Is it right for parents to be the ones to have to put limits on their children’s screen time or to monitor the content they consume? Knowing the impact of social media and kids can influence the decisions that are made. Today’s guest is Steve Lazarus. Steve is a retired FBI agent, crime fiction author, and Instagram influencer specializing in personal and child safety topics.

• [0:42] - Steve shares his background and his career history in the FBI and the military.
• [4:02] - For a long time, Steve was anti-social media. However, since the publication of his book, he has garnered a significant social media following.
• [5:50] - He started his Instagram with posts of things that he would never do as a retired FBI agent.
• [7:08] - Steve describes the post that went super viral on TikTok and Instagram.
• [9:00] - Parents need to know what their kids are looking at on the internet and control the amount of access they have online.
• [10:40] - Sextortion is a very real and serious problem, especially for young boys.
• [12:27] - Always report any case of sextortion or sexual content involving a minor. Law enforcement becomes involved immediately.
• [14:09] - Steve lists some of the things to look for when children and teens that could be red flags.
• [16:01] - The internet is on almost every device in your home. A child’s access is not limited to just a computer.
• [17:59] - Covid did not help the increasing amount of time children spend online.
• [20:52] - We’re asking kids to have good judgment without teaching them how.
• [22:13] - The first question that needs to be asked by anyone, but especially a child is, “Do I know this person?”
• [26:07] - To deal with the digital world now, common sense is crucial and we can’t take everything at face value.
• [27:56] - A relatively new issue is AI generated images that are very convincing and look so real.

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