animal emojis into a coding window on Tavi's laptop. Tavi put that on an old laptop with nothing else on it, watched how his kids used it, and kept changing it. When his son spent ten minutes typing a long sum and one extra plus sign kept it from working, Tavi made the math more forgiving. He also made Shift work with one tap, because his kids couldn't hold it down and press a letter at the same time. Purple Computer has no internet, no videos and no way to message anyone. Tavi turns off the internet drivers entirely. It has three rooms: play, music and art. Type red plus blue and it shows purple. It can also say things out loud, using a voice that runs on the laptop itself, and it's built never to show an error. One of his goals was to make it a little boring on purpose. His kids can use it whenever they want, and he says, "Not one time have my kids screamed when I ask them to put it down." He's also clear about the trade-off: "If you're coming into this product hoping that it's gonna be a babysitter for your kids, you might be disappointed." We also talk about what parents expect for their money, why I measure time away from marketing systems instead of screen time, setting it up on an old laptop, and the computers schools hand out to kids. My guide to calm YouTube channels for kids, rated by how stimulating they are: https://www.familyitguy.com/calm-kids-youtube-guide.html Chapters: 0:00 Highlights from the conversation 1:06 Who Tavi Nathanson is: from Salesforce to software for cancer research 14:07 Why build a computer for kids at all? 15:24 How it started: coding with emojis with his 5-year-old 19:30 The first version: an old laptop that shows only a coding screen 22:22 Turning it into Purple Computer, built with AI coding tools 25:16 Designing by watching his kids: forgiving math and an easier Shift key 29:57 Where Purple Computer is now: pre-orders and a quiet launch 32:42 No internet, no videos, no messaging 34:34 The play room: mixing colors, counting dinosaurs, never an error 39:43 The music and art rooms, and code for older kids 43:46 Why a computer for kids doesn't need to be connected 46:01 Boring on purpose: a computer kids put down on their own 50:10 How hard is it for a child to stop? 53:01 Will kids see it as a downgrade from an iPad? 55:01 Kids explore; parents want a plan 57:10 What counts as getting your money's worth 59:18 Measuring time away from marketing systems 1:00:57 Who buys it: a first computer, and older kids too 1:03:45 Setting it up on an old laptop 1:08:36 Pay once, no tracking, no internet updates 1:12:10 Public code, but not open source 1:15:29 Kids who already build with AI coding tools 1:17:29 Seeing it before you buy, and why it doesn't share a laptop with Windows 1:20:56 Boundaries and creativity 1:22:36 Computers handed out by schools 1:24:37 Where to find Purple Computer, and its refund policy Where to find Tavi: Purple Computer: https://purplecomputer.org Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are. Website: https://www.familyitguy.com Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g Guest: Tavi Nathanson, Creator, Purple Computer #parenting #screentime #kidscomputer #screenfree #digitalparenting #familyitguy
- 1 weeks ago4 min
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 he has to ask me every single time. On top of watching with my own eyes, I built an AI tool that watches his AI and reports back to me, in case I miss something. I tuned his builder so that instead of just handing him a finished game, it explains what it's doing and helps him learn as he goes. He's on his second game now. I spent 30 years in cybersecurity and thousands of hours with these systems, so I know how to supervise them, and I want to turn this into something other families can use safely. A parallel Business Insider essay by another parent describes the same thing happening in her home. Chapters: 0:00 Kids are building games with AI 0:39 My son is doing the same thing 1:10 The supervision rule 2:35 Built to teach, not do 3:37 What's next Sources: Business Insider, a parent watches her 11-year-old build a game with AI: https://www.businessinsider.com/11-year-old-built-his-own-video-game-with-ai-2026-7 From the weekly Family IT Guy livestream. Watch the full stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIhT9TId2Y Common Sense Media tested Perplexity, an AI search tool, with accounts set up as a 15-year-old and gave it its lowest rating, unacceptable risk. What they found, and why I think kids should never use AI alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx-omAJAlT4 Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are. Free preview, Lock Down Your Kid's iPhone: https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphone?flow=free-preview&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass: https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description Website: https://www.familyitguy.com Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g #parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
- 1 weeks ago6 min
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 your kids are not using AI yet, I would not introduce it. If they already are, because a school required it, then the job is to teach them how to use it well and avoid the harm. I explain why this matters for a developing brain. Dr. Daniel Amen, who has done more brain scans than anyone, describes the brain like a muscle: use it and it grows, outsource your thinking and it weakens. For a kid whose brain is still forming, handing the thinking to a machine works against the development itself. I also cover the upside, because used the right way these tools can teach and tutor instead of doing the work for you. Chapters: 0:00 AI is already in schools 1:38 What it does to a developing brain 3:33 Parents learn first 4:25 If they're not using it, don't start 4:44 The right way to use it Sources: Most US high school students now use generative AI for schoolwork (College Board, 2025): https://newsroom.collegeboard.org/new-research-majority-high-school-students-use-generative-ai-schoolwork Common Sense Media tested Perplexity, an AI search tool, with accounts set up as a 15-year-old and gave it its lowest rating, unacceptable risk. What they found, and why I think kids should never use AI alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx-omAJAlT4 From the weekly Family IT Guy livestream. Watch the full stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIhT9TId2Y Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are. Free preview, Lock Down Your Kid's iPhone: https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphone?flow=free-preview&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass: https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description Website: https://www.familyitguy.com Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g #parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
- 1 weeks ago4 min
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 Click my Bark links to automatically apply discount code FAMILYITGUY for $30 off a Bark Phone or Watch, or enter the code at checkout. 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 four real options. I go through all four: a cellular smartwatch, an old-style dumb phone, the Light Phone, and a tamper-proof internet phone. Then I explain how to strip a normal iPhone down so it has no browser, no App Store, and no camera, using a setting called assistive access mode that turns the phone into a few big simple buttons. Which one is right depends on two questions: do you need to see your kid's location, and do you want the device to grow with them over time. I tell you which way I went for my own son and why. Chapters: 0:00 Four options 0:22 Option 1: a watch 1:31 Option 2: a dumb phone 2:17 Option 3: the Light Phone 2:57 Option 4: a tamper-proof phone 3:37 The whitelisted iPhone From the weekly Family IT Guy livestream. Watch the full stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIhT9TId2Y Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are. Free preview, Lock Down Your Kid's iPhone: https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphone?flow=free-preview&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass: https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description Website: https://www.familyitguy.com Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g #parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
- 1 weeks ago10 min
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 trying to switch parts off. I walk through why, and what to do about the app every social kid asks for. The part parents find hardest to believe: when a kid loses access to something like Snapchat, their real friendships tend to get better, not worse. The professionals I've talked to who work with thousands of families see the same thing over and over. I explain what's actually happening there, and why I'd hold that line even when it's the hardest parenting moment you'll face. Chapters: 0:00 The whitelist approach 1:19 The gate rule 1:53 The Snapchat problem 2:49 What happens when it's taken away 3:50 Holding the line 5:36 Music and texting limits 5:57 Marketing exposure, not screen time 9:23 The bedroom rule From the weekly Family IT Guy livestream. Watch the full stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIhT9TId2Y Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are. Free preview, Lock Down Your Kid's iPhone: https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphone?flow=free-preview&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass: https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description Website: https://www.familyitguy.com Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g #parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
- 1 weeks ago1h 36m
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 25 years, and he has spent about the last 13 of them overseeing or working child exploitation investigations from HSI's office in Nashville, which covers Tennessee and Kentucky. We start with who is going after kids. Dennis describes three groups: networks that collect and trade child sexual abuse material (CSAM), organized crime groups running financial sextortion, where someone gets a teenager to send an intimate picture and then demands money to keep it from being shared, and violent networks such as 764 that want kids to hurt themselves. He also names the two things that expose kids most, screen time and open access to the App Store or Google Play, and the free fix of locking the store so a child has to ask. He walks through the red flags in a stranger's profile and messages, what he did with his own son and daughter before they got phones, how the location data inside a photo can lead someone to your house, what can happen to ordinary photos of kids posted online, and what to do, step by step, if your child tells you something has gone wrong. Dennis asked that the places he named for reporting and getting help be posted with this episode: HSI tip line (hsi.gov): https://www.ice.gov/hsi NCMEC CyberTipline, the national reporting system for the online exploitation of children: https://report.cybertip.org/ NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children): https://www.missingkids.org/home Take It Down, NCMEC's free service that can help remove or stop the online sharing of nude or sexually explicit images taken of someone under 18: https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/ Know2Protect (know2protect.gov), which he calls the federal government's response to this issue: https://www.dhs.gov/know2protect ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) task forces, the state and local detectives who work these cases. Your local police department can connect you with one: https://www.icactaskforce.org/ Chapters: 0:00 Highlights from the conversation 1:36 Who Dennis Fetting is and what HSI does 6:50 How big the problem is 15:54 Three main kinds of people targeting kids 22:46 What exposes kids, and a free fix 28:26 Who the offenders are 35:08 Red flags in a stranger's profile and messages 42:07 What an investigation looks like 50:56 Why offenders don't stay anonymous 52:55 How often offenders are caught 56:39 What he did with his own kids 1:06:02 Photo metadata and your location 1:09:58 Posting photos of your kids 1:17:31 Your child's privacy belongs to them 1:21:39 If something goes wrong: what to do, in order 1:30:43 The one thing he would change Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are. Website: https://www.familyitguy.com Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g Guest: Dennis M. Fetting, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations #parenting #onlinesafety #sextortion #onlinepredators #digitalparenting #familyitguy
- 3 weeks ago18 min
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 privacy matters in the software I'm building, how I measure progress, and what I want to hear from you about your family's questions and problems. What questions would you like answered, what problems would you like solved, and what teaching materials would help your family? Tell me in the comments. Read the full update: https://www.familyitguy.com/october-2026-update.html Answer privately: https://www.familyitguy.com/feedback.html 0:00 Mission: teaching adults first 2:09 Choose: apps, games and other decisions 4:23 Set up: device classes and software projects 8:37 Teach: AI education and curriculum 13:35 Why privacy matters in the software 15:00 How I measure progress 17:23 Your questions and feedback Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are. Website: https://www.familyitguy.com Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g #parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #familyitguy
- 3 weeks ago1h 50m
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 13. His work includes Club Penguin at Disney, plus time at Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, and he's the dad of two boys who both play a lot of games. We start with why so many games kids play were never made for them. Stephen calls these accidental kids games: games whose players turned out to be much younger than the developers expected. He explains how a kids game can make money without dark patterns, which he describes as design that tries to trick people into spending money, and why his game sends kids to get a parent before they can pay for anything or chat freely. I also share what happened when I signed up for Roblox as an eight-year-old, to see what my son would see. Almost right away it tried to sell me $199 in Robux. Robux is Roblox's in-game currency, bought with real money. Then we get into chat. Imagine Island has no private messages, and Stephen explains why: "If you can't say it out loud in a group, you shouldn't be saying it." Kids find ways around chat rules, and one he has seen is a shared Google Doc on a school Chromebook. He gives parents a test for when a child is ready for games with open chat, such as voice chat: can you have a real conversation with them about grooming and sexual exploitation? If you aren't ready to have it, or they aren't ready to hear it, he says they aren't ready for those games. Grooming is when an adult builds a child's trust in order to exploit them. Stephen's advice is to check a game yourself before your kid plays it. Start with what the game's website says about moderation, parent tools and age verification. Moderation is how a game filters and reviews what players say to each other. You can also ask an AI tool for a list of pros and cons. Then spend at least an hour playing it the way your kid would. When I asked for his one piece of advice for parents, he said to play with your kid. My guide to what chat in games and apps means for your kid: https://www.familyitguy.com/online-chat-dangers.html Chapters: 0:00 Highlights from the conversation 0:52 Who Stephen MacDonald is, from Club Penguin to Magic Potion Games 8:51 The questions parents ask about games, and Roblox 11:37 How Roblox grew 17:02 Accidental kids games 20:17 Why he builds games for kids parent-first 24:39 Making money from a kids game without tricking kids 30:04 How Imagine Island keeps chat off until a parent verifies 33:20 What the law asks of games for kids under 13 37:43 Signing up as an 8-year-old: a $199 Robux offer 43:48 Try the game yourself before your kid plays it 45:35 When is a child ready for chat? 46:32 Two red flags: chat, and games built to hold attention 49:38 Attention is trained, and kids copy what you do 57:17 Paying his kids to think: $50 to beat Chrono Trigger and explain it 1:00:34 Chat in Imagine Island: a fenced playground with no private messages 1:08:42 Kids find a way around rules: a Google Doc on a school Chromebook 1:11:10 When your kid asks to chat: starting the real conversation 1:13:31 How to check a game's safety yourself 1:18:34 How games pull kids back, and checking a company's values 1:24:41 Can moderation keep up as a game grows? 1:31:17 Can an adult pretend to be a kid? 1:35:10 Watch how your child reacts to a game 1:41:34 His advice to parents: play with your kid 1:43:46 His advice to game developers 1:49:28 Where to find Stephen and Imagine Island Where to find Stephen: Imagine Island: https://imagineisland.game/ Magic Potion Games: https://magicpotiongames.com/ Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are. Website: https://www.familyitguy.com Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044 Spotify: <a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g'
About Family IT Guy Podcast
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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