.png)
KindlED
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments. Powered by Prenda, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle curiosity, motivation, and well-being in young learners. Do you have a question, topic, or story you'd like to share with us? Get in touch at podcast@prenda.com.
KindlED
Episode 63: Keeping Kids Safe Online. A Conversation with Brock Murphy.
Brock Murphy, co-founder of Parent ProTech, shares critical insights about helping families navigate the challenging digital landscape that's targeting our children. He draws on his unique background spanning government work and SpaceX to offer practical strategies for protecting kids while building healthy relationships with technology. In this episode, we cover...
• Building on relationships as the foundation for digital safety conversations rather than leading with restrictions
• Understanding the neuroscience behind teen technology use - "overdeveloped accelerators and underdeveloped brake systems"
• Creating community standards around technology use to combat the "everyone else has it" pressure
• Recognizing that content previously considered extreme has become normalized and easily accessible
• Looking at technology access holistically rather than just focusing on phones
• Partnering with schools to create consistent approaches to technology both in and out of the classroom
• Staying informed about platform changes and understanding the social features hidden within educational apps
• Getting involved in your child's digital world by participating in their online activities
• Finding resources to help navigate the constantly evolving digital landscape
More about our guest
Brock Murphy is a graduate of Texas A&M University with time spent in the agriculture industry, at the White House, and at SpaceX. After being approached by parents and teachers to solve various problems about new technology and applications, he co-founded Parent ProTech to help empower families and educators with the tools and knowledge needed to safely navigate technology.
Connect with Brock
Visit ParentProTech.com for resources to help your family navigate technology safely or sign up for their newsletter to stay informed about changes in the digital landscape.
Got a story to share or question you want us to answer? Send us a message!
About the podcast
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments.
Powered by Prenda Microschools, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle young learners' curiosity, motivation, and well-being.
Got a burning question?
We're all ears! If you have a question or topic you'd love our hosts to tackle, please send it to podcast@prenda.com. Let's dive into the conversation together!
Important links:
• Connect with us on social
• Get our free literacy curriculum
Interested in starting a microschool?
Prenda provides all the tools and support you need to start and run an amazing microschool. Create a free Prenda World account to start designing your future microschool today. More info at ➡️ Prenda.com or if you're ready to get going ➡️ Start My Microschool
we're becoming numb to graphic and extreme content and then kind of combining that with kids having access to devices at younger and younger ages. And I know the debate is also like let's delay the phone, but then we give an iPad, um, that has a lot of the same capabilities, and so I think I think we have to be looking at the accessibility across the board, not just like I'm not going to give the phone, but here's everything else on the kitchen table. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Hi and welcome to the Kindle podcast where we dig into the art and science behind kindling the motivation, curiosity and mental wellbeing of the young humans in our lives.
Speaker 3:Together, we'll discover practical tools and strategies you can use to help kids unlock their full potential and become the strongest version of their future selves.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Kindle podcast. Today we're talking about technology and kids and social media and screens and all of that. We have a really cool guest, Adrienne. Tell us who we're talking to today.
Speaker 3:We're talking to Brock Murphy. He's a graduate of Texas A&M University, with time spent in the agriculture industry, at the White House and at SpaceX. After being approached by parents and teachers to solve various problems about new technology and applications, he co-founded Parent ProTech to help empower families and educators with the tools and knowledge needed to safely navigate technology, and this is something that I think is so important and top of mind for so many people, because it feels like the robots are taking over.
Speaker 3:We're not going to talk about robots, but we're going to talk about social media and phones and, yes, that's a different episode, but the technology is taking over and it seems like they are targeting our kids. So what can we, as parents and educators do? Well, there's so much that we can do, and Parent Pro Tech is there to help us. Let's go talk to Brock. Brock, welcome to the Kindled podcast. We are so excited to have you here today.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, excited to be here, awesome. Okay, so let's.
Speaker 3:Excited to be here, awesome, okay, so let's dive in. Tell us about who are you. Give us a little bit about your background, how you came to the work that you're doing today. I find your story to be super fascinating and I'd love to share it with our listeners. And then also, can you tell us what is your big, why?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, so my background is heavier on the government side. I spent time on Capitol Hill for a little bit and then was at the White House. While at the White House, worked in the Office of Management and Budget and really looked at federal financial management and federal procurement policy and then kind of created a niche, looking at adversarial nations and their impact on our education system. So love my time doing that. But then kind of got a little bit tired of the polarization that DC shockingly had shockingly had uh, I know big shock and uh made my way down to south texas and started to work for elon musk at spacex for a little bit, um, and learned so much being around the top engineering brains in the entire world. Uh, got to work on a really cool project.
Speaker 1:And then, early 2021, kept being approached by parents and teachers and administrators with questions that they had about technology and really really quickly realized that there was a big disconnect between what people kind of hoped they knew about, all of the platforms that our kids are surrounded by, the type of content that they can be so easily exposed to, and even who they could be communicating with online.
Speaker 1:And so I launched Parent ProTech out of that realization with the big goal of how do we empower families to be more active, be more engaged in what their kids are doing online and make it really easy. So I'll transition from that background to, like, my why. I think I think for me like coming from the government and the space realm and then grew up on a ranch in in Missouri and Texas and so a lot of like different industries that I've been blessed to be a part of and to be, uh, to be in, but I feel like the the parent pro tech, like online safety piece has really felt like a calling um and, like we always say, our mission really is, at the end of the day, if we can prevent just one kid from being cyberbullied, or if we can help prevent just one kid from being trafficked, or if we can help prevent just one kid from getting addicted to a screen, then we've won, and so I'd say that's my why and that's the team of Parent Protect's why as well.
Speaker 3:It's a really profound why, and so I'm curious rewind a little bit. The team of parent protects why as well. It's a really profound why, and so I'm curious rewind a little bit. So why were parents coming to you Like, did you have a background in this or were you just really fascinated about it? Like, why were the administrators and parents asking you about technology?
Speaker 1:No, that's a good, good question, I mean. I mean, I have a very entrepreneurial background and so, like, developed an app when I was in college and then the government piece, I think, added some trust and like validity to the work that I do, and so I guess it was a combination of that with being open and approachable and being tech techie to help answer questions.
Speaker 3:And probably being younger. I'm going to guess that you were younger than some of the parents too, so, like you're, you're more aware of what's going on. I just feel so old, I'm just like I don't even know what this thing is Like a little bit younger, I'd say, from, from the people that were reaching out.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, and I guess, on that too, like myself and most of the team, like we grew up in this kind of tech boom and so a lot of these issues, though it's dramatically changed since I was in grade school, in high school, all of that. We were kind of that first generation of living through it, which I think helps with with the conversation and perspective through it all too.
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. Can you explain what parent pro tech is? And you kind of talked about what motivated you to start it, start it, but you didn't really explain what it is and what you guys are doing.
Speaker 1:True, true, yes, we'd love to. So parent pro tech. We've taken a very preventative, very education approach to tackling the online safety piece. And so when I say that we've really identified the key stakeholders in the entire equation, so for us we think that's the parent or caregiver, we think that's the student themselves, and then we think it's like the educator or the youth pastor, that other adult leader in their life, whoever it might be. We've built a platform to really hone in and support all three of those different stakeholders. And so we've got an on-demand family library, family dashboard, really trying to meet families where they are on the tech journey, so whether they have questions on whatever phase they're in, whether it's what device they should get their kid, which we view as such an important milestone and kind of critical moment in the child's online safety relationship, or it's, you know, diving into the social media platforms that kids are surrounded by and thrown into at such young ages, and so we've got all of those resources that we make available to families. And then we've also got a full K-12 digital citizenship curriculum that's being utilized in the classroom, so really trying to build on the foundations of digital footprint.
Speaker 1:What you post today could come back and haunt you when you apply to your dream job or medical school or in an election year, like deciphering fact from fiction online, which I think that would be applicable to more than just kids today. Um, I always laugh because my grandma I always say, like, don't believe everything you view on Facebook, don't click links. Um, and she believes it. And then she clicks the link.
Speaker 3:Um, so uh well, cause she didn't grow up Like when we talked about it, like she didn't grow up with technology and and I notice at least some of my friends that have their parents really involved in their kids. We live across the country from our parents, so my kids don't have grandparents close by, but I noticed that they tend to be the first ones that are handing over these devices because they didn't have it growing up and they're like, oh my gosh, this is so much easier. But then we have to start educating. You know what it's doing to brain development, what it's doing to you know all sorts of things happening. So where are you getting all of your information from, as, like you're building this on demand. You know platform I'm currently reading anxious generation by Jonathan Haidt and the data, and that is just crazy. So are you looking at this same sort of things?
Speaker 1:Yes, we, we are and and and so, like we, big fans of Jonathan Haidt and the Anxious Generation book, everyone should buy it and read it. If they get that, regardless, they should do it. And so we look at like experts like Jonathan, but then we also, having the government background too, we try to keep an eye on different reports, like the US Surgeon General came out with a report early 2023 on online safety and impacts on mental health. The big stat, one of the big stats in that was kids who spend three or more hours per day on social media face double the risk of depression and anxiety. Three or more hours per day on social media face double the risk of depression, anxiety. And so definitely trying to. And then FBI reports and more of those really trusted, credible sources, and then we're also to the point now, though, where we're in a couple of hundred communities across the country and starting to support more global institutions, but really trying to leverage kind of the feedback that we're getting from educators, from teachers, from parents, from our interactions in the classroom too?
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. What do you feel like are the most significant challenges that parents are facing when it comes to kids and technology Like? What are we up against here?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's a great question.
Speaker 1:I feel like one of the first big things is like how much tech has changed since like 2007, I guess, when the iPhone was first released, and just how much access and like content, entertainment, everything is just at the fingertips of everyone today, and so all the responsibility that lies in that.
Speaker 1:I think another challenge is like some of the brightest minds in the world are working on designing platforms that are like sticky and so to capture the click, the view, all of these different things, and so the addiction component is so easy to fall, fall into that trap.
Speaker 1:I also want to say that I feel like even content that would have been posted like five years ago and deemed like really graphic and horrible is just so easily available, even on like Netflix today, and so there's kind of this um, we're becoming numb to graphic and extreme content, and then kind of combining that with kids having access to devices at younger and younger ages, and I know the debate is also like let's delay the phone, but then we give an iPad that has a lot of the same capabilities, and so I think I think we have to be looking at the accessibility across the board, not just like I'm not going to give the phone, but here's everything else on the kitchen table. You know what I mean. Um, so I'd say those are kind of the major challenges that we've been looking at and really trying to focus in on.
Speaker 2:You mentioned several kind of like shifts in you know over time, like are there any other kind of significant shifts that like demonstrate that the digital landscape has kind of evolved? And I think sometimes as parents we're like, okay, I've got a handle on this, I have an app on my phone that's like monitoring things. Like we're good, like this is no longer a problem, but then things change rapidly, right, and if you're not constantly vigilant about it? So talk about what kind of changes have happened, what parents might not know.
Speaker 1:No, I mean, I think it's easy to fall in the trap of, like we've we've downloaded the app and so we can have our hands off and not worry about it. But, as you mentioned, these platforms are constantly being changed and also, like apple doesn't really like giving up their like api tied to screen time, and so the data that some of these monitoring platforms are getting, if it's like an app on an iPhone, is maybe working fine, but if Apple launches an update, like iOS 18 coming up, they're going to be scrambling to figure out how they can shift all of their platform too. In other words, it's definitely not like a set it up and forget about it and think everything's fine, because a lot of these platforms, too that we can see, or some of them, have a lot of holes that that are able to be exposed and taken advantage of by the, the child, um, and also so kind of. Wrapping back around to your your question, though, I think I think that I think that Our philosophy really is like, if you're looking at the pyramid, the base of the pyramid has to be the relationship that a parent builds with their child and the conversations they have with their child around technology, the dangers, all of that, or the app that you think handles everything. It creates a relationship where they're going to either.
Speaker 1:We've seen a rise in the amount of kids getting burner phones. There are a lot of ways to power. I know, I know Powering off the device to get it to reset. There are a ton of different things that can be done where we think if we can build this healthy relationship, then if the child comes across content and they rush back to the parent or the caregiver, whereas if you lead with like the restriction and like danger and the scare tactic which I think we have to also live in reality of the situation but I think we can see some changes and shifts happening in that regard of like making sure that we know that that better relationship is like really building the foundation through having the conversation, all that.
Speaker 3:Do you provide any neuroscience or like helping parents understand what's happening from that level?
Speaker 3:As you're talking, I'm thinking of super normal stimuli and so basically, our brains have evolved to need certain things, so communication is one of those, and having relationships with others, and so Facebook and Instagram.
Speaker 3:It's by million, fold I wanted to say tenfold, but it's like causing this need and then so every time there's a ding, every time we've been trained like psychological conditioning is happening. So are you educating parents on those types of things and helping them make sense of it, or are you trying to stay surface level, like where how deep do you get? Because for me, that's how that really motivates me to go. Okay, we do need to have some boundaries, we do need to forge our own path instead of just doing what every other parent is doing or every other kid is doing, because I'm really understanding the neurobiology behind it, the neuroscience behind it, the shifting and what you know Jonathan Haidt calls like having a phone-based education versus a play-based education, and he even really goes into being in defensive mode versus discovery mode. So I have all these things in my mind to help motivate me to make these decisions. So I'm curious where you fit in that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think one of the biggest, like you've said, impacts of technology on all of us, not just tech in the brain, which was really, really fascinating. So we've got kind of that series on our platform that families can dive into the big thing. I think that one of the large takeaways from our conversation with her was for teens. She always says that they have a overdeveloped accelerator and an underdeveloped brake system, and so when you combine that with the full access to the internet and everything that comes with it, it kind of creates a recipe for disaster.
Speaker 1:And then it's no, no surprise that we're dealing with all the large impacts that we are, and so we've got the approach of like I definitely am not a neuroscientist and I struggle enough with saying the word neuroscientist that that's as close as I'm going to get, that that's as close as I'm going to get.
Speaker 1:But we're very lucky to have a network and a team that has the expertise, and so we try to bring subject matter experts within our fold, especially in areas where we really want families and educators to know and administrators to know the impacts that all that can have. Because, especially today when schools, micro schools, are all having the conversation of device access and should phones be allowed, not allowed lock them up, not to lock them up, all of that allowed lock them up, not to lock them up, all of that. And then, looking at kind of tying in, what you were talking about is the average amount. A common sense media stat said that teens in the US today get an average of 237 notifications a day, which, when you take out time they're sleeping, it averages out to a notification every four minutes, and so if that's happening all day during the school day, their focus is going to be on that, not on the teacher. I mean, I'm even wondering my phone's over here how many notifications I'm gonna have and emails that I'm gonna have to read later tonight after work even just yeah, the phone being present, yeah being in the room distracted, or even, yeah, you have to like turn it completely off, to like really be free of it, because you're always wondering totally
Speaker 3:I want to circle back to what you said, though you this was. I really like the way this was framed the overdeveloped accelerator and underdeveloped brakes. I think that right there alone is so important for us to understand. I was just at the eye doctor yesterday with all three of my boys. I have a 14 year old, 12 year old, seven year old and the eye doctor I could tell we weren't in alignment with education, with all the things. Because he's like so can you guys see the board? And my kids are looking at him like what board are you talking about? Because they don't go to normal schools. And then with my little one, he hasn't even started his micro school. He starts soon. And he was like you should be in school, you are seven. And then he looked at me and said well, how are they getting instruction then if they don't have a board to look at? So I could already tell his paradigm around education is very differently than mine. And then his paradigm around computers and technology. And he's an eye doctor, so I can only imagine how he's seen eye strain and all kinds of things come from, you know, blue light and and technology. And but he said to me he was like well, you know, I get that you're trying to keep your kids off of computers, he said. But you know every single person. They're growing up with these computers. They have to be on them. And even my landscaper uses a computer. And I wanted to say to him you should know you're a doctor that they have overdeveloped accelerators right now and underdeveloped brakes until they're fully developed. Yes, they're going to have to be on a computer, they're going to need to use technology. Yes, but their brains are still so underdeveloped and I can only imagine the impact that it's having on their brains. So I was just sitting there like taking deep breaths. I'm not going to get into an argument with him about it right now, but I think what you said there is really, really important for us to understand. Yes, technology is ubiquitous, it is everywhere. Our kids are going to need to use it, but we do kind of need to look at where they are developmentally. And then self-control and impulse control and and or you're saying all those notifications not only, I would guess, not only can they not focus on what they're learning, but I would think that the brain is also in this survival state.
Speaker 3:This hyper arousal or hyper vigilance is probably happening as well, and my son's school did read Anxious Generation and they are following it and they bought little lock boxes for all the classrooms and they've been doing a lot of trial and error. It's a middle school and a high school. It's a very non-traditional, progressive school. And they said they started out with okay, they can have them on breaks, they go outside a lot, they're on breaks, let's see how that goes. And they started out by putting them in the box before the class, getting them out after. Well, some kids would forget. And then they didn't know what box they were in and so it kind of caused a little bit of chaos.
Speaker 3:And then they said we're going to do a test and they emailed all the parents, they told all the students and said today you can't have a phone out If we see it out, it goes in the box if you want it, but it can't be on your person. You know it needs to be put away from the beginning of school to the end of school. Let's just see what happens. And they said, just from that one day, social engagement went up, Engagement in the class went up. I'm like you guys need to be part of a research study or something. I was like this is amazing. So I think it's really important to go, and what my son told me was he is convinced to get kids to do anything, you have to have them all do it at one time, Cause, he said, not a single student has complained because they're all having to do it and they're actually liking to, not, they're enjoying not having a phone and having this almost like social pressure that you have to be, you know, on a phone good.
Speaker 1:Well, I will say I have heard one drawback of the whole, like locking up the phone during the school day and it. It's created um, and we've it in a few of our partner schools, but that it creates a closer like. They use the platform or the device way more when they're out of school than that attachment is a lot stronger outside of school hours because they're not getting to check it all through the day.
Speaker 3:They're not getting those dopamine hits throughout the day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good point. I did want to touch up on one thing that you mentioned and it's kind of like like with the. The eye doctor is like, well, everyone else does it, but that doesn't mean it's right, right and that we should all continue, but we've not always it kind of like you said we become numb, you go on Netflix.
Speaker 3:you don't even have to go to the actual shows. It's showing up on the top. You know of some really graphic images and I'm just trying to go find a bluey show or something for a little kid.
Speaker 2:Whenever I'm doing, whenever we're on Amazon, prime search or something, like my kids know, like I'm like, okay, I'm going to search something, they all just look away because they have no idea what's going to be. Like put on the screen, I'm like I think we need to change this, and something that Jonathan Haidt talks about in that book is that it does need to be like a societal change and something that um like it is very hard for parents to withstand the, but everyone else has it kind of argument from their kids, the but everyone else has it kind of argument from their kids. And so he he points to things like alcohol and, um, smoking, like we have. Like these things are bad, they're unhealthy for all of us, obviously, but like they're particularly bad for the developing brain, right, and so we have um expectations and laws in place, and he talks about the age of internet, adulthood, being 13 and how that was like set by some law in like 1997, before any of this happened. And no one's policing it. No one's like you know, you have to be 13 to you have to click a box that says you're 13 to make a Google account or something where you can, like you know, make all these accounts and no one checks it, and it's not verified, it's not verified, so it's like there's really
Speaker 2:no controls on this and I've heard people say like well, the genie's out of the bottle. Like you can't put the genie back in the bottle, like it's too late now, and he goes back through history a little bit and he's like nope, the genie was back in the bottle here and we successfully like put it back in, like we have done this there for pulling things back like this. But it's going to take all of us as parents to say like, yeah, like the new social media age is 16. And like every like nobody, none of your 14 year old friends have Instagram or Tik TOK or whatever and like make that the new norm. I think it's going to take a long time.
Speaker 2:Um, I was just having a conversation with some kids at my house and my oldest is 11. And I've told my kids, like our phone age is like 20, because I know like by the time they're 14, 15, 16, they'll have talked me down to 16 or 17. Whereas like that's like I'm very super conservative and all of this stuff, so don't follow my example. I think I'm a crazy head. Whatever, it's fine. Um, but like, all of my embrace that to all of the kids in my house were like oh, our phone age is 11. Our phone age is 12. I'm like, well, I'm about to share a book with your parents and your phone age is about to change because your parents just don't know yet that, like, this is not going to be a good thing for you and I'm going to help educate them, even if it's going to be really annoying and passive, aggressive maybe. But like I, I, but we have to do it like a social, like, yeah, well, brock, like we have to do it together is what I'm promoting here.
Speaker 3:But you, brock, you said that you've seen in some of these schools that then they get home. I'm curious are those schools doing education with the parents? What this school is doing is they already are having meetings with parents, they're recommending that everyone reads anxious generation. So they are doing it as a collective whole, not just, oh, at school, this is what we're doing. You go home and do whatever you want, and obviously it's not going to be with every single parent, every single child, but they're doing a really. Uh, I think they're coming alongside the parents, cause that's what school should be doing anyways. Right, it should be a relationship, and that's what you said is that foundation is relationship, I think, parent-child, but then also parent to school, school to child. There's lots of relationships here, not just one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and in the ones that I have looked at having that really negative impact at the end of the school day. Those are ones that like we're not working with, but when we pair up with, like a not not to be that guy, but when we pair up with like the yonder pouch group at a school and then we can hit it on.
Speaker 1:All cylinders from like devices are locked up, but we're also educating the kids on the impacts of tech and how they can use it for good and minimize the bad and the ugly impacts. And then also kind of being that really big education partner to direct two families like that, that's where I feel like, yeah, the perfect scenario plays and student education I think is huge in this.
Speaker 3:But not just telling them Modeling, I think is really huge. And then also, what they're doing is they're partnering with Let Grow as well, and they're doing Let Grow projects and so giving them to do actual real independent things. So almost saying, okay, we're not just taking your phone away, but we're going to do really fun projects in the classroom and then also outside of classroom. We're going to ask your parents to partner with us to let you go to the park and let you make dinner. And I mean that still blows my mind that 12 to 18 year olds are not doing that because obviously, or apparently we're not the norm.
Speaker 2:But I think we need that. I think we've known that.
Speaker 3:So they're also yeah, we're not the norm, Um, but they're bringing to light like, hey, this is not just what the research is saying, but that we're seeing this in your own child, and how they're just lighting up. And so, hey, will you partner with us and let's give them other things to do than just to be on a phone and constantly stimulating their brains.
Speaker 1:No, I love that, and that directly ties into Jonathan and the play-based childhood rather than the phone-based. So yeah, so much value in that. I do think, though, like schools and like parents, need to think about like, uh, just locking up the device is only one part of the equation, um, and so the education can't be overlooked.
Speaker 3:So what are some common mistakes parents make in regards to their kids using social media? So we're talking about just locking up their phone is not good enough, so what else should parents be looking at?
Speaker 1:I think it ties into exactly what we were talking about of like. Just because everyone is allowing it or giving access to it doesn't mean that everyone should. But I also think the power of community really comes into play here as well, and I'd say for sure for like micro school communities as well as like, banding together to either delay the phone in general or to pick a family friendly, kid friendly phone like Pinwheel or Gab or Trumi or Vark, instead of Russian. They just give an iPhone. But I think the easiest and most impactful thing is obviously trying to catch it before access is already given and to band together as a community to say we're going to wait until eighth grade or after eighth grade or until 20. To say we're going to wait till eighth grade or after eighth grade or till 20. And then from there kind of really sticking to that plan. But yeah, it completely ties back into like just because everyone else does, it doesn't mean we all should.
Speaker 3:So what is your advice for setting boundaries and what kind of conversations should parents be having with kids about social media and online safety? It really didn't hit my kids until we have a friend's daughter who was going through the police academy and then that was what she was responsible for and she was sharing some stories and they were like, oh, this is real. It's not just my parents telling me that these things happen online, and not just with girls, but with boys too, and so I'm curious, like, how do you educate parents on that and what are? What is your advice about boundaries?
Speaker 1:I feel like it.
Speaker 1:It it kind of comes down to the conversation, for sure, the conversations, and like looping it in, if age appropriate, like those stories that we hear about way too often, um, and kind of like on a general, kind of uh across the board, just highlighting like don't take everything online as like face value and like, if you ever get a weird feeling, if you are on the platform when that time comes, like investigate, like tell mom and dad, tell trusted, trusted adult, um on like the misinformation piece, like look for multiple sources to validate whether something is true or whether it's false, like kind of more along those types of conversations.
Speaker 1:But then also like general safety advice of like protect your passwords and protect your personal information and like who is fine to tell your home address, protect your personal information and, um, like who is fine to tell your home address or your personal phone number or email or whatever. It might be like really trying to to have those conversations and that dialogue before anything comes up and then kind of reinforcing, kind of the foundations, like over emphasizing and over sharing, rather than just doing it once and forgetting about it.
Speaker 3:Make it a conversation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I do think it ties in like that kids, kids notice, sorry, like kids notice the habits of parents and those around them have with technology too and so kind of that modeling healthy tech behavior too.
Speaker 2:For sure, something that I've noticed recently and my kids, like with Prenda, we use a lot of app-based education and tech tools, so my kids are on computers quite a bit and they're like doing things like duolingo or scratch, like things that I would deem as like very high value educational experiences.
Speaker 2:I think something that parents should be aware of is that these platforms, even though they're educational, like they have social, like the social aspect built into them, and so it's like it's not Instagram, it's not TikTok, it's like we're safe, like you're not, it's not, it really isn't. And like the other day, like my, my daughter, was doing something on Duolingo and I was just watching her and she was there was there's like you can do friend request, like there's all sorts of like little things built in. I'm like, oh, we got, we got to shut this down. Like I thought you were just on Duolingo and I didn't even know that there were ways that you could connect with strangers on Duolingo. Or like on scratch, you can like talk to their kids and it's like, oh, we, we need to be really every single thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Like all of these things, they can talk to people and, um, even though it's not a social media platform or you think your kids don't have social media they're talking to people on the internet and that is social and it's media. So, expanding our definition of social media maybe.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like one of the big shocking stories I heard about a year ago was there was a loophole on the Bible app that kids were leveraging to like send pictures or like something like that, which which it's been they've, they've. They fixed the issue now, but if there's a way, On the pinwheel.
Speaker 3:it had it as red, so pinwheel is a. Can you explain what that is in a better way than I will?
Speaker 1:I don't know if I'll be able to better than you, but a phone built for kids gives a lot of controls to parents on what apps that they can use, but they also have um uh, they code uh the different, the different apps into like um red being bad, which I think is, or like caution, I guess.
Speaker 3:It says it violates their whatever, because they do all this research and they work with psychologists, and so they have a red, a yellow and green, and Bible app was red and I was wondering why it was red. But my son was using Cash App to get onto YouTube and I'm like, why? How in the world is he able to use Cash App? Should just be able to give him money. So that's where we give him his allowance, so that he has access to it and he has a card attached to it, and he was using that to get to other social media platforms. And because they have, you can go and shop. So there's all these loopholes and things. So is that Are these things on Parent Pro protect, so the parents know, like duolingo, you can connect with other people. Like, um, cash app or like, how much do you get into the that thing?
Speaker 1:those types of things yeah, we, we try to try to dive completely in and find those loopholes that kids like to to exploit, um, and we also realize, like I, I'm getting older and older, obviously, and so I'm not one of the the cool kids anymore that is in the know. Even our creative team, they've been doing a lot more like trends lately, and the past couple that they've been sending to me I'm like this makes no sense, it doesn't like it's not funny, but supposedly it was a trend, um, and so we're trying to. We've got like interns and kids, um, who are kind of like spotters for us, looking for like the loopholes that others are exploiting or, um, kind of sharing conversations that they're having, uh, at school and at practice and all of that. That way we can stay in the know and then communicate all that out to our users.
Speaker 3:That's so smart. You call them spotters. Is that their official title? No, I guess you just label it as like intern or something, but spotters would be better. That's so smart. So what tips do you have to for parents who want to continuously educate themselves about technology but also not get overwhelmed? Because I have gotten to that place where it is just too much at times. I rather just no phones, no computers, no anything. It's just so much easier. So what?
Speaker 1:tips do you have for?
Speaker 3:parents.
Speaker 1:No, I, I. It's funny because my mind went straight to like follow accounts on social media that are like tracking all of this, but then I feel weird about social media yeah yes, I know same thing exactly.
Speaker 1:I feel that way a lot too now I think I think the big thing that I'd say is, um, like starting. We have to kind of ground or like start our conversation somewhere, and so I think part of it is like investing in figuring out what platforms and devices like our kids are using, want to use, that their friends are using. It might be because from there, I think, it's easier to know and to kind of have the conversation of like, um, how we can make those platforms safer, or at least you as a parent know, like what, what debate or challenge is going to come up as I get closer to to the age that everyone else is getting, uh, social media, um, and so I I think that's kind of where I recommend that we start. And then from there, um, like I've got tons of different media alerts on the top, top platforms and kind of top tech uh, uh companies that are out there to keep up with all of the changes that are happening. And then, like, apple makes it really easy that as they update, you can go in and take a read the patch notes, so, like what changes they've made or what new feature they've added, stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Um of that, though, I think requires quite a bit of time on the parent angle.
Speaker 1:So that's where I feel like finding a tool that helps with making that education piece easier and staying up to date on all the changes is very important and staying up to date on all the changes being important, but also I think if we don't know what platforms that our kids are on and at least take that first step, then the net's going to be so spread out that you're going to fail kind of across the board. Or we can get really targeted um on on the specific issues. But then also like really investing time with your child and like if they like playing video games, like hop, hop on the beanbag and play a round of fortnight or whatever it is, and they're gonna laugh and make fun of you but you'll have a better idea of, like what the platform in the game even is. They're gonna notice that you're invested in them and want to meet them where they enjoy um and it's just a good kind of strengthening of of that relationship and bond yeah, or the approach.
Speaker 3:I just don't let my kids play fortnite. But what I'm hearing too is you can't take a back seat if you're allowing your kids to have technology, if you're handing them over a device. Again, the refer reference jonathan height. He opens up the book about sending kids to mars and how we've seen that would be crazy to do that, but yet we're handing them these devices that they have access to who knows what, and so we really can't take a backseat approach if we're allowing our kids to have access to computers, video games, social media. You know any kind of technology. You said about getting on the apps or being aware of what apps they are using, and hopefully you have a good enough relationship with your child that they are sharing that. So if they're not, there might need you know again, relationship first We've talked about that multiple times.
Speaker 3:I recall when I was a high school senior photographer, I had a team of girls they're, all you know, 17, 18. And this was back in 2013, 14. Snapchat was still fairly new-ish, I think it came out in like 11 or 12. And all the girls were using it in school. I would, and I only joined it to connect with them. I wasn't even their parent. But I was like, okay, this is what they're on. This is really new to me. It's kind of scary. I don't know what this is. It disappears. What is this? Uh?
Speaker 3:And they were just snapping all day long while they're in chemistry, while they're in like you know, classes, and I had a parent say to me. I told her, I said oh, are you aware your daughter's on Snapchat? Are you on Snapchat? She's like, oh, yeah, but you know, I, I don't want anything to do with that. That's her thing. And I was just like, yeah, but you need to see what she's doing on there.
Speaker 3:You know, like you need to see what, what activities, is happening, because if you're giving your child a device and this is not to be judgmental at all but if you're handing a child a device and that is your responsibility to ensure that your child's being safe you gotta know what apps they're using and or like with my son, I'm thinking he just has cash app on his phone and so I was like he's disappearing a lot. What is going on? And not acting like he normally does. That's just because he was. I mean, he was watching scooter videos and how to be a better scooter rider, scooter, which is much better than some things.
Speaker 3:He could be watching Scooterist, but then we just started having a conversation about it instead of like no phone, you can't have this. This is horrible, because that's not the right approach with kids either. What you're saying is to be invested in what is important to them, really, start with relationship and connection and then from there, once they see that you are on their side, maybe they'll be like oh, you know what? This probably isn't the healthiest for me. Or, hey, can I? I need help with this. Or, you know, we've seen that with our kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah, beautifully said yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, so can you take me through a little bit, just like what are the resources that pro tech offers? And like how can I like I just signed up for your newsletter a minute ago and like, if I sign up or like get access, like what will I see?
Speaker 1:yes, so, um. So we've got kind of two, three main kind of ways that communities can get involved. One like subscribing to the newsletter, we kind of ways that communities can get involved. One like subscribing to the newsletter, we kind of keep track of all the major changes. Like earlier in the year, when all the tech big tech CEOs testified in DC, we had a whole edition on kind of what you know how, what do we make of it, what's going to happen with that? And then, like I said, we're trying to keep up to date with all the major changes happening in the tech realm.
Speaker 1:So that's one way.
Speaker 1:The other way, individuals can sign up for the full ProTech platform and that includes all the family content like the how-tos, the walk walkthroughs, all of that type of content and the student curriculum and student programming that you can watch with your kids. The third way is reaching out and we do more like churchwide or schoolwide, uh, micro schoolwide, um kind of partnerships where we can provide the entire community access at a very discounted rate. Um, and then, kind of, with all of that, we we have, uh, we have a um, we open up a few hours every Friday, uh, where, like if families are battling like really, really tough specific challenges when it comes to tech, that we can really meet them where they are and really try to lean in and support and I didn't didn't mention it, I guess I did mention earlier. But really like back to our why anything that fits with, like like if we can help save, prevent one bad thing from happening to just one of our kids, then then anything that aligns with that mission we want to lean in and support love that.
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you. So thank you so much for walking us through how Parent Pro Tech works and just all the resources that you're providing, and even just to think about hiring younger people that could be spotters. I just find that I'm like, oh, they're really thinking of it all, like how can we really get ahead of this? Instead of being proactive, I feel like this is a really good tool to help parents be I'm sorry. Instead of being reactive, it helps parents be proactive. Which parent pro tech? I love that name. It works really well. So this is a question we ask all of our guests who is someone who has kindled your love of learning, curiosity, motivation or passion?
Speaker 1:That's a loaded one. I feel like I've been very blessed through kind of every endeavor of having really good mentors, but especially on the learning and curiosity motivation, all that I think I would say my dad is a really big influence and motivator, especially on really finding the passion and then that motivation to keep pushing through every up and down, uh, and then really like investing and trying to like learn everything I can about whatever it is. That passion is, uh like very grateful to have had that. That um influence forever since I've been born. So well, influence forever since I've been born.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, well, thank you so much for coming on the Kindle podcast. This has been a cool conversation and we appreciate your time.
Speaker 3:No thank you. That's it for today. We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Kindle podcast. If it was helpful to you, all you need to do is like, subscribe and follow us on social at Prenda Learn. If you have a question you'd like us to address, leave a comment, or you can also email us at podcast at Prendacom. You can go to our website, Prendacom and sign up for our weekly newsletter, the Sunday Spark.
Speaker 2:The Kindle podcast is brought to you by Prenda. Prenda makes it easy for you to start and run an amazing micro school based on all of the ideas we talk about here on the Kindle podcast. If you want more information about becoming a Prenda guide, just go to Prendacom. Thanks for listening and remember to keep kindling.
