Parenting in a Tech World

Online predators are actively targeting your kids right now, and two Michigan men decided they couldn't wait for the system to act. Jake Hockey and C.J. of Pred Task Force built a team that runs undercover stings, with decoys posing as minors on dating apps, confronting suspects on camera, and calling law enforcement when the time is right.

Jake and C.J. are citizen investigators who have grown Pred Task Force from a local Michigan operation into a nationwide mission, with hundreds of thousands of followers watching their work unfold in real time. In four months of operation they caught dozens of offenders, and survived a loaded gun pulled on them during a confrontation.

They walk you through exactly how a sting works from setup to confrontation to law enforcement handoff. They also get honest about the dangers they face, the legal criticism their work has drawn from local prosecutors, and how they define their role when the system feels too slow. You'll hear what they've learned about how predators operate online and what parents consistently get wrong about where these conversations start.

Key insight: Predators aren't lurking on the dark web. They're finding kids on the same apps your teen uses every day, and early detection is the intervention that most victims never got.
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Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
Follow Pred Task Force on Instagram: https://info.bark.us/predtaskforce-ig
Follow Pred Task Force on Facebook: https://info.bark.us/predtaskforce-fb
Subscribe to the Pred Task Force YouTube channel: https://info.bark.us/predtaskforce-yt
Support Jake and CJ by purchasing PTF merch: https://info.bark.us/predtaskforce-merch

Join the conversation in our Parenting in a Tech World Facebook community: https://info.bark.us/join-pitw

Bark monitors your child's devices and alerts you to contact with potential predators before a conversation escalates: https://www.bark.us

The invisible mental load of early parenthood — tracking feeds, monitoring sleep, anticipating every need — is one of the most exhausting and least-talked-about realities of having a baby. Nanit's latest parent report pulls back the curtain on what's actually happening in homes across the country during those first overwhelming years.

Victoria Vaynberg is the Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at Nanit, the smart baby monitor and parenting platform used by millions of families — and she's spent her career at the intersection of technology, health data, and the moments that matter most to parents.

In this conversation, Victoria breaks down what Nanit actually does beyond watching over a crib, what the parent report data revealed that genuinely surprised her, and how the platform is designed to ease — not add to — the mental load parents already carry. She also shares how she thinks about the responsibility of being inside some of the most intimate moments of family life, and the natural through-line between keeping a baby safe at night and helping families navigate technology as kids get older.

Key insight: Nanit's parent report found that the mental and emotional weight of early parenthood is significantly underestimated — and that parents are actively looking for tools that give them confidence, not just information.

Connect with Victoria: https://info.bark.us/victoria-vaynberg

Learn more about Nanit: https://info.bark.us/nanit

Read Nanit's 2026 Parenting Report: https://info.bark.us/nanit-parenting-report-2026

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you're listening — it only takes 30 seconds and helps other parents find us. 

Join the conversation in our Parenting in a Tech World Facebook community: https://info.bark.us/join-pitw 

Learn how Bark supports families as kids grow beyond the nursery: https://www.bark.us

Financial sextortion is targeting teenage boys at an alarming rate — and most families have never heard of it until it's too late. In 2022, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey fell victim to an online blackmail scam and died by suicide. His father, South Carolina State Representative Brandon Guffey, refused to let Gavin's death be the end of the story.

Rep. Guffey is one of the driving forces behind Gavin's Law, one of the nation's first pieces of legislation specifically targeting financial sextortion — and he's now working to build momentum for similar protections at the national level.

In this episode, Brandon shares who Gavin was as a person, how the scam unfolded, and what he wants every parent and teenager to understand about how these predators operate. He breaks down what Gavin's Law actually does, where the fight to hold tech platforms accountable stands today, and how families can get involved in protecting other kids.

Key insight: Financial sextortion scams often move from first contact to blackmail within minutes — and the criminals specifically target teens who are least likely to tell a parent.

Learn more about Rep. Brandon Guffey: https://info.bark.us/rep-brandon-guffey

Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://info.bark.us/brandon-guffey-ig

Support Less Than 3: https://info.bark.us/less-than-3

If this episode moved you, please leave a review wherever you're listening — it takes 30 seconds and helps other parents find us before they need this information.

Join our Parenting in a Tech World Facebook community: https://info.bark.us/join-pitw

Learn how Bark monitors for sextortion warning signs and alerts parents before a crisis escalates: https://www.bark.us/

Diane Tarantini is a survivor, author, and body safety educator whose work is bringing one of the most underreported forms of child sexual abuse into the open. In this episode, she shares the story behind her children's book The Brave Knight — which teaches kids to recognize grooming and speak up — her memoir Everyone Was Silent, and why child-on-child sexual abuse is being called America's silent epidemic. If you've ever wondered how to talk to your kids about body safety or what warning signs parents often miss, this conversation is a must-listen.

Resources discussed in this episode:
Visit Diane's website for resources and to order her books: https://info.bark.us/diane-tarantini
Follow Diane on Instagram: https://info.bark.us/diane-ig
Brad Watts' book Sibling Sexual Abuse: https://info.bark.us/brad-watts-ssa
Diane and Kimberly's online course Raising Safe Siblings: https://info.bark.us/rasing-safe-siblings
John Hopkins CSA resources: https://info.bark.us/john-hopkins-csa
5 Waves: https://info.bark.us/5-waves
Sibling Sexual Trauma: https://info.bark.us/sibling-sexual-trauma

Jen Davidson spent years raising two kids with a simple but powerful ritual — intentional conversations she called Life Lesson Lunches — and her grown children loved it so much they asked her to write it all down so they could use it someday as parents themselves. In her book Keep Talking, Jen offers a warm, practical roadmap for staying connected with kids even when they're doing everything to push you away. We get into the book, the unconventional origin story behind it, and what Jen has learned navigating social media as a first-time author who never wanted to be on it in the first place.

Links mentioned in this episode:
Jen's website: https://www.jenshoemakerdavidson.com/
Order Jen's book: https://www.jenshoemakerdavidson.com/#preorder
Subscribe to Jen's Substack: https://jenshoemakerdavidson.substack.com/
Follow Jen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenshoemakerdavidson
Connect with Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-shoemaker-davidson-6079a430