Episode 122: Why Keeping Kids Off Social Media Isn't Enough Anymore

The internet kids are growing up with is more complex than ever, and simply keeping them off social media is no longer enough. In this episode of Marketing Moves, CyberSafely AI's Neal Alexander and Torino Fitzgerald explore how AI, education, and better communication can help parents and schools identify online risks earlier while teaching kids to navigate technology safely, responsibly, and productively.

The internet today's kids are growing up with looks completely different from the one many of their parents experienced. Social media is only one piece of a much larger digital ecosystem that now includes online gaming, private messaging, VPNs, AI, and countless other ways to communicate and consume content.

That reality makes protecting kids online more complicated than simply limiting screen time or keeping them off certain platforms.

In this episode of Marketing Moves, host Ashtyn Morris sits down with Neal Alexander, Founder and CEO of CyberSafely AI, and Torino Fitzgerald, Fractional Executive Director of the CyberSafely Foundation and Interim Operations Lead for CyberSafely AI. Together, they explore how a father-son conversation grew into a larger mission to help families understand what children encounter online, intervene when something may be wrong, and ultimately prepare kids to use technology in healthier, more productive ways.

CyberSafely began with a relatively straightforward problem.

Neal's son, a high school football coach, was responsible for more than 100 players and found himself spending his evenings trying to understand what they were doing on social media. Online behavior wasn't staying online. It could impact individual students, the school, and the entire football program.

For Neal, a longtime entrepreneur, the conversation sparked an idea. CyberSafely's original technology was built specifically around monitoring social media activity. But conversations with parents who had experienced cyberbullying, sextortion, and other online dangers quickly revealed that the problem was much bigger.

One conversation was particularly impactful. Neal met a mother whose 13-year-old daughter had died by suicide after experiencing bullying. Her daughter wasn't allowed to use social media herself, but other children took screenshots of what was being said online and sent them to her.

It reinforced a difficult reality: keeping a child off social media doesn't necessarily keep social media away from the child.

CyberSafely subsequently expanded its approach beyond individual platforms. Its technology is designed to analyze what a child types on a device and identify words, phrases, emojis, and patterns that could indicate potentially concerning behavior, giving parents greater visibility into risks that may extend beyond traditional social networks.

Of course, giving parents greater visibility into their children's digital lives introduces another complicated question: privacy.

CyberSafely's goal isn't to give parents a reason to police every conversation. Neal believes the real opportunity is using technology to help parents recognize when it may be time to start one.

The platform is designed to alert parents to concerning activity and develop a broader picture of a child's digital behavior. That could mean identifying potentially troubling language or simply giving a parent visibility into patterns they otherwise wouldn't know about, such as a child consistently being active online in the middle of the night.

But an alert is only the beginning.

Rather than approaching a child with, "What are you doing?" Neal wants the technology to create opportunities for parents to ask better questions, understand what their child is experiencing, and help them navigate it.

That human element is critical. At the end of the episode, both Neal and Torino return to communication as one of the most important things a parent can do. Parents can't anticipate every platform, trend, or threat their child will encounter, but they can create an environment where their child feels safe enough to tell them when something goes wrong.

CyberSafely's mission has also expanded beyond protecting children from immediate online threats.

For Torino, there's a direct connection between how young people learn to use technology today and how prepared they'll be to enter tomorrow's workforce.

The answer isn't eliminating technology from children's lives. Technology will be an unavoidable part of their education, careers, and relationships. Instead, the goal is to help them develop healthier digital habits and learn how to use online platforms as productive tools rather than constant sources of distraction.

That's where the CyberSafely Foundation comes into the picture. Alongside advocacy, education, and awareness around online safety, the organization is exploring how those lessons can eventually translate into workforce readiness.

Torino sees an opportunity to create a longer journey: help a child recognize and navigate online risks, teach them how to use technology productively, and eventually connect those skills to professional opportunities.

In other words, digital safety and digital fluency don't have to be competing goals. Kids need both.

For a mission-driven organization like CyberSafely, one of the biggest marketing challenges is that the end user isn't necessarily the only audience.

Parents and children are at the center of the mission, but schools can provide access to families at scale. Counselors and educators can reinforce healthier digital behaviors. Corporations and sponsors can help fund programs that schools may not otherwise be able to afford.

That means the same message won't work for everyone.

Torino approaches the challenge as a system. When communicating with parents, the message may center on protecting their children and creating healthier technology habits. When talking to a school, the focus may shift toward student well-being and education. For a corporation, the conversation might involve sponsorship, community impact, employee benefits, or helping prepare the next generation for the workforce.

CyberSafely has increasingly focused on schools as a way to reach parents rather than relying primarily on a direct-to-consumer model. Neal shared that families across hundreds of schools in Missouri are being offered access to the platform, alongside efforts in Ohio, Canada, and other markets.

It's marketing 101 applied to a complicated mission: know exactly who you're talking to, understand what matters to them, and shape the message accordingly.

AI isn't only part of CyberSafely's product. It has also become an important part of how the organization operates.

When a key team member responsible for much of CyberSafely AI's operations left the organization, Torino stepped in to help manage the transition. He had a matter of weeks to capture years of institutional knowledge, document processes, develop standard operating procedures, and redistribute responsibilities across the team.

AI helped make that possible.

But Torino makes an important distinction. The technology didn't replace his experience or judgment. It accelerated his ability to apply them. The strategy for capturing knowledge and restructuring responsibilities still required a human who understood the business. AI simply compressed the time required to execute that strategy.

That balance reflects a broader theme throughout CyberSafely's work. Whether AI is analyzing potentially concerning digital behavior or helping a team navigate an operational challenge, technology works best when it gives people better information and more time to act.

Keeping kids completely disconnected from technology isn't a realistic long-term strategy. They're growing up in a world where digital tools will shape how they learn, communicate, build relationships, and eventually work.

The bigger challenge is helping them understand how to navigate that world responsibly.

For Neal, long-term success means changing the way children think about social media and online behavior so digital safety eventually becomes second nature. Torino takes that vision a step further, imagining a future where children don't just avoid harmful online behavior but learn to use technology to build skills, discover opportunities, and prepare for meaningful careers.

Getting there will require more than software. It will require parents willing to have difficult conversations, educators and counselors reinforcing healthy habits, organizations investing in education, and kids learning that technology can be both incredibly useful and incredibly consequential.

The goal isn't to raise a generation that's afraid of the internet.

It's to raise one that's prepared for it.