Podcast Summary: The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Episode: 1KHO 668: How Much Uninterrupted Time Can You Get With The People You Love | Ben Gillenwater, Family IT Guy
Host: Ginny Yurich
Guest: Ben Gillenwater
Date: January 3, 2026

Overview

This episode features a wide-ranging, practical, and sometimes sobering conversation between Ginny Yurich and Ben Gillenwater—known online as "Family IT Guy." The main theme centers on understanding how technology, especially rapid advances since 2012, has changed parenting, childhood, and family connections. Ben, a cybersecurity expert with over 30 years’ technology experience, details the risks—predominantly to children—of our ubiquitous digital world, offers data-driven insights, and shares practical strategies for reclaiming safe, meaningful time with loved ones. Throughout, the discussion maintains a focus on encouragement, empowerment, and practical guidance for families.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ben’s Background & Motivation

Timestamps: [01:15]–[08:41]

• Ben’s journey: Started in tech at age 14, worked up to chief technologist for a $10B division of Northrop Grumman, became an entrepreneur, then pivoted to “Family IT Guy” to help families navigate Internet safety.
• Personal touch: Despite being a tech expert, Ben shares mistakes he made with his own son and how that motivated his mission to make technology safety accessible to parents.
• “One of my specialties is translating complexity into normal language. I know how to talk about technology to people that are not technology experts.” (Ben, [08:36])

2. How the Digital Landscape Fundamentally Changed

Timestamps: [09:44]–[11:00]

• “Safety” wasn’t always attached to computers; the tipping point was when:
  • Computers became widely interconnected—beginning with BBS and AOL, escalating with the open Internet.
  • Personal mobile devices put unfiltered Internet access into kids’ pockets after 2012.
• “It’s the stranger danger thing, but now it’s anonymous and at scale.” (Ben, [10:30])

3. The Scale and Depth of the Online Threat

Timestamps: [11:25]–[15:17]

Child Exploitation

• 8 million children go missing worldwide annually. According to Shauna Hoffman (CEO, International Center for Missing & Exploited Children), nearly 100% of these cases now have an Internet component. ([12:11]–[13:24])
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline saw reported child sexual exploitation cases in the U.S. balloon from 187,000 in 2023 to 546,000 in 2024, with 100,000 involving AI-generated images, and a projected 1 million by end of 2025.
  • “I’m going to drop some stuff here at the top of the episode because it frames the way I think about this… and it might frame the way that everybody listening thinks about it, too. And it’s pretty heavy stuff.” (Ben, [12:11])

Youth Mental Health & Suicide

• Reliable global trend data shows alarming spikes in child/youth suicide beginning 2007–2019, highly correlated with smartphone and social media adoption—tripling in the 10–14, 15–19, and 20–24 age groups.
  • “It tripled. And when I graphed it out and that graph painted on my screen for the first time, changed my perspective a lot.” (Ben, [18:38])
• Suicide is now the #2 cause of death for children and young adults in the US, after car accidents.

Practical Note:

• Ben’s website, familyitguy.com, provides transparent charts mapping suicide rate increases to major technology and social platform rollouts.
  • “If you look at the graph… you notice those lines go up and up and up with the release of each of those platforms.” (Ginny, [21:01])

4. Pillars of Protection & Main Drivers of Online Danger

Timestamps: [24:35]–[29:25]

Three Pillars:

• Exploitation
• Suicide/Mental Health
• Harmful Content and Time Drain (Dynamics of how screens consume and even steal family time)

The Two Most Impactful Interventions:

1. Avoid Addictive Algorithms / Bottomless Feeds
   • Includes social media, endless-scroll platforms, and YouTube.
   • “If you avoid addictive algorithms, you avoid those charts, you avoid those suicide statistics.” (Ben, [25:44])
2. Avoid Anonymous Online Chat
   • Predators hunt for children via chat in social media and online games (Roblox, Fortnite, etc).
   • “They don’t go to the park in the van and risk getting caught anymore. They go on Roblox and they find kids that are vulnerable and they groom them.” (Ben, [27:20])

• Ben emphasizes that focusing on these two interventions can remove the majority of serious risk, and that ultimately building skills and open communication in children is more powerful than any set of technical rules.

5. Addiction & Behavioral Change in Kids

Timestamps: [30:12]–[34:21]

• Ben shares his own son’s story: Getting an iPad at age 5 led to noticeable behavioral changes (withdrawal from outdoor play, obsession, ruined sleep)—classic addiction-like symptoms.
  • “Dinner was an interruption from the iPad. He would want to go to bed later because of the iPad. These are behaviors that demonstrate addiction.” (Ben, [31:35])
• Acknowledges the challenge parents feel in “going against the grain,” especially when tech is normalized by schools, peers, and culture.

6. Modeling Healthy Tech Use: Tech-Free Tuesday & Beyond

Timestamps: [34:32]–[41:13]

• The importance of parents modeling device boundaries alongside children.
  • “We have to start with ourselves. Because it’s just as hard for us to put the devices down as it is for them.” (Ben, [34:55])
• Rationale for “Tech-Free Tuesday”:
  • Togetherness, stillness, and time “with nothing in between us.”
  • Even small changes (one tech-free meal a week) are powerful.
  • “How much uninterrupted time can I get with the people that I love? And I mean uninterrupted.” (Ben, [39:42])

7. Navigating Tech at Friends’ Homes & Community Standards

Timestamps: [42:01]–[43:19]

• Normalize conversations with other families about tech rules on playdates.
• Practical strategies: Suggest non-digital activities, pre-establish rules (e.g., “No first-person shooter games”), consider hosting more often for environment control.

8. Artificial Intelligence Risks for Kids

Timestamps: [43:19]–[48:25]

• “Never let a child use AI alone. Do not let your kids use AI alone. If they’re going to be exposed to it, do it with them—and I mean, 100% of the time.” (Ben, [43:49])
• AI mimics human behavior but cannot model truth, values, or ethics; may foster unhealthy attachments and facilitate new forms of harm.
• Data centers: AI systems require enormous energy and water resources; the data collected feeds into more effective (and lucrative) advertising.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Internet's transformation of risk:
  “It’s the stranger danger thing, but now it’s anonymous and at scale.” (Ben, [10:30])

• On the emotional burden of the work:
  “I hate this so much, and I wish that I didn’t have to say these things, but people need to know.” (Ben, [15:42])

• On smart devices as chemical addiction tools:
  “These are devices that are meant to be chemically attractive. And so it is a chemical addiction. So I addicted my kid. Like I gave him that.” (Ben, [31:44])

• On what matters most:
  “What I value most is, how much uninterrupted time can I get with the people that I love? And I mean uninterrupted. No dings, no buzzes, no nothing.” (Ben, [39:42])

• On AI and children:
  “Never let a child use AI alone. Do not let your kids use AI alone… These are systems that are meant to mimic human communication… not truth systems, not ethics systems, not your family’s values systems.” (Ben, [43:49])

Useful Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:15] Ben’s IT background & why he shifted to family online safety
• [09:44] When and why “safety” attached to computers
• [12:11] Scope of child exploitation enabled by the Internet
• [16:45] Suicide statistics among children since the smartphone era
• [22:03] Ginny describes correlating suicide graphs with social media milestones
• [24:35] The three pillars: exploitation, suicide, and harmful content
• [25:12] Defining addictive algorithms and their impact
• [27:20] How predators operate in online games and chats
• [30:45] Ben’s personal story of realizing his child was addicted to the iPad
• [34:48] Discussion of Tech-Free Tuesday: the why and the how
• [39:42] The core question: “How much uninterrupted time can I get with the people that I love?”
• [43:19] Concerns and basics for AI and children
• [47:21] Technical explanation of data centers and AI resource consumption
• [49:21] Ben’s favorite outdoor childhood memory

Resources & Calls to Action

• Ben’s website: familyitguy.com—Comprehensive guides, downloadable resources, a chatbot for parent Q&A, and a robust community forum.
• Ultimate iPhone Protection Guide, safety agreements, and conversation starters (free downloads on site)
• Stay informed about AI and technology trends via Ben’s articles and podcast.

Closing

The episode delivers a persuasive, practical, and often moving call for parents to reclaim real-world connection, build tech resistance through modeling and skill-building, and embrace a more mindful approach to technology for the sake of children’s safety, mental health, and family bonds.