Family IT Guy Podcast

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.

Publisher

Family IT Guy

Category

kids & family · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Aug 2025

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

80 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026

   A Screen for the School Bus? A Book or an Old Nintendo DS Instead

   I think boredom is good for kids, and a school bus ride is a good place to practice it. A parent in my livestream chat has two boys, six and seven, with no phones or tablets of their own, and the youngest wants a screen he can play with on the bus.My first answer is that the internet is for adults, not children, for technical reasons and for legal and regulatory ones. Once you buy a device with an internet connection, you end up blocking one thing after another, because many of the things it can do are designed to capture attention. Even an hour a day adds up to hundreds of hours a year. A Wi-Fi tablet with no cellular connection still needs its videos from somewhere, and most video services aren't compatible with kids, even their kids' products. YouTube Kids, for example, is not safe for kids.Compared with watching content, even content you've filtered, I think staring out the bus window is better for a child's mental and emotional health. If he wants something to do, he could bring a book or a Kindle. My son is 11 and has a kids' Kindle with a filtered library, which you still need to check on, and he's been reading a lot of books because of it.The parent followed up that a handheld game console would be okay, and that being bored is okay too. If he'd rather play a game, an old console like a Nintendo DS works well. We found one for our son on Facebook Marketplace. The batteries last a long time, and it's sturdy enough for a kid.Full livestream, where I answer more viewer questions and cover news about kids and technology:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXv57vLtLpgFamily 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.comListen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g#parenting #screentime #boredom #digitalparenting #kidsandtechnology #familyitguy

2. 

   25 Sept 2026

   My 11-Year-Old Asked to Text His Friend. I Said No.

   My son uses his Apple Watch for emergencies, with a short list of family contacts. When he asked to add a friend, my wife and I said no. Here’s why texting friends would change what we use the watch for.https://www.familyitguy.com

3. 

   24 Sept 2026

   Teach Kids About Tech and Set Limits: Why I Recommend Both

   Someone in the live chat asked why we don't just teach children to use devices well instead ofbanning them. It's a fair question and I think the premise is sound. My answer is that it dependson the device.A phone is not usually the thing you are protecting a child from. It's a door to other things, andthose things are what need restricting. Some of them I don't think have a safe version at any age:pornography, social media, anonymous chat, anything running an addictive algorithm.So it isn't teach or restrict. It's both. Restrict the things that don't have a good version, andfor everything you do hand them, teach them how to use it. Education is a dependency for anythingthat matters, whether it's a hammer or an app.Full livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmj519CTr9o

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

10 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Contact Family IT Guy Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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