One in four children are approached sexually online
That shocking statistic is driving a growing movement to protect kids from online predators, sextortion schemes, social media manipulation, cyber exploitation, AI dangers, and the mental health crisis fueled by technology.
In this powerful and eye-opening episode of Women Road Warriors, Shelley Johnson and Kathy Tuccaro explore Internet safety with Lynn Shaw, founder and president of Lynn's Warriors, a nonprofit organization fighting human trafficking, online predation, child exploitation, and the growing dangers children face in today’s digital world.
Lynn reveals how predators use TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, gaming platforms, and direct messaging to manipulate children, often within hours. She explains the alarming rise in sextortion, cyber exploitation, pornography exposure, online grooming, and AI-related threats targeting kids and teens.
This conversation explores:
Lynn also shares practical tools parents can use immediately to protect their children, including:
✔ No devices in bedrooms
✔ Family digital safety conversations
✔ Reducing screen addiction
✔ Recognizing online grooming behavior
✔ Reporting sextortion and exploitation safely
This is a critical conversation every parent, grandparent, teacher, and caregiver needs to hear.
#OnlinePredators #ChildExploitation #InternetSafety #Sextortion #SocialMediaDangers #HumanTrafficking #OnlineSafety #ProtectKidsOnline #TeenMentalHealth #DigitalSafety #LynnsWarriors #LynnShaw #WomenRoadWarriors #ShelleyJohnson #KathyTuccaro
This is Women Road warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.
Speaker A:From the corporate office to the cab of a truck, they're here to inspire and empower women in all professions.
Speaker A:So gear down, sit back and enjoy.
Speaker A:Welcome.
Speaker A:We're an award winning show dinner dedicated to empowering women in every profession through inspiring stories and expert insights.
Speaker A:No topics off limits on our show, we power women on the road to success with expert and celebrity interviews and information you need.
Speaker A:I'm Shelley.
Speaker B:And I'm Kathy.
Speaker A:For many parents, the Internet has become one of the most dangerous and unpredictable places their children can enter, where predators, traffickers, sextortion schemes, and harmful online influences can reach kids.
Speaker A:With just one click, one message or one social media app.
Speaker A:Our guest today has made it her mission to fight back.
Speaker A:Lynn Shaw is the founder and president of Lynn's Warriors, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending human trafficking, sexual exploitation, online predation, and the growing dangers children face in today's digital world.
Speaker A:She's educating with awareness, advocacy and legislative action lens.
Speaker A:Warriors empowers parents by letting them know about the social media manipulation, the online predators, AI related dangers, and the mental health impacts that technology can have on children and teens.
Speaker A:The organization is actively involved in grassroots mobilization and policy advocacy.
Speaker A:They support legislation designed to strengthen online protections for minors, hold tech platforms accountable, and push lawmakers to address the rapidly growing crisis of child exploitation in digital space.
Speaker A:Before becoming a leading voice in this fight, Lynn built an extraordinary career in entertainment and media, producing projects connected to Broadway productions including Amadeus, the Crucible, Hairspray, and the Wedding Singer, while also creating major media and cultural events in New York and beyond.
Speaker A:She's using that influence and expertise to protect our next generation from dangers parents don't even realize exist.
Speaker A:Please welcome the founder and president of Lynn's Warriors, Lynn Shaw.
Speaker A:Lynn, thank you so much for being on our show.
Speaker B:No, thank you, Shelly and Kathy for having me.
Speaker B:It's a complete honor.
Speaker B:I'm very humbled and obviously I just love the name Road Warrior.
Speaker B:So here I am.
Speaker B:And thank you for wanting to really jump into this very complex topic that most will back away from in media.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I'm so excited about this.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for being our guest.
Speaker A:Yes, thank you for what you're doing, Lynn.
Speaker A:And you're right, the media does.
Speaker A:They back away from so many things that they should be reporting.
Speaker A:That's their job.
Speaker A:And we need to keep the accountability out there and create the awareness.
Speaker A:How did all of this begin?
Speaker A:What motivated you to take up the gauntlet, if you will, and really start the fight to stop this.
Speaker B:You know, Shelly and Kathy, if you had asked me, you know, 10 years ago, I could never imagine I'm doing what I'm doing today.
Speaker B:I mean, I came out of college and I used to write jingles for television commercials when we had in the day live musicians.
Speaker B:And we did live, you know, for the ad agencies.
Speaker B:We did live music and then working on film scores.
Speaker B:It was always music.
Speaker B:I was involved with fast forward many years.
Speaker B:I was working with a client who well known client and I did work with a lot of celebrities and she was writing a book about domestic violence.
Speaker B:And in doing the research and ghost writing and helping her get the word out, I came across the intersection.
Speaker B:All my research, domestic violence, human trafficking, it all intersects.
Speaker B:I became a crazy woman.
Speaker B:I literally woke up one day and said to my husband, I am going to become a warrior.
Speaker B:He's like, what?
Speaker B:I said I'm going to become a warrior.
Speaker B:I assure both of you I have never used that word before.
Speaker B:I've never used it.
Speaker B:And he's like, what are you talking about?
Speaker B:I said I'm going to, at my age, who's going to stop me?
Speaker B:I'm going to call myself an expert.
Speaker B:I'm going to educate myself and I'm going to get out there and just spread awareness and education.
Speaker B:Because in entertainment over the years it was always, they came to us about all the other countries, you know, it was always like trafficking would be in Philippines or Thailand or let's raise money for waters in Africa.
Speaker B:And I'm talking about, we are focused on America.
Speaker B:This was happening in all of our backyards across America.
Speaker B:And I couldn't understand.
Speaker B:I had a great childhood, you know, and this is happening.
Speaker B:And so that's it.
Speaker B:That's really what sprung me into action.
Speaker B:And I formed a nonprofit and I just started going places, meeting people, going to Washington.
Speaker B:I had never done any of that before.
Speaker B:And just getting out there and you know, it's really a journey that's really only just begun in my opinion.
Speaker A:It's such a huge web to untangle and I don't think people really have the awareness of this.
Speaker A:I think parents think I have parental controls on the computer and on my kids phones and that sort of thing.
Speaker A:But I don't think they know exactly what's happening.
Speaker A:Could you give a crash course, if you wouldn't mind, on what parents should look for what is going on on the web?
Speaker B:Well, first of all, let's start with this is because this is a dark subject, right?
Speaker B:Exploitation.
Speaker B:Nobody could ever Imagine their child, their teen might get involved in all of this.
Speaker B:People tend to close the door or close their eyes.
Speaker B:They don't want to talk about it.
Speaker B:That is the truth.
Speaker B:Now they do want to talk about it after something happens.
Speaker B:But the most important thing is this awareness and prevention piece right now.
Speaker B:Because kids ages 9 to 17 have access in their homes to four different devices, the phones and Chromebooks and gaming laptops.
Speaker B:That is the predator in your home.
Speaker B:This is the part, Shelly and Kathy I don't understand.
Speaker B:They think because their child or their teen is at home, you know, safe under their roof, that they're safe.
Speaker B:But the predator is right there under our noses.
Speaker B:Because when you give your child any device, it is like opening up your front door and just saying, come on in.
Speaker B:Everybody from across the world, just come on in.
Speaker B:And most of us don't do that.
Speaker B:We don't keep our front or our back door just unlocked and welcome people in.
Speaker B:And, and people don't understand when you hand your child a device that is exactly.
Speaker B:You're handing them the world.
Speaker B:So you have to, if you're going to buy that device, if you're paying for the Internet, you've got the router in your home.
Speaker B:I really think you have a duty of making sure you talk to your child.
Speaker B:Number one, you put on any parental controls that are available on devices.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And that you really are part of their lives and you form this family digital partnership.
Speaker B:Because I could go on and on this for hours.
Speaker B:But number one is the awareness.
Speaker B:Don't think your child is safe just because they're in their bedroom with the door closed.
Speaker B:Actually one of the things we recommend, no devices in the bedrooms.
Speaker B:Number one, kids need their rest.
Speaker B:We work with schools across the country.
Speaker B:Teachers report kids are falling asleep on their desks.
Speaker B:They're staying up all night scrolling.
Speaker B:We know from all the studies that have come out, especially in the last two years, we have so many studies now.
Speaker B: ause the Internet was born in: Speaker B:So now we basically have proof.
Speaker B:We have 30 years of proof.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker B:That kids are addicted.
Speaker B:You can, anybody can become addicted to the Internet.
Speaker B:This infinite scrolling, these dangerous algorithms that we also know are fed to everybody because we have whistleblowers from the big tech companies.
Speaker B:We have internal memos have been, have been disclosed to us.
Speaker B:And their job is keep a child, keep a person online.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Eyeballs.
Speaker B:It adds, helps us with our ad dollars.
Speaker B:And that's a client for life, you know, keeping this child.
Speaker B:So parents have to understand you're not safe in your own home.
Speaker B:But the number one key is also communication.
Speaker B:I was in a meeting today and the number one thing was that children are reporting and teens.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Anybody under 18 will say, I'm afraid to tell my parents anything.
Speaker B:I'm embarrassed to tell my parents anything.
Speaker B:My parents will yell at me.
Speaker B:We gotta get over all of this.
Speaker B:The kids are learning everything online from strangers.
Speaker B:They're seeing everything, right?
Speaker B:So let us be the leaders, right?
Speaker B:Let us be the ones that talk to them.
Speaker B:We all have done dumb things as kids, even as adults sometimes, you know, but we accept it and just say, okay, I'm that trusted adult, you know, come to me, we'll fix it.
Speaker B:Because we have too many kids harming themselves from strangers.
Speaker B:From strangers.
Speaker B:So the thing is awareness.
Speaker B:The thing is, you know, like, you eat and you brush your teeth and you go to school, you go to work, you gotta talk a couple minutes a day.
Speaker B:You know, what games are you on?
Speaker B:Who are you talking to?
Speaker B:Let's talk about safety.
Speaker B:Let's really concentrate.
Speaker B:People have to do this.
Speaker B:And that's the key that's missing.
Speaker B:Because everybody's like, I'm tired, I'm overwhelmed.
Speaker B:They're quiet.
Speaker B:If they're on an iPad, let me have a few minutes.
Speaker B:Peace.
Speaker B:And we get that.
Speaker B:I mean, there's something called parental autonomy.
Speaker B:We're not judging.
Speaker B:We're trying to help and we're trying to educate and we're trying to give you all these tips to make it easier for you.
Speaker B:It really starts, number one, awareness.
Speaker B:You have to educate yourself and you have to talk to your kids.
Speaker B:We don't know what 12 year olds, what they're dealing with, you know, unless we talk to them kind of thing.
Speaker B:And even that, they're reluctant to come forward.
Speaker B:Kids are savvy, kids are smart, they can get around safety controls.
Speaker B:You may do everything perfectly in your home, but your child, as far as devices, because we deal with a lot of parents and what happens, your child goes to a friend's house and that other child shows them something.
Speaker B:Anyway, so it's this overall environment for all of us that we have to keep talking about it, we have to keep raising awareness and we.
Speaker B:To hold those who cause harm accountable.
Speaker B:That is another piece that's missing.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And they're things that children and teens should not be seeing or engaging in.
Speaker A:I mean, this is a terrible manipulation.
Speaker A:These are formative years and the kind of harm that can be done is unbelievable.
Speaker A:But you're saying that they're talking to people.
Speaker A:Where are they hanging out what is going on?
Speaker A:What exactly is happening?
Speaker A:Are there predators that are reaching out and getting them to meet somewhere?
Speaker A:Because I've heard of that too.
Speaker A:It seems like a, a myriad of terrible possibilities that can really.
Speaker A:It's devastating for our kids.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, we know we have a very well documented youth mental health crisis.
Speaker B:We have had FBI warnings about all of this.
Speaker B:We've also just recently HHS Health and Human Services put out a report about screen times and addictions.
Speaker B:This was just, I think it was last week.
Speaker B:Kids are on online too much.
Speaker B:We know children are spending up to nine hours a day online.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker B:What's happening is up?
Speaker B:And I'm always like, well, how do they go to school, sleep, eat, how do they do anything?
Speaker B:And then there's nine hours.
Speaker B:It's like.
Speaker B:So that goes into that addiction.
Speaker B:They're scrolling all night, right?
Speaker B:And you know, you know, and it's just out of control.
Speaker B:So if a parent saw something like that or a caregiver.
Speaker B:My child is constantly scrolling online.
Speaker B:And what we're actually teaching now, okay, in your homes, everybody put down devices for 15 minutes a day and then build up to 30 minutes.
Speaker B:It sounds very elementary, but this is what we're teaching.
Speaker B:We live in a digital world.
Speaker B:It is not going away.
Speaker B:And we're sitting on AI.
Speaker B:That's a whole nother conversation.
Speaker B:It's here we are at the Warriors.
Speaker B:Pro innovation, Pro Technology.
Speaker B:We work with great ethical technologists.
Speaker B:We want the technology to work for us, for our children, to engage, empower and educate them.
Speaker B:We, we don't want to have our kids working for the technology, which is the way it is right now.
Speaker B:Right now, kids are spending all their time on YouTube, Snap and TikTok.
Speaker B:Countless hours.
Speaker B:What happens?
Speaker B:Okay, wherever the kids are, so are the predators.
Speaker B:It's that easy.
Speaker B:Wherever the kids are.
Speaker B:In my day, it used to be, you know, stranger danger.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:Remember the game rooms in, like, malls, they would have the, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:It was always.
Speaker B:Those were the sites where, because we didn't have the Internet, these predators would go and offer some kids, you know, quarters for games and things like that.
Speaker B:But now the Internet, every.
Speaker B:Everybody has a phone basically, or a device.
Speaker B:So what they're doing now is basically getting the kids sliding into the DMs, the direct messages.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:And we know that this, the studies vary, but I'm going to go with one in four.
Speaker B:18 And under are approached sexually online.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:Now.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Asking for an image, sexual dialogue.
Speaker B:We work with law enforcement, we work with the dea.
Speaker B:I have seen it all.
Speaker B:It's unbelievable.
Speaker B:But what happens?
Speaker B:So that's one in four.
Speaker B:This is about 25%.
Speaker B:Whatever we think we know, it's always higher, right?
Speaker B:Because this is kind of hidden in darkness.
Speaker B:A lot of this stuff with the trafficking, exploitation.
Speaker B:And we know the one in four.
Speaker B:So 25%, right.
Speaker B:42% Of them will go out, attempt to meet that stranger in public.
Speaker B:So where's our stranger danger?
Speaker B:Like that stayed for decades.
Speaker B:Stranger danger, right.
Speaker B:Like where's our new stranger danger of making our children understand this is going on?
Speaker B:You can't go out and meet a stranger.
Speaker B:Look at the cases in the headlines in the last couple of years.
Speaker B:If you dig around far enough.
Speaker B:Usually they don't even list it, but I dig around in different things.
Speaker B:It'll always have a line.
Speaker B:Met somebody online, attempting to go meet somebody they met online.
Speaker B:It's almost always when a child is harmed or disappears, it's connected to the Internet.
Speaker B:And so have we not learned anything over the last 30 years?
Speaker B:You know, now we have these studies coming out with the mental health, with the predators.
Speaker B:But when we talk about all of this, we have to get into big tech, right?
Speaker B:X Facebook meta, I should say, which is Facebook and WhatsApp and Instagram, all of these big tech companies.
Speaker B:There's no regulation for them.
Speaker B:It's the only business where there is no regulation.
Speaker B: Because in: Speaker B: lly said, and I agree with in: Speaker B:You can't hold us responsible for third party content.
Speaker B:But today we have games popping up every day, platforms popping up every day, apps popping up every day.
Speaker B:And they're still falling back on this section 230.
Speaker B:That's what they're doing legally.
Speaker B:So we are moving to sunset that section230.
Speaker B:But everybody has to understand, like why that's why they're allowed to get away with this.
Speaker B: ly piece of legislation since: Speaker B:It hasn't been amended in 30 years.
Speaker B:Usually different bills, you know, legislation every couple of years get amended.
Speaker B:Nothing with Section 230.
Speaker B:And we could talk about that one all day and all night long.
Speaker A:So what are the actual stats?
Speaker A:How many children and teens have been abducted, have been hurt by these things?
Speaker A:I'm sure that there are many, many, many cases.
Speaker A:And you would think that lawmakers would be looking at that.
Speaker B:Well, here's the thing again, a Lot of the stats recently we've had some good studies come out, but starting, that's starting in the last two years.
Speaker B: know, they'd hand things from: Speaker B:And I'm like, I can't use this.
Speaker B:This is so old.
Speaker B:And that was always one of the things we don't have the resources for new studies.
Speaker B:It costs so much money.
Speaker B:Look, the law is always lagging behind technology.
Speaker B:This we know as well.
Speaker B:As far as we know, again, the numbers are very murky, right, Because a lot of this does not get reported.
Speaker B:What we do know, about 2,300American children go missing every day.
Speaker B:Now, of that missing, that can be sex traffic, labor traffic, runaway children.
Speaker B:We consider missing children.
Speaker B:Runaway children, okay?
Speaker B:People fight about this all the time.
Speaker B:Runaway children.
Speaker B:A lot of kids are kicked out of their homes.
Speaker B:A lot of kids, Kids have to run away.
Speaker B:They're abused at home, right?
Speaker B:They run away.
Speaker B:They like, they have no choice.
Speaker B:We work with these kids.
Speaker B:They're better off, they think on the streets than the abuse at home.
Speaker B:And also, so you've got to take all that into account.
Speaker B:I would say to you, the numbers are staggering in the hundreds of thousands a year, right?
Speaker B:But as far as online, it's a whole different kind of animal.
Speaker B: e United States, we have over: Speaker B:And we've got thousands more waiting.
Speaker B:Because recently we did have two wins in court.
Speaker B:We had New Mexico, okay?
Speaker B:And that was data that they were giving, giving away the children's data, which you cannot do for somebody under 18.
Speaker B:And then in California, product liability, See, we used to go into the courts about, you know, the section 230, it was about content.
Speaker B:But these lawyers were very smart and they told me they were going to do this a long time ago.
Speaker B:We're going to go in differently.
Speaker B:We're going to have a product, they're putting out a product that harms, knowingly harms.
Speaker B:Now, we could back that up because we had a lot of whistleblowers come forward that worked at these big tech companies.
Speaker B:And also all these internal memos where Mark Zuckerberg himself is spelling out, you know, children are herd animals.
Speaker B:We know how to get them, we know how to addict them.
Speaker B:We just want money and eyeballs.
Speaker B:We had all that.
Speaker B:And these are two cases recently that were one which opens the doors for all thousands of other cases coming down the pike.
Speaker B:So as far as numbers, I don't even Know how to calculate that?
Speaker B:Because it's thousands of children.
Speaker B:Whether they're buying, I don't even know.
Speaker B:Because on Snap, they're buying drugs with two clicks and having them delivered to their back door.
Speaker B:We have sextortion.
Speaker B:We have.
Speaker B:Cyberbullying is a huge problem.
Speaker B:We have eating disorders.
Speaker B:All these videos teaching girls how to starve themselves to death, and they eat a cotton ball with orange juice on it.
Speaker B:One cotton ball a day.
Speaker B:This is the content that kids are absorbing these days.
Speaker B:So the numbers are out of control.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:I'm sure some of the parents are going, what are some of these terms you're talking about?
Speaker A:They haven't heard of them.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Like, I'm just sitting here flabbergasted.
Speaker B:I mean, you know.
Speaker B:You know, but when it comes down to numbers, you don't really.
Speaker B:I don't even think we can grasp.
Speaker A:The enormity of how this poison, this.
Speaker B:Disease has infected the world.
Speaker B:It's absolutely horrifying.
Speaker B:It's horrifying.
Speaker B:So now what do we do?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Like, we.
Speaker B:We have to figure out, what do we do?
Speaker B:Look, we don't like at the warriors.
Speaker B:We don't like the word ban.
Speaker B:We don't use word.
Speaker B:We don't want to ban anything.
Speaker B:We want to make things safe.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Um, we don't want to take anybody's First Amendment rights away.
Speaker B:I'm thinking of things people wrote to me today.
Speaker B:That's why, you know, we're not trying to, you know, the Constitution and First Amendment rights.
Speaker B:We are trying to work on some common sense legislation.
Speaker B:We don't want the government all in everything.
Speaker B:But let's.
Speaker B:Let's face it, ladies, they're watching everything we do anyway, right?
Speaker B:On our devices, our phones, our laptops, and surveillance all over.
Speaker B:So they know already everything going on.
Speaker B:You know, right now we're working on a very simple piece of legislation, actually, for four and a half years called the Kids Online Safety Act.
Speaker B:And it puts three little words.
Speaker B:Duty of care.
Speaker B:Duty of care that these big tech companies do everything in their power reasonably.
Speaker B:This is the language.
Speaker B:It's so simple.
Speaker B:When they put out the product, they do everything in their power to make it safe for kids.
Speaker B:Okay, now, we passed a year and a half ago in the Senate, 91 to 3.
Speaker B:That's terrific.
Speaker B:Goes over to the House.
Speaker B:We think it'll be the same type of thing.
Speaker B:Who doesn't want to protect kids?
Speaker B:Have a little something holding big tech accountable.
Speaker B:Well, I have to tell you, the gloves are on because it sat in the House For a year and a half, collecting dust.
Speaker B:We're now working very hard with lots of survivor parents.
Speaker B:They're so brave, these parents.
Speaker B:Their children are dead.
Speaker B:And they've come forward to fight for not only themselves and their children that are no longer here, for these thousands of parents across the United States who don't.
Speaker B:They can't talk about it, the trauma.
Speaker B:They're devastated to tell their stories.
Speaker B:And we're fighting so hard in Washington to just have one piece of legislation that holds Big Tech accountable.
Speaker B:Because the other thing we get all the time, and it's the Big Tech playbook, is blaming the parents, blaming the parents constantly.
Speaker B:The three of us know parents need to step up.
Speaker B:Parents need to do the biggest best they can do.
Speaker B:But we also know that people are overwhelmed.
Speaker B:People are trying to put food on the table, pay their rent or mortgage, right?
Speaker B:So they can't be watching everything all over.
Speaker B:Why is Big Tech allowed to make?
Speaker B:I don't even know how much money they make.
Speaker B:Trillions.
Speaker B:I don't even know what the number is.
Speaker B:Zillions, whatever that is, off the backs of all of us and our precious vulnerable kids.
Speaker B:Why is that allowed?
Speaker B:So we're trying to have Big Tech take some responsibility here.
Speaker B:And I can tell you the fighting going on, because right now, Big Tech has all the money and all the power.
Speaker A:A corporatocracy.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Isn't that sad?
Speaker B:Because on Capitol Hill right now, Meta employs one lobbyist per every four members of Congress.
Speaker B:And they are constantly five days a week in the ears of legislative aides, the Senate.
Speaker B:And, you know, when people go to vote and things like that, they're so busy and all that, it's like the last thing they heard.
Speaker B:So if somebody in your ear all the time, right?
Speaker B:Twisting words, whatever, they're just gonna go vote in favor of Big Tech or frankly, you know, when you leave Congress, you wanna be on the board of Big Tech.
Speaker B:You wanna go somewhere maybe that has a lot of money.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:And it used to be any, you know, financial institutions.
Speaker B:Now it's become Big Tech.
Speaker B:I mean, they're literally at the dinner table, you know, at the White House.
Speaker B:Right, but, and I wanna point something else out.
Speaker B:All of this work is bipartisan.
Speaker B:It belongs to no political party.
Speaker B:Everybody surely should be able to get on board for the safety of our kids, right?
Speaker B:Yes, but absolutely not.
Speaker B:We're making strides and we are, you know, the pendulum is slightly swinging back.
Speaker B:And that's because the public is beginning to wake up a little bit, become more aware.
Speaker B:They see the harms or they see these parents whose children are no longer here.
Speaker B:They're hearing about the Kids Online Safety act and other things.
Speaker B:And by the way, the states have done terrific work for child safety, much better than the federal government.
Speaker A:Stay tuned for more of Women Road warriors coming up.
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Speaker A:Check us out and bookmark our podcast and tell others about us.
Speaker A:We want to help as many women as possible.
Speaker A:One in four kids are approached sexually online.
Speaker A:Think about that for a moment.
Speaker A:That is a startling statistic.
Speaker A:Online predators are a real danger.
Speaker A:Lynn Shaw is the founder and president of Lyn's Warriors, a non profit organization on the front lines fighting human trafficking, online predation, sexual exploitation, and the growing dangers children face in today's digital world.
Speaker A:Len's warriors is working to hold tech platforms accountable while educating parents about social media manipulation, AI related dangers, and the serious mental health impacts technology and predators have on children and and teens.
Speaker A:Her organization's been working really hard to get the Kids Online Safety act passed in Congress.
Speaker A:You know Lynn, things have changed so dramatically in just a few short decades with predators essentially being in the palm of our hands on devices and no regulations or stopgaps in place to shield kids from that or the terrible messaging that can be online.
Speaker A:When you think back, of course, the FCC certainly for broadcasting, set certain standards and things you could and could not say and television for many, many Years when we just had the standard networks, not the plethora of stuff that we have today.
Speaker A:Your programming basically was not supposed to be too controversial or too sexy or anything else until, what, 9:00 o', clock, when most kids were supposed to be going to bed.
Speaker A:There was an element of we want to protect the kids.
Speaker A:We don't want to expose them to certain things.
Speaker A:This is not good for little ears.
Speaker A:That's not going on now.
Speaker A:And I mean, when you think about the way children process, this is so, so predatory all the way around.
Speaker A:And the fact that someone can step in and start talking to them, they have no idea who these people are.
Speaker A:I'm sure these people are even trying to pass themselves off as another kid.
Speaker B:Yes, they do that a lot with the sextortion cases, especially.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And how do parents stop this?
Speaker A:I mean, a lot of it, parents don't even know what's going on.
Speaker A:Even if they've put maybe parental controls in place.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Well, that's just it, because most devices do have parental controls.
Speaker B:We know, for instance, with an iPhone, an Apple iPhone, there are 31 steps to have any kind of safety.
Speaker B:And we always get by step 10 or 11, a parent saying, it's too difficult.
Speaker B:I gave up.
Speaker B:And, and you know what?
Speaker B:I hand the phone to my child and say, just be careful.
Speaker B:You can't give up because there's a lot of free resources out there as well.
Speaker B:I mean, we collaborate with a lot of different organizations.
Speaker B:You know, across the country.
Speaker B:Our great friends and colleagues protect young eyes.
Speaker B:Protectyoungeyes.com Our friend Chris McKenna, he will personally walk you through every step of every device and help you do this.
Speaker B:I mean, this is all free and people need to know there are resources out there that will help you.
Speaker B:Again, we live in this society.
Speaker B:Everything's quick, everything's next, everything's, you know, time, time, time.
Speaker B:We're not taking the time.
Speaker B:And this is what the predators and big tech count on, right?
Speaker B:That we will just become overwhelmed.
Speaker B:So we're not going to take any of these steps.
Speaker B:And the other thing is, you know, a lot of these safety steps, because we have people who test these things out.
Speaker B:The majority of them do not work correctly.
Speaker B:Not only that, kids are smart.
Speaker B:They had to get their own controls.
Speaker B:They know better than we know, you know, about all this stuff.
Speaker B:And that's another thing I hear from adults.
Speaker B:They'll say, well, I didn't grow up with the Internet.
Speaker B:Well, I'm 65, I'm 65 years old.
Speaker B:I didn't grow up with The Internet, you learn, right?
Speaker B:You learn about how to make things work.
Speaker B:You have a responsibility, especially you have a child in your home.
Speaker B:You learn how to stay safe.
Speaker B:And that's the other thing.
Speaker B:You know, it was always wear seatbelts, wear bicycle helmets, don't drink and drive.
Speaker B:We all remember that stuff.
Speaker B:But I don't know, there's something with the Internet.
Speaker B:People are just thinking it's safe.
Speaker B:And that's the thing I don't get, because we do have more information coming out.
Speaker B:We do have more organizations, we do have more parents talking about it.
Speaker B:But there is a lot of hope.
Speaker B:I want to talk about that as well, because we do have a lot of people stepping up in the classrooms, states stepping up, certainly parents stepping up, kids themselves.
Speaker B:We're working with a lot of young people, 30 and under.
Speaker B:They're realizing they've been the guinea pigs.
Speaker B:They don't like it.
Speaker B:They're angry, and they are coming together.
Speaker B:We march peacefully with them here in New York and across the country just to.
Speaker B:We're putting down devices.
Speaker B:We're putting them down even, you know, one day a week.
Speaker B:We're starting somewhere.
Speaker B:We're educating our younger siblings and the younger kids.
Speaker B:We don't want them to go through what we've been through with all.
Speaker B:All of this slop, which is the word being used now, which is the correct word being thrown at us.
Speaker B:But interestingly enough, the other day I read it was great.
Speaker B:Remember MySpace?
Speaker B:We had MySpace in the beginning.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it was supposed to connect like family and friend.
Speaker B:Well, that was for, like, college students or something.
Speaker B:And then we had Facebook, was college students.
Speaker B:And we thought, wow, this is great.
Speaker B:You know, we can talk to grandma across the country.
Speaker B:And our family, we don't see it.
Speaker B:Sounds very nice, right?
Speaker B:And they got us habituated and used to this.
Speaker B:And then there was just this rollout of all of these platforms.
Speaker B:But right now, more people on a daily basis are talking with strangers.
Speaker B:They're not connecting with family and friends.
Speaker B:Isn't that interesting?
Speaker B:So we're talking to all these strangers.
Speaker B:Any strangers are the ones giving.
Speaker B:Giving our children advice.
Speaker B:And that's the problem, because a lot of it is danger, very dangerous.
Speaker A:And it's shaping young minds.
Speaker A:They're very vulnerable, and it's so easy for them to do that, say that, you know, teenagers get mad at their parents, so they go and get on the Internet and talk to a stranger who understands.
Speaker A:And you can just see the setup.
Speaker A:I mean, these.
Speaker A:These kids are vulnerable.
Speaker A:They do not think like adults.
Speaker A:You know, they don't have the life experience.
Speaker A:I mean, it's just awful.
Speaker B:No, I mean developmentally, I mean, their brains, you know, are the front lobe.
Speaker B:I mean, they're not.
Speaker B:They're easily manipulated.
Speaker B:They're easily, you know, excitable.
Speaker B:They're easily manipulated completely.
Speaker B:I watch Dateline a lot and oh my goodness, oh my God.
Speaker B:Some of these things that happen to these kids.
Speaker B:And you're right, I mean the kids react there, they're fighting with the, you know, the teenagers are fighting with their parents and then some, somebody will lure them online and you know what, they're going to sneak out the window and try and be rebellious and then next thing you know, they just never come home.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah, that's just a small instance.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But, no, but you're correct.
Speaker B:And with that, remember, we live in a society now, everybody, and this goes for adults, right?
Speaker B:We're supposed to lead by example.
Speaker B:Mentor, right.
Speaker B:But you know, when you have women my age dancing in bikinis or something and the kids see this, like, how can we help them?
Speaker B:You know, don't put those provocative, don't go on only fans or something.
Speaker B:But the, it's nobody's fault because the kids grew up, I'm going to say 30 and under, I like to stick with that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:They grew up in putting your feelings online.
Speaker B:You know, put putting everything, your food online, what you're wearing online, all of this stuff.
Speaker B:And that's where the predators come in, pick up, they'll, they'll tell, you know, a 12 year old girl, you're so beautiful.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Who doesn't want to hear that?
Speaker B:And they manipulate them right away.
Speaker B:This is all we used to say, the manipulations happen within 48 hours.
Speaker B:We're saying now they happen within hours.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Our kids are so depleted.
Speaker B:You know, we really learned a lot during that Covid period.
Speaker B:That's where when kids were home with their government issued Chromebooks and all of a sudden, mom, Mom's checking on homework, she goes in the kitchen to check on dinner, comes back and her 10 year old's watching pornography.
Speaker B:They issued over a million Chromebooks to children across the United States.
Speaker B:They never even put on any safety features.
Speaker B:So that's where.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's where a lot of parents started saying what's going on here?
Speaker B:You know, or little Susie was watching Strawberry Shortcake.
Speaker B:And the next thing it's a pornographic strawberry Shortcake.
Speaker B:Like that's where a lot of the waking up started happening with all of this.
Speaker B:I will say that is the only good thing that for Me that came out of that period is people were beginning to push back, wake up, seek answers, want to get involved.
Speaker B:And that wasn't that long ago.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But we can't blame kids.
Speaker B:They grew up in this environment.
Speaker B:For instance, I'm going to pick on Netflix.
Speaker B:I'm not going to pick on them.
Speaker B:This is a fact.
Speaker B:Netflix, we just completed a study and of their content for children.
Speaker B:Okay, 40 deemed for children, this is how they have it rated.
Speaker B:And streaming is a whole different animal.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Than what we had with broadcast TV and all that streaming.
Speaker B:42% Of Netflix content for children has sexual themes and, and, and words and innuendo in it.
Speaker B:42%.
Speaker B:So our kids are growing up in this kind of.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Sexualized.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:The music, the streaming, the entertainment, just society.
Speaker B:Look, look how it is again, fueled, I believe, by the Internet.
Speaker A:And why does it have to be sexualized?
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:What's the objective there?
Speaker B:Okay, Shelley, come on now.
Speaker B:Because very crassly, the answer is money.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:All of this, the answer.
Speaker B:It's a horrible answer that I'm forced to say the truth is Big Tech getting away with.
Speaker B:What they're getting away with is because there's so much money involved.
Speaker B:Netflix, so much money involved.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So many people also complicit.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:About all of this.
Speaker B:These are the things in media.
Speaker B:That's why I'm so thankful that both of you are having me.
Speaker B:We can discuss this.
Speaker B:And you know, because media.
Speaker B:What do they want to talk about?
Speaker B:Jeffrey Epstein P. Diddy.
Speaker B:You know, that's what they focus on.
Speaker B:And they'll tell.
Speaker B:They tell me.
Speaker B:Because we get clicks and likes and all that and it's content driven.
Speaker B:All right, but shouldn't we have this duty to talk about this and put out some warning signs and if we just have a few parents listening to this, or grandmas or grandpas who say, you know what?
Speaker B:I'm going to check with my grandchild, or I'm going to check with my.
Speaker B:Like, we've done our duty.
Speaker B:If we can affect change in one person, one child, one family a day, we have done it because it is too overwhelming.
Speaker B:We're talking right now about the United States.
Speaker B:We're not even talking globally about what is going on and why is this allowed.
Speaker B:A person can buy another person, a person can manipulate another person.
Speaker B:Our beautiful children.
Speaker B:And everybody's forgetting, these are our future American adults and leaders.
Speaker B:Where are we gonna be Shelly and Kathy in 5 and 10 years?
Speaker A:Not in a good place at all.
Speaker A:Nope.
Speaker B:Unless there's some meaningful change Right.
Speaker B:That comes about now.
Speaker B:There is tremendous pushback.
Speaker B:The states are fighting.
Speaker B:We put out a letter from 44 attorneys general saying that what's going on right now with child legislation is no good.
Speaker B:It's missing the mark because they took our Kids Online Safety Act.
Speaker B:They lumped it in with all these other bills, right?
Speaker B:To make this one big package.
Speaker B:And they took out those three important words.
Speaker B:Do you care?
Speaker B:So basically I'm like, well, our Kids Online Safety act, with what the House did to it, is a piece of toilet paper.
Speaker B:That's the only way to describe it.
Speaker B:It's meaningless.
Speaker B:Yet you will have Congress then say, look what we did.
Speaker B:We're fighting for families.
Speaker B:We're fighting for our children.
Speaker B:It's useless.
Speaker B:It's a piece of Nothing.
Speaker B:So for 44 states, the AGs to come out, that is tremendous progress.
Speaker B:I think that is tremendous.
Speaker B:And you know what they want to do?
Speaker B:Preemption.
Speaker B:So preemption is all of these great state laws with AI now with holding Big Tech accountable, the federal government wants to come in now and wipe all that away and have one federal standard.
Speaker B:And both of you can guess that federal standard.
Speaker B:Who do you think that benefits?
Speaker A:Big Tech.
Speaker A:Big Tech.
Speaker B:Big Tech is writing the playbook right now.
Speaker B:But there's going to be tremendous fighting back.
Speaker B:These ags will be suing.
Speaker B:Okay, so this is actually good news.
Speaker B:It's sad we have to talk about all this and have fights.
Speaker B:And, you know, it's children's safety.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:But then the other good news, in lower Marion county, which is in Pennsylvania, their governor, Josh Shapiro, he announced, we're gonna get back to textbooks.
Speaker B:We're gonna take the Chromebooks out of the classrooms.
Speaker B:We're gonna get back to pencil and paper.
Speaker A:Good.
Speaker B:And you know, this is so tremendous, right?
Speaker B:And the other thing is, parents started this across the country.
Speaker B:They were calling it pencil to paper.
Speaker B:Now, I think the media should be covering this.
Speaker B:Marin's alone said, here's a myth.
Speaker B:Parents think because their child was issued a Chromebook, right, an iPad in their classroom, they will tell you.
Speaker B:The school.
Speaker B:A lot of them, you have to be.
Speaker B:We're doing all our lessons online.
Speaker B:That's the way it is.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:That is a myth.
Speaker B:You have the right to say, no, I'm opting out.
Speaker B:They'll fight you on.
Speaker B:At some schools, we're opting out.
Speaker B:We want a textbook and we want a package of papers with our weekly assignments that is sweeping the country.
Speaker B:Yet media doesn't know a thing about it.
Speaker B:Because I talk to a lot of People in media, you know, off media kind of thing to see.
Speaker B:Did you hear about this?
Speaker B:Do you know about this?
Speaker B:And the parents started this.
Speaker B:And that's called pencil to paper.
Speaker B:And it's the same thing Governor Shapiro is doing where he's putting out an order now we are going back.
Speaker B:So that's a really good move.
Speaker B:And that'll sweep the country.
Speaker B:Now we also have almost every state.
Speaker B:It's called different things.
Speaker B:In New York, we call it bell to bell.
Speaker B:Phones out of the classrooms during the day, the students are in the classrooms, meaning you check your phone in the morning, you get it when you pick it up, you know, after school.
Speaker B:That doesn't solve the problem of all this predation.
Speaker B:But at least the kids for those six or seven hours or however long they're in school will not be distracted.
Speaker B:They'll be focused on, you know, their peers and relationships.
Speaker B:They'll be focused on learning with teachers.
Speaker B:And we have reports coming in from all over.
Speaker B:Kids are doing better, kids are focusing.
Speaker B:Teachers for the first time are reporting.
Speaker B:We love it.
Speaker B:We hear screaming in the cafeteria, screaming on the playground.
Speaker B:We haven't had that because kids will sit in the cafeteria, four together, and they'll all be on their phones at the same time, not talking to each other, but they'll be texting each other right next.
Speaker B:So there's a lot of good stuff happening and we need to just cover it and get it out there.
Speaker A:This is good.
Speaker A:Having them get away from the gadgets and the devices.
Speaker A:Oh God, yeah.
Speaker A:I've talked to experts on memory and essentially if you are engaging your body, like the body book, the pencil to paper, you're gonna learn better.
Speaker A:Of course the devices are actually, I think that there have been some studies, oh, so briefly that they're seeing elements of Alzheimer's or something like that in young children because of.
Speaker A:Yeah, because of the being on these devices.
Speaker A:And they're being trained to look at things in 15 second increments.
Speaker A:So they, their long term concentration is being severely compromised.
Speaker A:I mean, all the way.
Speaker A:It's not the way her brain is designed to work.
Speaker A:And then when you add in the predation and the dangers, that's like putting your kid and parking the child in the middle of a freeway.
Speaker A:And they used to call the Internet the information highway.
Speaker A:Well, it carries some of the same dangers.
Speaker A:I mean, you just wouldn't do that.
Speaker B:But isn't it incredible?
Speaker B:It sounds so good, right?
Speaker B:The Internet.
Speaker B:And it is good, right?
Speaker B:There's a lot of great AI we hear about medical, you know, for medical reasons and things like that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But now it's so dangerous because we look what's happened in the last 30 years, and now we're in this new realm of AI.
Speaker B:But that's just the thing, you know, kids again.
Speaker B:It goes back to that Covid period where kids were forced to be at home, Right.
Speaker B:They weren't around, their friends couldn't go out anywhere.
Speaker B:They were on the devices.
Speaker B:That's where we really saw all this increase, that isolation.
Speaker B:And then that isolation continued when we sort of got back to normal.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it just continued on.
Speaker B:The predators take advantage, Big tech takes advantage.
Speaker B:And now we're trying to break that.
Speaker B:It is happening, though, slowly.
Speaker B:I have a lot of faith in young people.
Speaker B:You know, we always hear about the kids that are doing these horrible things.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:If we really go into these shootings, a lot of stuff they have been, again, teenage boys especially, feeling out of whack with everything, feeling isolated.
Speaker B:Isolation is a big word.
Speaker B:Kids always tell me, I'm isolated.
Speaker B:I feel isolated.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Despite having all these devices, they feel isolated.
Speaker B:So these boys are finding solace and joining these different groups online that are basically terror groups.
Speaker B:And they're basically then going out and shooting people.
Speaker B:I mean, that's the research.
Speaker B:When you look into it, does media cover all that?
Speaker B:No, they don't.
Speaker B:So we have these kind of terrorist groups for almost a lot of them.
Speaker B:The fun of it, manipulating our children because they can.
Speaker B:Isn't that a sad answer?
Speaker B:Because they.
Speaker A:Oh, man, yes.
Speaker B:And I'm like, that's a bad answer because.
Speaker B:And they're allowed.
Speaker B:So why aren't we?
Speaker B:But people fight.
Speaker B:They're like, well, parents should watch their kids.
Speaker B:Well, we need our First Amendment rights.
Speaker B:We need our freedoms.
Speaker B:And it is horrific.
Speaker B:It is horrific what's going on.
Speaker B:And it has to be stopped in a certain degree.
Speaker B:Again, we're not trying to shut down anything.
Speaker B:We are trying to protect our children and help our families.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:The parents have to really wake up.
Speaker B:This is a call to action.
Speaker B:It's no longer like you're waiting for something.
Speaker B:Something will happen to your child.
Speaker B:You may not even ever find out about it.
Speaker B:We have more reports.
Speaker B:Kids come to us.
Speaker B:They don't dare tell their parents what has happened.
Speaker B:So we have to teach also kids the steps to take if especially teenage boys with this sextortion.
Speaker B:Because we work with parents whose sons have killed themselves because they're too embarrassed to go to their parent and say, I exchanged a nude image and now I didn't have $50 to send to the stranger in Nigeria, I'd rather kill myself.
Speaker B:Now think about that.
Speaker B:That goes into mental health.
Speaker B:That goes into a lot of things.
Speaker B:And the parents always say to me, if I had known, I would have just said, okay, who likes all of this stuff?
Speaker B:Nobody does.
Speaker B:But we cannot react.
Speaker B:So we're scaring our children not to come to us.
Speaker B:And that's a lesson.
Speaker B:I used to think I have to go out and teach the children all the time.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:I have to teach the parents more than the children because they have to understand really what's going on.
Speaker B:The parents.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:Because I think that denial is probably something that is a huge defense that they have.
Speaker A:They don't want to hear it, they want to deny it.
Speaker A:My kid wouldn't be doing that.
Speaker A:They don't want to, they don't want to comprehend this.
Speaker A:And you turn a blindside, but you can't.
Speaker A:And especially when you have a teenager.
Speaker A:My mother used to say a child is either too young to be left alone or too old to be left alone.
Speaker A:Because when they're teenagers, they're going to find ways to do things and they're going to try to get over on parents and everything else.
Speaker A:It's just the nature of the game when they're trying to be more independent.
Speaker A:But the territory they're delving into is very dangerous.
Speaker A:And you're teaching parents what to look for.
Speaker A:And this is a very important thing.
Speaker A:Do you have maybe a few warning signs parents can look for and where they can reach out to you to learn how to protect their kids?
Speaker B:Well, certainly always.
Speaker B:Follow us.
Speaker B:Lynnswarriors.org you know, we also have our YouTube channel.
Speaker B:We put out information on everything's warriors.
Speaker B:I, I, you know why?
Speaker B:Because I want everybody to be a warrior in their own home and community.
Speaker B:That's what I really want.
Speaker B:You have to be your own best advocate.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I'm not asking everybody to go march in Washington or your state capitol, but I am asking you to do it in your own home, to do it in your own community.
Speaker B:Spread the word, whether it's your friends, family members, everybody is associated to a child.
Speaker B:Even if you don't have a child, you have a sibling who has a child, a you have a friend who has a child.
Speaker B:And I don't mean hit people over the head, although I'm at a point where I think we do because of this is, this is a crisis.
Speaker B:What's going on?
Speaker B:This is a true crisis.
Speaker B:What's happening with our kids.
Speaker B:So what you really have to do is take a few minutes a day, you know, go to lenswarriors.org read online about things.
Speaker B:But we have all of our resources on.
Speaker B:On the website.
Speaker B:But also, again, I go back like a broken record.
Speaker B:You really have to talk to your children.
Speaker B:And here's what they report to me, Shelly and Kathy.
Speaker B:They're like, my parents don't have time for me.
Speaker B:Or my parents tell me, like, you know, I'm busy online themselves.
Speaker B:Kids are looking for us to really give them a little structure, give them the attention so they feel cared for.
Speaker B:These are kids even coming.
Speaker B:I used to say the predators go for all the vulnerable kids, and they certainly do, right?
Speaker B:But we have parents who have done everything correctly, teaching about safety online, great relationships with their kids, good families, right?
Speaker B:Their kids are still dead because they took a challenge on TikTok and did subway surfing, okay?
Speaker B:Which is riding.
Speaker B:We have this.
Speaker B:This going on in New York right now.
Speaker B:It always was happening, subway surfing, but not like this, where kids get on top of trains, subway trains, and they have a friend with them and they film it so they can put it on TikTok and they're falling off the trains, you know, And.
Speaker B:And this is what kids are doing, all because they want to be seen, be heard.
Speaker B:So we have to really talk to our kids, but every day we have to be on top of them.
Speaker B:And I mean, in a good way, you know, so it's really opening up that.
Speaker B:That relationship with the family, right?
Speaker B:And it's really talking.
Speaker B:And I even suggest we have to go back to the basics.
Speaker B:I kid you not.
Speaker B:Again, we put down the devices a few minutes a day, we spend the time together.
Speaker B:And whether that's having a family lunch or dinner, whether that's walking the dog together, this is what we have to teach right now.
Speaker B:It's sort of unbelievable, but we have to.
Speaker B:This is what young people are missing.
Speaker B:Go out in the backyard or wherever you have a park.
Speaker B:If you live in a city, get with nature, right?
Speaker B:Nature's very healing.
Speaker B:Again, we have so many mental health problems.
Speaker B:We have so many young girls that have killed themselves.
Speaker B:When the mothers find, sometimes they have left diaries and things like that, or they been able to get into their phones, right?
Speaker B:I'm not pretty enough.
Speaker B:I'm not smart enough.
Speaker B:Because they're looking at all this unrealistic stuff.
Speaker B:Like, you both know a lot of this is so fake, right on Instagram.
Speaker B:And these.
Speaker B:These teens that are driving these fabulous cars or they have all these, you know, Louis Vuitton pocketbooks and all it's a fake world.
Speaker B:We have to teach them this is fake.
Speaker B:And they think, you know, because they live in the middle of the country somewhere.
Speaker B:They're 16.
Speaker B:I can never be like that.
Speaker B:I can never have that.
Speaker B:So they kill themselves.
Speaker B:Who are we going to hold responsible for all of this?
Speaker B:And I'm again talking about some really great parents who have done everything correctly.
Speaker B:So the pointers are if your child all of a sudden have.
Speaker B:Teenagers are moody, right?
Speaker B:Kind of.
Speaker B:They go through that hormonal thing.
Speaker B:But I think everybody, if you're not in denial, you know your child best.
Speaker B:If they're acting a little extra weird or moody again, if they're in their room for hours on end, they're probably on those devices.
Speaker B:Don't think they're safe in there.
Speaker B:Have your devices in a shared area.
Speaker B:That's what we do.
Speaker B:We also have no devices in the bedrooms at night.
Speaker B:No, they're all put away.
Speaker B:And that includes the parents have to lead by example.
Speaker B:So whether you put all the devices in the parent's bedroom, you put them away.
Speaker B:The child also needs to sleep well.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Things happen at night.
Speaker B:Again, this infinite scrolling, it's just dangerous.
Speaker B:So devices, no devices in the bedrooms.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:If your child also all of a sudden had a couple of friends, they don't seem to have friends anymore.
Speaker B:They're just acting different.
Speaker B:It's worth that conversation of opening it up and talking about it, seeking help.
Speaker B:There's nothing wrong with seeking help, appropriate help.
Speaker B:There's nothing wrong with the grades drop in school all of a sudden.
Speaker B:That is always a sure sign of something, you know, but you have to.
Speaker B:Again, the schools are also overwhelmed.
Speaker B:You have to go in there into the schools.
Speaker B:You have to be that parent advocate.
Speaker B:You also have to be the one that go in there and say, we have this problem now with all of this AI being unleashed into the schools and the parents are not being a part of it, the teachers are not being educated in it.
Speaker B:Okay, go in and say, respectfully, you know, how are you handling AI?
Speaker B:What is the plan?
Speaker B:Get a couple other parents to go with you.
Speaker B:Try to team up.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:You can even have one or two other parents try to in your community, get a few parents together, talk about it again, this is a crisis.
Speaker B:We have to do the work ourselves.
Speaker B:You know, it's no longer you send your child to school, you think your child's safe or you think the government's going to.
Speaker B:Because these platforms are, you know, part of the government.
Speaker B:They are working against us.
Speaker B:We have to go out there.
Speaker B:Call them out appropriately with facts.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And take action.
Speaker B:This is just part of our daily lives.
Speaker B:So everybody's got to get with it.
Speaker B:Everybody's gotta understand, again, if you buy a device, it's in your home.
Speaker B:You have a responsibility for safety as much as you can.
Speaker B:And you have to seek out a lot of these free resources, which we list on our resource page on lynswarriors.org but again, talking about it, like we're doing right now, it starts there, talking about it.
Speaker B:It's okay.
Speaker B:Everybody's going through this.
Speaker B:A lot of people think if I talk about it, it'll open up the can of worms.
Speaker B:Then my child will look for pornography.
Speaker B:Well, I'm here to say the pornography, the kids are being deluged with it.
Speaker B:They're not even looking for it.
Speaker B:I had a little girl looking for Apple.
Speaker B:She was doing a report on an Apple.
Speaker B:By the third click, it was pornographic.
Speaker B:She wasn't looking for it.
Speaker B:The kids are being fed these algorithms because again, that helps with the addiction.
Speaker B:It helps with advertiser dollars.
Speaker B:This is the way of the world.
Speaker B:None of us like it, but what are we going to do about it?
Speaker B:We all have to take action.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Every single person.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Stay tuned for more of Women Road warriors coming up.
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Speaker A:Welcome back to Women Road warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.
Speaker A:The majority of the safety steps we use to protect our children from online predators don't work correctly.
Speaker A:That's what the experts are saying.
Speaker A:Parents need to educate themselves and fight back.
Speaker A:They have to realize the Internet is not safe for kids.
Speaker A:And more kids than you realize are talking to strangers and getting advice and being exploited online.
Speaker A:Experts say kids can be manipulated within hours.
Speaker A:Gone is the concept of stranger danger.
Speaker A:And we need to bring that back.
Speaker A:But there's hope.
Speaker A:Lyn's warriors is an organization that is stepping up to fight back.
Speaker A:Lynn Shaw's organization works to hold tech platforms accountable and educate parents about the threats that are out there.
Speaker A:She and her nonprofit are doing amazing work empowering people and future generations.
Speaker A:Lynn, you have so much information and so many resources for both parents and the children.
Speaker A:It's really Empowering.
Speaker A:And people can reach out to your organization.
Speaker A:You have warrior workshops too, am I correct?
Speaker B:We do.
Speaker B:You know, we tailor them for.
Speaker B:Sometimes we go into places of worship, sometimes we go into libraries.
Speaker B:It's a community thing.
Speaker B:Community centers.
Speaker B:Lots of schools we go into.
Speaker B:I tend not to put.
Speaker B:I feel like that's private.
Speaker B:First of all, I won't post pictures of children ever online.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:That's another mistake.
Speaker B:Everybody we know, everybody's proud of their children and their grandchildren.
Speaker B:I'm here to say there have been cases where somebody says, I want a six year old boy with blonde hair.
Speaker B:And because you've posted pictures online of your son or grandson, they will go, they will find out.
Speaker B:Remember, they know how to hack anything and find out locations and things like that.
Speaker B:They will find out where you live.
Speaker B:They will try to take that child.
Speaker B:That is a truth.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:People have to understand that also.
Speaker B:Do you ever see those graduation signs?
Speaker B:I don't know if you've ever have those, you know, like, oh, congratulations, eighth grade Mary.
Speaker B:You're putting it.
Speaker B:And I say, why?
Speaker B:Why do you have that?
Speaker B:They'll say, what's a school fundraiser?
Speaker B:I'm like, okay, buy the sign and put it in your living room.
Speaker B:You are targeting your own child.
Speaker B:You're putting it out there.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:They know a child is in that home.
Speaker B:The thing we have going on right now is again, our society thinks we have to put everything out there.
Speaker B:Pictures are such a no, no.
Speaker B:Yet everybody is doing it, putting pictures of kids.
Speaker B:So we do a lot of that work in the communities.
Speaker B:We don't put pictures online.
Speaker B:We think that' and we bring a lot of what we call survivor leaders to the table.
Speaker B:I've never been trafficked or abused or any of that.
Speaker B:I did not know Shelly and Kathy until I started doing this.
Speaker B:How prevalent this is, even for generations, you know, our generation coming up and all that, what they've gone through.
Speaker B:And I feel so lucky.
Speaker B:I haven't been abused in my life.
Speaker B:Isn't that a sad statement to say?
Speaker B:And when I go out now, I'll be like counting one in eight children, that eighth child is abused, like in my head.
Speaker B:Cause I know stats and things like that.
Speaker B:So what we have to do is be extra cautious because of the Internet because predators want to make money.
Speaker B:They don't care.
Speaker B:They're onto their next.
Speaker B:If they can't get you, they're onto their next.
Speaker B:That is something with sextortion.
Speaker B:They don't care about you.
Speaker B:If they can't get the $50 out of you, you block them.
Speaker B:You know, we have to teach our children this.
Speaker B:You go on to the next.
Speaker B:You tell your trusted adult they're on to their next victim.
Speaker B:They don't care about you.
Speaker B:You're not gonna kill yourself from a stranger.
Speaker B:Cause you can't give them $50.
Speaker B:So we have a lot of work to do and we have to depend on parents to get into those schools and also help out with all of this and wanna be warriors and wanna talk about all this because it's truly, we can talk about state capitals in Washington, it's in the community where it has to happen and then snowball outwards.
Speaker B:And I'm happy to say it is happening.
Speaker B:You're just not hearing too much about it.
Speaker A:And shame on the media for not talking about it.
Speaker A:That's what they should be talking about.
Speaker A:Because what you're doing is creating awareness and you're helping a future, all the future generations.
Speaker A:Where can people reach out again?
Speaker A:Just go to your website and then.
Speaker A:You want my website?
Speaker B:Sure, they can, you know, people can even write to me lynnswarriors.org and I can direct them.
Speaker B:I can recommend, you know, something in their area that they can turn to.
Speaker B:But I want to put out one thing.
Speaker B:If this happens to you, people should always have, you know, at their fingertips.
Speaker B: -: Speaker B:That's an important number because you can just call that number and say, hey, I live here.
Speaker B:Where are some local resources?
Speaker B:Just so you, you should always have a backup.
Speaker B:See, people aren't prepared.
Speaker B:So then when they get caught in something, they panic, kind of do nothing.
Speaker B:Now the other thing is, what if your child comes to you and says, look at this creep that, you know, they want a nude image of me or I exchanged one.
Speaker B:What do we do?
Speaker B:You never erase the evidence.
Speaker B:You always contact your local 91 1.
Speaker B:You always contact local FBI offices.
Speaker B:They're all around the country, okay.
Speaker B:And you always have handy 1-800-the lost.
Speaker B:And that's the cyber tip line put out by the national center on Missing and Exploited Children.
Speaker B:We don't like talking about this, but you've got to have the pieces in place so if something happens, you know what course of action to take.
Speaker B:And you don't freeze and do nothing because that's the worst thing to do, right?
Speaker B:And another point I want to point out, we talk about trafficking, exploitation.
Speaker B:There is another myth that is usually strangers really 65%.
Speaker B:This is another tough one of the trafficking cases are by somebody the Family knows.
Speaker B:It's either a family member or somebody the family knows.
Speaker B:It's called familial trafficking.
Speaker B:And that's like a taboo, taboo subject like nobody wants to talk about, you know, Uncle Johnny and little Susie.
Speaker B:It's buried.
Speaker B:But we have to have kids know this is wrong.
Speaker B:And where can they go if something's happening to them?
Speaker B:They have to have that trusted adult who again, might be a guidance counselor, might be a teacher, might be another relative to report this.
Speaker B:This can't sustain the way we're going on right now.
Speaker B:And again, we haven't even touched really upon AI.
Speaker B:The ethical technologists tell me it's only going to be bad.
Speaker B:So although we're praying and we're hoping and we're teaching, when you hear that from people who work in this field, that's what they do, that is very frightening.
Speaker A:Yes, it is.
Speaker A:Thank goodness and thank God for your organization because you're giving people a way to fight back and be warriors, like you said, in their own home, and protect their children.
Speaker A:So people can just go to lynswarriors.org and they can find a wealth of information.
Speaker A:They can reach out to you.
Speaker A:This is wonderful what your organization's doing.
Speaker B:Well, I mean, thank you, but we will direct them.
Speaker B:We truly, you know, we hear this word a lot.
Speaker B:Collaborate, right?
Speaker B:A lot of people do not collaborate.
Speaker B:I'm here to say it's taken me a lifetime to get here, but I've realized they don't.
Speaker B:We need true collaboration because what I do, you don't do what you do, I don't do.
Speaker B:So we really do have to come together and share the information, get it out there and expand everything.
Speaker B:And so there may be, you know, we have a situation where the 14 year old needs some housing.
Speaker B:She's.
Speaker B:She's in a trafficking situation.
Speaker B:I don't have housing, but I have colleagues who have housing.
Speaker B:So it's that network, right?
Speaker B:I like to say it's like a big wheel, you know, with a lot of spokes, and each spoke makes that wheel go around because it's all interconnected to all of this.
Speaker B:But the abuse has to have, it has to stop.
Speaker B:You know, we work with nurses United against human Trafficking across the country and they're reporting girls as young as nine are showing up in emergency rooms with strangulation marks on their necks because boys are viewing pornography.
Speaker B:Not their fault, because they're being fed these algorithms and they think that's the way you treat a girl.
Speaker B:Now, I just said 9 years old.
Speaker B:We're not even talking 15, 17.
Speaker B:And this is going on.
Speaker B:So this is like another piece.
Speaker B:We need PSAs that the media refuses to do, you know, with the awareness piece that it's just happening because it is a lot to take in.
Speaker B:And parents don't want to think this is happening or their child would ever do that.
Speaker B:But kids do dumb things or they get involved in things, you know, over their head.
Speaker B:We as the adults have to clear this up and we have to erase the embarrassment.
Speaker B:There's no more embarrassment when kids are seeing all this stuff anyway online.
Speaker B:So let's take it back.
Speaker B:But let's hold, you know, companies accountable.
Speaker B:Companies like Netflix should be held accountable, right?
Speaker B:Big tech should be held accountable.
Speaker B:And they're beginning to be held accountable.
Speaker B:So that's why we need all of you to join us.
Speaker B:Be a warrior and get on board.
Speaker B:You know, House.gov, senate.gov, when we talk about pieces of legislation.
Speaker B:We just need your name and zip code.
Speaker B:Because four to seven people contact an office about one topic, they have to address it.
Speaker B:It used to be 10, now it's 4 to 7.
Speaker B:That is how everybody can participate.
Speaker B:And it takes just seconds to do something like this.
Speaker B:There's something for everybody to do.
Speaker A:Thank you for starting this organization and doing what you're doing, Lynn.
Speaker A:This is exactly what parents and families need.
Speaker A:And you're putting the power back in the American family and frankly, worldwide, because this is a worldwide issue.
Speaker A:So thank you.
Speaker A:Well, it's unbelievable what you're doing.
Speaker B:If I could hug you through this, through cyber hug, hug me through the Internet, I can use.
Speaker B:But no, I'm very serious when I say to you, Shelley and Kathy, thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you for showcasing this.
Speaker B:It is not popular.
Speaker B:People don't like this subject we have to talk about.
Speaker B:Too many children are being harmed.
Speaker B:When I said, you know, 40 something percent go out to meet a stranger, it could be 60%, because again, it's hidden in this darkness, right?
Speaker B:This cloak of mystery and all this.
Speaker B:And that's what the predators are counting on, and they're counting on silence, that we don't talk about it and that they can just keep doing all of these crimes.
Speaker B:So I want to say I am so honored and from the bottom of my heart, completely humbled that you're showcasing this.
Speaker B:And thank you for the work you do showcasing, engaging, educating, empowering women's voices to get it out there.
Speaker B:I just love both of you.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker A:Thank you, Lynn.
Speaker A:It's been an honor.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for being here today.
Speaker A:Oh my gosh.
Speaker B:We'll write back at you and I call both of you Warriors.
Speaker B:You are two terrific warriors.
Speaker A:Thank you, thank you, Lynn if you're getting value from our show Women Road warriors, be sure to hit follow on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss out on what's coming next.
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Speaker A:You've been listening to Women Roll Road warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Takaro.
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