November 4, 2025 • 13 mins
What if the scariest question your kid asks is actually a gift? We explore how a single moment of trust—when a child chooses you over Google—can prevent an algorithm from becoming their teacher. From highly sensitive topics to messy, real-life dilemmas, we unpack a practical, compassionate way to be your child’s safest source in a world that rewards shock over wisdom.
KEEPING KIDS SAFE ONLINE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to the Next Talk Podcast.
We are a nonprofit passionateabout keeping kids safe online.
We're learning together how tonavigate tech, culture, and
faith with our kids.
Answer your child's questions.
That seems so simple, but it'spart of the next talk 10 for a
(00:24):
reason.
And if you recall, the next talk10 is like a formula to create a
culture of conversation in yourhome with the goal of keeping
your kids safe online, but alsojust in a digital world, an
overexposed world.
So even if you're not allowingtech, it keeps your kids safe
(00:48):
from anything they may beexposed to from other kids or
through conversations or on theplayground.
But today's topic is answeringtheir questions.
You know, I grew up in thegeneration where if I was
curious about something, I wouldmaybe ask a friend or like this
(01:08):
is gonna date me, but I wouldlook it up in an encyclopedia.
That's crazy to think about howfar we've come.
Makes me feel ancient, actually.
When I wanted to get informationabout sex or a body part, that's
what I would do.
And of course I would get wronginformation from my friends.
(01:29):
But I think about now the worldthat our kids are growing up in.
They have AI, they have Google,they have the opinions of the
world at their fingertips.
And so if we're not careful,that responsibility to answer
their question can easily shiftfrom us to the world.
(01:53):
And that's why we need to haveour guard up.
We have to be intentional aboutbeing their Google, about being
their AI bot.
We have to be the source.
And to do that, we have toanswer their questions.
Because if we don't, they have abackup plan.
I didn't.
I want to be honest.
(02:13):
When my kids were younger, I wasreally bad about them blurting
out a question and then me justpushing it under the rug because
I didn't know what to say.
Their questions scared me.
I was afraid I was going toanswer it wrong.
And so I really got into a badhabit of uh pushing things under
(02:37):
the rug and ignoring theirquestions.
In my life, I identified that asalmost being complacent.
There's actually a verse inProverbs that says, fools are
destroyed by their owncomplacency.
And this practice of answeringmy kids' questions, I really saw
(02:58):
myself getting complacent inthis area.
And that's dangerous becausethen it opens up my kids to
going to technology, to gettingthe answers, and it may be on
biblical answers that they get.
And for me in my home, that'snot what I wanted.
The other thing is this youknow, if your kid blurts out a
(03:22):
highly sexualized question andyou don't want to answer it, old
Mandy would be afraid to respondto those highly sexualizations
because I mean, what do I say?
How do I say it inage-appropriate terms?
What if I say too much too fastand scar them for life?
You know, there's that fearbuilt in.
(03:43):
But one day when we were drivingdown the road and my kid blurted
out a highly sexualized questionfrom the back seat, I truly felt
like the Holy Spirit spoke to myheart in that moment.
And this is what I heard.
What if your kid would haveGoogled that?
(04:04):
And immediately I thought itwould have taken my child to
pornography.
And because my child felt safeasking me, I actually saved that
child from pornography exposure.
And so it was almost like Godwas showing me how to shift my
mentality.
(04:25):
Instead of moving from when oldMandy would hear those
questions, I would get mad.
Why is there innocence beingstolen?
Like, why does the world have tobe so sexually?
I would go there and I wouldjust get bitter.
But I had to shift my mentalityto, oh my gosh, because my child
felt safe asking me thisquestion, I literally was able
(04:48):
to save my child frompornography.
And that shift really motivatedme then and empowered me to
start answering their questionsand being their source.
Now, I said this on an earliervideo.
If you have younger kids andthey blurt out a highly
sexualized question and youdon't know how to respond, it is
(05:08):
perfectly okay to say, honey,thank you so much for asking me.
Can I pray about how I want togive you this information?
Because it's a big question.
And I just want to make sure Igive you the right words and
description for your age, forwhat your mind needs right now
at this moment.
(05:30):
And typically kids will be like,sure, mom, sure.
But but listen, this is not anexcuse to sweep it under the
rug.
So what I used to do, if therewas a question that popped up
that I didn't know how toanswer, and I had this little,
you know, tool in my tool beltof, can I have a minute to pray
about this before we talk aboutit?
I would actually set an alarm onmy phone to come back in 24
(05:54):
hours.
And a lot of times, like kidslike to talk in the car
one-on-one, but also bedtime isa great time because the lights
are out.
You know, you can be rubbingyour child's back.
It's less intimidating and say,hey, are you ready to tackle
that question now?
Sometimes it's on the way toschool.
You have to discern when is agood time, but please go back
(06:15):
and answer their questions.
Because what it does is it tellsyour child that their questions
are important to you, that youtruly do want to be their source
of information.
I also want to say this aboutanswering their questions.
Make sure you're giving themaccurate information.
(06:36):
And what I mean by that is mymind flashes back to a story
when my kids were younger and itwas highly political, you know,
it was a political year and allkinds of information was out
there.
And I remember one time on theway to school, my kids asked me
a question about one of thecandidates.
And I just blurted out, well,this is what they stand for, or
(06:57):
this is what they support.
And honestly, a couple hourslater, after I dropped my kids
off at school, I realized, likeI saw an article, and it was the
wrong information, or it wasdifferent news media outlets
saying different things.
But in my mind, I thought, well,if my kid sees this news
(07:18):
article, she's gonna think thatI told her the wrong
information.
So actually that evening, I wentback to her and I said, Hey, you
know that question you asked methis morning about that
political candidate?
I just kind of told you what Ithought.
And I think that's what thisperson stands for.
But honestly, I did someresearch today and I saw some
(07:39):
news media outlets reporting itdifferently.
And I don't know, truly.
I think this person stands forthis, but we have different
outlets reporting differentthings.
And so I just wanted you to knowthat when you ask me a question,
I'm just trying to give you themthe most accurate information
that I have available.
(08:01):
And that really built acredibility in our home to where
my kids wanted to ask mequestions because they saw
through that experience that Iwas actually taking it
seriously.
I want to give you the correctinformation.
Also, this around politics or acertain belief system.
(08:22):
You know, for me, you know,we're Christians, so for our
home, the Bible is our moralcompass.
Sometimes my kids will ask mequestions and I will say, that's
a really difficult question.
Like, I don't know.
I'm not God, I get things wrongall the time, but why don't we
dig into scripture and see whatthat means together?
(08:46):
Right?
And kind of go on this journeyof learning and digging into
scripture and what would God sayabout this?
That's been cool too, because italso teaches my kids like I
don't know everything.
I'm trying to answer yourquestions, but I'm also human
and I'm not all-knowing, but Godis.
We have one in our life that wecan trust with everything.
(09:09):
And he thinks differently thanus, and he thinks bigger than
us.
He knows more than us.
And so we can really dig in hisword and try and figure out what
this means together.
I think that's a great way tolearn about God together and
grow in the word together as afamily.
Those are just a couple ofexamples that I wanted to share
(09:30):
with you about how important itis to answer their questions in
today's digital world.
As we talk about the next talk10, you can see how all of these
things work together to createthis formula to keep kids safe.
So, for example, this one,answer their questions.
(09:50):
This is very, very importantafter you implement the red flag
reporting, which we alreadydiscussed recently on another
show.
But these red flag reporting,it's a list of things you want
your kids to report to you.
And when they report them, oryou know, one of the things on
there is if there's a new wordor an idea that you don't know
(10:14):
what it means and you'recurious, a red flag alert should
go off in your brain to comehome and ask me.
So we're creating this list ofthings we want our kids to tell
us.
When they come home and they askus the questions or they report
something to us, you know, likeI went to the neighbor's house
(10:36):
and the neighbor girl pulleddown her pants, right?
Because body parts are on thereor on that reporting list, on
that red flag alert list.
So that would catch that.
We're creating an internalfilter for our kids.
As they're reporting these redflags to you, then the core
practice of avoiding crazyparent mode comes in because
(10:57):
it's always thank you so muchfor telling me, thank you so
much for asking me.
And then this core principlecomes in as far as we have to
answer their questions.
We have to dive deeper into whatthey're reporting to us and have
a conversation and disciple themon what this topic means.
(11:19):
So as we dive deeper and deeperinto these next top 10, you can
see how it all comes together tocreate a perfect formula on how
to build this new culture ofopen communication in your home.
So I want to encourage you.
I know it's scary sometimes toanswer their questions.
I know it breaks your heart whenthey actually ask you a highly
(11:43):
sexualized question or theyreport something to you that's
highly inappropriate.
I get it.
I understand that gut momentwhen you are just like, what in
the world?
I should not have to talk to myseven-year-old about this.
But I hope and pray after thisshow that you can shift your
thinking.
(12:03):
Because imagine yourseven-year-old carrying that all
alone.
Imagine your seven-year-old on ascreen by themselves searching
that.
You saved them from all of thatbecause you are answering their
questions.
So implement that red flagreporting, avoid crazy parent
(12:24):
mode, answer their questions,and then guess what?
You're building a safe place.
That process is building a safeplace.
That is why the Next Talk 10,these core practices, keep your
kids safe.
SPEAKER_00 (12:43):
Next Talk is a 501c3 nonprofit keeping kids safe
online.
To support our work, make adonation at next talk.org.
Next talk resources are notintended to replace the advice
of a trained healthcare or legalprofessional, or to diagnose,
treat, or otherwise renderexpert advice regarding any type
of medical, psychological,legal, financial, or other
problem.
You are advised to consult aqualified expert for your
(13:03):
personal treatment plan.
Welcome to the Next Talk Podcast.
We are a nonprofit passionateabout keeping kids safe online.
We're learning together how tonavigate tech, culture, and
faith with our kids.
Answer your child's questions.
That seems so simple, but it'spart of the next talk 10 for a
(00:24):
reason.
And if you recall, the next talk10 is like a formula to create a
culture of conversation in yourhome with the goal of keeping
your kids safe online, but alsojust in a digital world, an
overexposed world.
So even if you're not allowingtech, it keeps your kids safe
(00:48):
from anything they may beexposed to from other kids or
through conversations or on theplayground.
But today's topic is answeringtheir questions.
You know, I grew up in thegeneration where if I was
curious about something, I wouldmaybe ask a friend or like this
(01:08):
is gonna date me, but I wouldlook it up in an encyclopedia.
That's crazy to think about howfar we've come.
Makes me feel ancient, actually.
When I wanted to get informationabout sex or a body part, that's
what I would do.
And of course I would get wronginformation from my friends.
(01:29):
But I think about now the worldthat our kids are growing up in.
They have AI, they have Google,they have the opinions of the
world at their fingertips.
And so if we're not careful,that responsibility to answer
their question can easily shiftfrom us to the world.
(01:53):
And that's why we need to haveour guard up.
We have to be intentional aboutbeing their Google, about being
their AI bot.
We have to be the source.
And to do that, we have toanswer their questions.
Because if we don't, they have abackup plan.
I didn't.
I want to be honest.
(02:13):
When my kids were younger, I wasreally bad about them blurting
out a question and then me justpushing it under the rug because
I didn't know what to say.
Their questions scared me.
I was afraid I was going toanswer it wrong.
And so I really got into a badhabit of uh pushing things under
(02:37):
the rug and ignoring theirquestions.
In my life, I identified that asalmost being complacent.
There's actually a verse inProverbs that says, fools are
destroyed by their owncomplacency.
And this practice of answeringmy kids' questions, I really saw
(02:58):
myself getting complacent inthis area.
And that's dangerous becausethen it opens up my kids to
going to technology, to gettingthe answers, and it may be on
biblical answers that they get.
And for me in my home, that'snot what I wanted.
The other thing is this youknow, if your kid blurts out a
(03:22):
highly sexualized question andyou don't want to answer it, old
Mandy would be afraid to respondto those highly sexualizations
because I mean, what do I say?
How do I say it inage-appropriate terms?
What if I say too much too fastand scar them for life?
You know, there's that fearbuilt in.
(03:43):
But one day when we were drivingdown the road and my kid blurted
out a highly sexualized questionfrom the back seat, I truly felt
like the Holy Spirit spoke to myheart in that moment.
And this is what I heard.
What if your kid would haveGoogled that?
(04:04):
And immediately I thought itwould have taken my child to
pornography.
And because my child felt safeasking me, I actually saved that
child from pornography exposure.
And so it was almost like Godwas showing me how to shift my
mentality.
(04:25):
Instead of moving from when oldMandy would hear those
questions, I would get mad.
Why is there innocence beingstolen?
Like, why does the world have tobe so sexually?
I would go there and I wouldjust get bitter.
But I had to shift my mentalityto, oh my gosh, because my child
felt safe asking me thisquestion, I literally was able
(04:48):
to save my child frompornography.
And that shift really motivatedme then and empowered me to
start answering their questionsand being their source.
Now, I said this on an earliervideo.
If you have younger kids andthey blurt out a highly
sexualized question and youdon't know how to respond, it is
(05:08):
perfectly okay to say, honey,thank you so much for asking me.
Can I pray about how I want togive you this information?
Because it's a big question.
And I just want to make sure Igive you the right words and
description for your age, forwhat your mind needs right now
at this moment.
(05:30):
And typically kids will be like,sure, mom, sure.
But but listen, this is not anexcuse to sweep it under the
rug.
So what I used to do, if therewas a question that popped up
that I didn't know how toanswer, and I had this little,
you know, tool in my tool beltof, can I have a minute to pray
about this before we talk aboutit?
I would actually set an alarm onmy phone to come back in 24
(05:54):
hours.
And a lot of times, like kidslike to talk in the car
one-on-one, but also bedtime isa great time because the lights
are out.
You know, you can be rubbingyour child's back.
It's less intimidating and say,hey, are you ready to tackle
that question now?
Sometimes it's on the way toschool.
You have to discern when is agood time, but please go back
(06:15):
and answer their questions.
Because what it does is it tellsyour child that their questions
are important to you, that youtruly do want to be their source
of information.
I also want to say this aboutanswering their questions.
Make sure you're giving themaccurate information.
(06:36):
And what I mean by that is mymind flashes back to a story
when my kids were younger and itwas highly political, you know,
it was a political year and allkinds of information was out
there.
And I remember one time on theway to school, my kids asked me
a question about one of thecandidates.
And I just blurted out, well,this is what they stand for, or
(06:57):
this is what they support.
And honestly, a couple hourslater, after I dropped my kids
off at school, I realized, likeI saw an article, and it was the
wrong information, or it wasdifferent news media outlets
saying different things.
But in my mind, I thought, well,if my kid sees this news
(07:18):
article, she's gonna think thatI told her the wrong
information.
So actually that evening, I wentback to her and I said, Hey, you
know that question you asked methis morning about that
political candidate?
I just kind of told you what Ithought.
And I think that's what thisperson stands for.
But honestly, I did someresearch today and I saw some
(07:39):
news media outlets reporting itdifferently.
And I don't know, truly.
I think this person stands forthis, but we have different
outlets reporting differentthings.
And so I just wanted you to knowthat when you ask me a question,
I'm just trying to give you themthe most accurate information
that I have available.
(08:01):
And that really built acredibility in our home to where
my kids wanted to ask mequestions because they saw
through that experience that Iwas actually taking it
seriously.
I want to give you the correctinformation.
Also, this around politics or acertain belief system.
(08:22):
You know, for me, you know,we're Christians, so for our
home, the Bible is our moralcompass.
Sometimes my kids will ask mequestions and I will say, that's
a really difficult question.
Like, I don't know.
I'm not God, I get things wrongall the time, but why don't we
dig into scripture and see whatthat means together?
(08:46):
Right?
And kind of go on this journeyof learning and digging into
scripture and what would God sayabout this?
That's been cool too, because italso teaches my kids like I
don't know everything.
I'm trying to answer yourquestions, but I'm also human
and I'm not all-knowing, but Godis.
We have one in our life that wecan trust with everything.
(09:09):
And he thinks differently thanus, and he thinks bigger than
us.
He knows more than us.
And so we can really dig in hisword and try and figure out what
this means together.
I think that's a great way tolearn about God together and
grow in the word together as afamily.
Those are just a couple ofexamples that I wanted to share
(09:30):
with you about how important itis to answer their questions in
today's digital world.
As we talk about the next talk10, you can see how all of these
things work together to createthis formula to keep kids safe.
So, for example, this one,answer their questions.
(09:50):
This is very, very importantafter you implement the red flag
reporting, which we alreadydiscussed recently on another
show.
But these red flag reporting,it's a list of things you want
your kids to report to you.
And when they report them, oryou know, one of the things on
there is if there's a new wordor an idea that you don't know
(10:14):
what it means and you'recurious, a red flag alert should
go off in your brain to comehome and ask me.
So we're creating this list ofthings we want our kids to tell
us.
When they come home and they askus the questions or they report
something to us, you know, likeI went to the neighbor's house
(10:36):
and the neighbor girl pulleddown her pants, right?
Because body parts are on thereor on that reporting list, on
that red flag alert list.
So that would catch that.
We're creating an internalfilter for our kids.
As they're reporting these redflags to you, then the core
practice of avoiding crazyparent mode comes in because
(10:57):
it's always thank you so muchfor telling me, thank you so
much for asking me.
And then this core principlecomes in as far as we have to
answer their questions.
We have to dive deeper into whatthey're reporting to us and have
a conversation and disciple themon what this topic means.
(11:19):
So as we dive deeper and deeperinto these next top 10, you can
see how it all comes together tocreate a perfect formula on how
to build this new culture ofopen communication in your home.
So I want to encourage you.
I know it's scary sometimes toanswer their questions.
I know it breaks your heart whenthey actually ask you a highly
(11:43):
sexualized question or theyreport something to you that's
highly inappropriate.
I get it.
I understand that gut momentwhen you are just like, what in
the world?
I should not have to talk to myseven-year-old about this.
But I hope and pray after thisshow that you can shift your
thinking.
(12:03):
Because imagine yourseven-year-old carrying that all
alone.
Imagine your seven-year-old on ascreen by themselves searching
that.
You saved them from all of thatbecause you are answering their
questions.
So implement that red flagreporting, avoid crazy parent
(12:24):
mode, answer their questions,and then guess what?
You're building a safe place.
That process is building a safeplace.
That is why the Next Talk 10,these core practices, keep your
kids safe.
SPEAKER_00 (12:43):
Next Talk is a 501c3 nonprofit keeping kids safe
online.
To support our work, make adonation at next talk.org.
Next talk resources are notintended to replace the advice
of a trained healthcare or legalprofessional, or to diagnose,
treat, or otherwise renderexpert advice regarding any type
of medical, psychological,legal, financial, or other
problem.
You are advised to consult aqualified expert for your
(13:03):
personal treatment plan.
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