Online Threats With Liz Marie Thomas
In today's hyperconnected world, online threats are growing at an alarming rate, leaving children more vulnerable than ever. How do we protect a generation with unlimited access to the internet while fostering accountability and awareness? Join us as we explore the tools, strategies, and solutions parents need to safeguard their families in the digital age. With special guest
Liz Marie Thomas, discover how her groundbreaking app is transforming the way families stay protected and informed. Don't miss this empowering conversation—your family's safety might depend on it.
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Listen to the podcast here
Online Threats With Liz Marie Thomas
Protect Our Children From Cyber
We have a very exciting show with you. Her name is Liz Marie Thomas. She's a Writer and Producer. She and her husband are creating an app that is going to protect families. It's all about how we can pay attention and help our kids be more aware of what's going on out there. By the way, welcome to the show, Liz. Good to have you.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. The pleasure is mine.
My first question is, tell us how you came down this path and what's in your heart about this whole idea that you're creating this app and this program for. Tell us a little bit about that.
I grew up in a household where it was just my brother and me. As we got older, our parents remarried, and three brand-new sisters were born into the family, one after another. The youngest is seventeen. I've watched this iteration as each one has come of age and come into the digital age, how so many things have changed. The way that we protected our children 20 or 30 years ago is so different from what that looks like now. I saw my youngest sister go from a private Christian education, where they didn't have tablets in class and it was just very classical, to high school, where this door was suddenly thrown wide open to technology.
Suddenly, the access to information, and subsequently, the access that others had to her, was a little scary at first. We started having a lot of these conversations around when you have someone that has truly unlimited access to the world via the internet, and vice versa, how do we care for a generation that is so far advanced in their understanding of this technology, so often, so much more than we are?
You told me when we chatted that you had a mother that was dialed into this, right?
Yeah. My mother was an in-the-trenches mother. It's fantastic. She still is. When we were young, we grew up in the inner city. She educated herself on what it looked like to be approached for drugs or all of these other things. She would sit at the kitchen table and put oregano into Ziploc bags or baking soda into Ziploc bags and say, "This is what this drug looks like. This is what they will say would be the upside to it as they're trying to entice you, but this is the reality of what it does to your body."
Having that information and the freedom to make a decision for yourself based on all of the facts made it so that when that time came that we were told about all of these things at school, we got to say, "That's not something I want for me." That peer pressure, which typically comes from a gap in knowledge, wasn't there. Times have changed in terms of the things that we're presented with in this world. They're just different.
Times have changed, and the things we are presented with in this world are just different.
How old were you when you started to become cognizant of this?
I would say right around my early 30s. I worked a lot with middle school and high school youth in my late twenties. We heard of things in school like bullying, but when Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat took on a life of their own, I started to see the shift where a lot of these things were happening behind closed doors and behind the scenes. There was a lot of secrecy, I think, is the best word, secrecy around how some of this bullying was happening before it came to light.
We've got five grandchildren. In fact, Noel told me about something when we did the interview, which is an app called Bark, that you're probably familiar with, that can help parents watch what's going on. What's your real experience with your conversation with Noel and within your own world about human trafficking?
Creating Awareness And Tools For Family Safety
I'm married to the CEO of a counter-trafficking organization. The exposure is just day after day, but I will say the experience as a female in this world has been, truly, the more you know, the better off we are. Rather than moving into a mode of operation of fear, we move into the mode of operation of let's have some awareness. He's talked about a product called Birdie, which is like a personal safety alarm that we all now have. We all share locations with one another.
There are just lots of safeguards that help us to be, again, not fear-driven, but in a high level of awareness. The fantastic piece of that, I will say, unexpectedly, is there's a great level of accountability. We all know where each other is, and it keeps us in the know, on the same page, and of one mind and one accord. That works with my sisters as well. We all share each other's locations, so we all know where each other is at all times.
What kind of things have you encountered when you're trying to develop this kind of software and these kinds of programs? Have you heard from mothers when they're trying to get past a childhood trauma or something where the kid's been traumatized? Maybe it's a single-family situation where they're even having a hard time communicating. Have you had to deal with any of that?
Trauma, Accountability, And Parental Authority
As you say that, it's challenging. Accountability can feel like a harsh word. I would say parents, particularly, as you talk about trauma and some of the things that that leaves behind, the residue that's there will sometimes make a parent a little bit more cautious about exercising accountability and authority. The reality is that accountability allows us all to operate in the open.
Often, when these things happen, children don't always have a true idea of what they're getting themselves into, and so having a level of accountability, the Bible is clear that what operates in darkness is just not good for us, and so when we bring it into the light, there's so much freedom across the board. That's the heart of this. We don't just want to give parents tools for, like, what do you do if this happens? How do you establish a culture of accountability within your own home that allows for freedom to have all types of conversations without shame or judgment?
That's amazing because we're in a spiritual battle, which you know, and part of what this show is all about, what's on my wife and I's heart for producing this show, is all about showing people what a threat is, making them aware of it, get past what's called a black swan. We're giving them tools with experts like yourself that they can put in a notebook and print off and use through our action guides to become powerful in this instead of just being defeated by the system or by the enemy. You're almost creating a step-by-step guide with your software to help the parents, right?
Empowering Families With Digital Tools And Social Responsibility
Yeah. Our mission is simple. We want to empower families to connect worldwide. We want them to thrive in an age that's digital, and so some of that will be driven via tools such as a social media contract. Some of it will be driven by a step-by-step guide on helping both the parent and the child determine," Am I ready for a device?" which I love because no child wants to be told, "No, you can't have that," or "You're too young," or "You're immature."
For example, it's a guide that allows a child to answer questions like, "Do I turn in my homework on time?" "Do I do my chores with excellence?" "Do I have to be told twice?" They answer this questionnaire that, at the very end, helps them reflect and say, "Given all of these answers, do I feel I'm ready for stewarding the responsibility of a device?" The parent takes the same thing. If their answers don't match, it's a good conversation.
If their answers match, it's driven out of mutual understanding, they feel like they're on the same page, and this is a good idea. If, for some reason, the child's answers indicate, "Maybe I'm not ready," the conversation now can become, "These are some of the areas where you can improve and get skilled at so that you are ready." Making your bed every morning seems like it wouldn't be connected to social responsibility as far as social media is concerned, but it is all connected.
Please describe for our audience what sextortion is.
The Prevalence And Dangers Of Sextortion
I wish it wasn't such a prevalent word in our society, but sextortion, the FBI has defined it as a crime that occurs when young people believe they're communicating with someone and then reveal photos of themselves that are compromising. That person, who is not another child or peer but an adult, then essentially extorts, sextorts, requesting more photos and stating, "If I don't get these photos, I'm going to release the ones that I already have."
They'll ask for photos. They might start asking for videos, and the threat to publish the content, that threat or threat of violence if they don't provide the content, is often what leaves a child buried in shame. Connected to that, and unfortunately, something that's growing out of it, is financial sextortion. Financial sextortion is essentially the same thing, except instead of threatening for the purpose of receiving more content, they'll threaten to receive finances. They'll say it's a little bit different than traditional sextortion. They'll request money.
Increased Threats And The Impact Of Technology On Children
Here's the thing. When you have a young person being asked for something that may not be in their direct possession, what we are finding is that this increased threat has resulted in an alarming number of deaths by suicide. Children feel that they've not just created a dangerous situation for themselves but a burdening situation that's shameful for their families. Maybe they know their families can't pay whatever the sum is. To that point, the FBI is clearly very aware of this. If you're in this situation, there is an entire task force dedicated to it.
I can see where Noel married up by marrying you.
Thank you. I feel the Holy Spirit's all called us to be good gatekeepers. In front of me is just a long slew of different scripture that we've written on one of our walls. It reminds me of what you said earlier because it says, "For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but of the world." When we start using that as the lens over all of these things, we start to see it becomes easier to identify what is and is not of the world and what is and is not of the Father. That's our mission, to give families that lens to discern.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. When we use this as the lens through which we view everything, it becomes easier to identify what is of the world and what is not.
This content is really valuable for parents, grandparents, teachers, churches, and school ministries with kids. What I'd like to finish with is just give me a two-minute dissertation about your app, a name, and where we're going to be able to get it. I think you told me it's already on a laptop, but it's going to be an app, right?
Introducing The "Collective Family App" And Its Community Vision
Yeah. It's The Collective, and it's that simple and that straightforward. The global vision is to redefine how families can communicate and connect. It's going to be a place exactly like you said. Let's say you belong to a church group, and we'll place you in the community, which we think is a huge part of this. If people from your church group join, then you guys will be placed in a pod together.
You'll be placed in pods with parents who have kids of the same age. You can be placed in pods with kids who are interested in the same games and all of these things because we believe that the information is in the room. We've all got different experiences that we can share. It is going to be something that's hopefully available to anyone and everyone.
We've also had the pleasure of receiving a grant from a company called Place of Hope, a not-for-profit who said, "We want to place money behind this." The ultimate goal is to keep the price point, the point of entry, low, like $25 or $30 a month, and then create a fund where, if there are families that can't afford that, we cover it. We come together and cover that so that we level the playing field and everyone has equal access to this information. Grandparents and parents alike can move forward together as a village and as a community.
You've thought about this. This is excellent. What we're going to do is, we're going to put all this out, and we're going to share more of it. I'm sure I'm going to come back to you with something because this is huge. We need to get it out to the public and let them know what you're doing. This is important stuff. I appreciate you taking your time to visit with us. I appreciate who you and Noel are and what you're doing in the kingdom and what these projects that you're on. Bless you. We'll catch you later.
Thank you.