PODCASTS

Tag: #social media
Protecting your money and your data – It’s “Cybersecurity Awareness Month”

Protecting your money and your data – It’s “Cybersecurity Awareness Month”

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:16 — 11.4MB)

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Financial cyber-fraud is a twelve-billion dollar business each year — all of it illegal.

Consumer advocacy banking specialist Blythe Figurelle is among the experts promoting Cyber Security Awareness month during October. Whether its by phone or an electronic message, the fraudsters try to catch you with what she calls “emotional manipulation”.

Figurelle says it is common for scammers to initiate contact out of the blue, pretend to be a business or person you trust, or add unreasonable urgency.

Her advice:

    • If it’s a phone call, don’t say anything and hang up.
    • If it’s on social media, a text or an email — delete that message, without clicking any links.
    • You may wish to also block that sender or that phone number

 

On this Family Life News podcast, Figurelle describes the acronym STOP as the four steps you should do, if you suspect a call or a message is not legitimate, or someone pushes you for your account number or other private information:

Stay cautious

Take your time … don’t be rushed into anything

Only trust verified sources

Protect your codes and numbers and passwords … every time

 

Bonus content:

A coalition of law enforcement and governments in Dubai and Emirates put together a clever public service announcement, urging consumers to always protect all of their personal financial data. This music video portrays a banker whose customer gave away his codes to scammers.  Find it here.
Teens & Screens – Finding balance and benefits, when it comes to those devices – 9/24/24

Teens & Screens – Finding balance and benefits, when it comes to those devices – 9/24/24

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:17 — 11.4MB)

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Teens & Screens: Keeping Kids Safe Online

A Family Life News Interview

 

Christian family advocate Brad Huddleston wants parents to know practical steps for safe internet usage by their children.

Family Life’s Bob Price talks with Huddleston about the physical and emotional changes that happens in teens’ brains and lives, when they are stuck on their phones. He has spiritual inspiration and practical techniques which parents can discuss with their children.

This discussion aired on the radio during the Family Life Noon Report on September 24. Included in the conversation was a preview of a special in-person event sponsored by Family Life upcoming in October. Listen to this podcast, and then individuals, couples, families and church gr0ups may wish to look up information about the workshop. Discounted tickets can be reserved in advance.

 

 

Ticket information for the one-night Family Life workshop (Friday, October 18) can be found at www.FamilyLife.org/events

bradhuddleston.com/bradandbeth

The presenters at this event will be Brad Huddleston of Brad Huddleston Ministries and Joseph Sweeney of the Asservo Project. Brad and his wife Beth Huddleston’s ministry offers a “digital detox” plan for families, and they also have a program which compares cell phone addiction to what they call “digital cocaine”. Sweeney’s organization focuses on the dangers of how the internet and social media are used to recruit teens and preteens into human trafficking, for sexual abuse and forced labor.

Real Answers – Parents & Children & Social Media – 2/07/24

Real Answers – Parents & Children & Social Media – 2/07/24

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:12 — 12.6MB)

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“Start early. Monitor closely your children’s online activities. Be consistent with enforcement of online rules you as a parent set in place.”

Parents have more authority over what shows on their children’s video screens than social media titans do.

So says Christian counselor Christopher Anderson.

Last week, in a captivating day of Capitol Hill testimony, Congress and the general public heard from the CEOs of the five largest social media companies in the nation.

This week, Family Life’s “Real Answers” podcast gives you Anderson’s take on how video games and social media affect children and teens. He also gives you encouragement on how your family can reduce the downsides — of online content and on online time.

Inside Out – Pressures on today’s girls – 01/10/24

Inside Out – Pressures on today’s girls – 01/10/24

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:27 — 30.9MB)

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Little Girls, Adult Pressures 

Even the youngest girls feel the pressure to be sexy.

Adult pressures on girls begin early. Dr. Danny Huerta talks about ways parents can help their daughters know that their value is deeper than their appearance. Huerta is a father, a licensed clinical social worker, and the vice president of Parenting for Focus on the Family.  “I’ve worked with a lot of young girls that have been in this culture that tells them that one of the most important things that they can do as a teen girl is to be sexy,” says Dr. Danny Huerta, licensed clinical social worker and the vice president of Parenting for Focus on the Family.

He is also the father of a teenaged daughter.  “And what I’ve seen with my daughter is her wrestling match with what culture’s saying, what friends are saying in the way they dress and in the way they act and in what they’re talking about, and in what we’re talking about in the home and in what we’re talking about within the church,” he says. 

 Parents can help their daughters know that they do not need to be sexual to be loved. Their value is deeper than their appearance. “When you give them feedback on who they are, there’s a tendency for a lot of people to say, ‘Oh, man, you’re so beautiful. Look how beautiful you look.’ And that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person if you’ve done that or that you’ve damaged a young girl, but what you can do is expand that and say, ‘Man, I love that thought,’” he says. “Love a variety of things and show that excitement of what you’re discovering in who they are.”

 Play our entire conversation (from the player above) to learn about helping girls see themselves not as commodities to be consumed, but as people valued by God with gifts and talents to contribute to the world.   

 Connect with Focus on the Family’s parenting articles and videos here. 

 Learn more about Dr. Danny Huerta here. 

Protecting your children from trafficking – 12/20/23

Protecting your children from trafficking – 12/20/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:02 — 22.0MB)

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“Inside Out” — the Family Life news feature

Sex trafficking may be the farthest thing from your mind this Christmas. But during the coming school vacation, parents actually have a chance to stand in the way of human traffickers. How? By paying attention to the very same thing traffickers focus on: how your children use the internet. School vacations not only scramble our schedules and give children more time on social media,  the time away from friends can also leave kids feeling lonely for companionship.  

“Anytime there’s an increase in unsupervised time for kids and teens, the vulnerability to trafficking increases,” says Deb Kuehner, executive director of The Potter’s Hands Foundation, a Western New York residential treatment program helping exploited women. “Covid was a perfect example of this for adults and kids. Traffickers took advantage of the global crisis, capitalizing on people’s loss of income and the increased amount of time children and adults were spending online.”   

 “For many individuals, the holidays are a very stressful time and people are hungry for community,” she says. “Vulnerable individuals will often look online to fill relationship gaps—they’re so hungry for someone to pay attention to them and to love them, that they’ll open themselves up to strangers who may not be safe.” 

Parents can monitor how their children use the internet—but they need to know what to look for. They need to know what apps they have on their phones, and what those apps are used for.” Some messaging apps, called “secret” or “hidden” apps, are disguised to look like games or calculators to hide their function from anyone monitoring the way the child’s using the internet.   “I just encourage parents to Google information online on how to be educated about different apps, and what their kids are using. It’s so important that they do.”   

This is true even if you think of your children as good kids. “I also need to say that parents who think that their children would never do something like this, need to check anyway. Because I can’t tell you the number of parents that have come to me and said, ‘I never expected my child to do something like this,’” she says. “No parent expects it. Kids can get in over their heads so quickly that they don’t even know how it happens.” 

 

Hit the “play” icon above to hear from Deb Kuehner about the expansiveness of sex trafficking, and how you can help women who’ve been exploited. 

 Learn more about The Potter’s Hands Foundation here. 

 

 

Family Life Interview – Too much screentime – Cleveland Clinic – 09/14/23

Family Life Interview – Too much screentime – Cleveland Clinic – 09/14/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:56 — 6.8MB)

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A Cleveland Clinic pediatric psychologist cautions parents that too much time on social media and video games can harm children.

Dr. Michael Manos says teens can experience multiple harmful consequences if screentime overtakes their life

  • they often lose sleep, if they take their phones to their bedroom
  • they lose the ability to empathize with real people, because in-person interactions are more complex than online connections
  • creativity drops off, because video games are scripted and pre-programmed without real-life spontaneity

The staff psychologist at Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Pediatric Behavioral Health says the implications apply to everyone of every age. He also quotes some challenging recommendations from national pediatricians’ groups: Children under age 5 should have no more than one hour of screentime per day, and toddlers under age 3 should never have phones or tablets.

He also says adults’ own interactions with devices matter, for themselves and as role models for their families. In this Family Life interview, Dr. Manos also offers his advice about what should happen with televisions in your family’s sleeping areas.

 

Special Feature – Safety, Social Media, and Child Trafficking

Special Feature – Safety, Social Media, and Child Trafficking

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:46 — 7.9MB)

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“the Dark Side of social media”

It goes without saying: parents would not intentionally toss their children into a swimming pool filled with sharks.  The presenters at an upcoming seminar, though, say that is essentially what we are doing when we allow children and teens access to much of social media.

Lisa Hansen(from Power over Predators) and Joseph Sweeney (from the Asservo Project) invite families to their workshop this October. On our Monday Noon Report, Terese Main shares important insights from Lisa Hansen who delves into the dark side of social media, discussing the physical dangers and potential exploitation. The United States has 500,000 online sexual predators — half a million people who are a potential danger to your children and their friends.

 

“Lisa believes our children are our most vulnerable and valuable treasure—begging to be cherished and protected. She is convinced that every life matters, and every story deserves the chance for a happy ending.”

This is important information for parents, grandparents, teachers, church leaders and law enforcement personnel to have. It is important motivation for all of us to have.

Further resources :

https://www.familylife.org/events/the-dark-side-of-social-media-seminar/

Feature: Marketing Messages vs. Consumer Power – 08/15/23

Feature: Marketing Messages vs. Consumer Power – 08/15/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:31 — 9.0MB)

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Advertisers have often “pushed the envelope” to gather attention, promote causes, and seek market share.

Recently, several major corporations have adopted policies in their stores and in their marketing that resulted in consumer push-back. For example, Bud Light lost a major portion of its revenue so far in 2023, after an online promotional campaign which featured a “transgender influencer.” Many consumers stopped buying from that company.  (By the way, our guest today says that after Bud Light reversed course and focused on traditional advertising, some of their new customers who liked the Dylan Mulvaney promotion also boycotted the brewer because they had backtracked.)

Dr. Rich Kocur teaches management and marketing at Grove City College, a Christian university in Grove City, Pennsylvania. The professor offers us history into “cause campaigns”, some behind-the-scenes insights into how advertising shapes its message, and the impact of two-way communication online. He says social media makes it easier for consumers to complain and to band together. Listen for this expanded conversation on how corporate advertisers are pushing limits, and how their customers often are pushing back.

  • For further information: Dr. Kocur also discusses this issue in this online article for the Institute for Faith and Freedom. Read about his insights on advertising and consumer research, as well as his own professional experience with marketing dilemmas which companies can face.

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