Back-to-School Safety Tips Every Parent Needs with Cathy Pedrayes
Cathy Pedrayes, TikTok’s “Mom Friend” and author of The Mom Friend Guide to Everyday Safety and Security, returns to The Running Wine Mom with practical back-to-school safety tips every parent can use without adding more fear to the school-year chaos.
Host Samantha Cieslinski and Cathy talk about safer first-day photos, personalized backpacks, school data privacy, cyberattacks, phishing attempts, group chats, Snapchat, location sharing, and the one habit Cathy says matters most: keeping honest conversations open with your kids.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- What not to reveal in first-day-of-school photos, including names, schools, birthdays, and other identifying details.
- How to think about personalized backpacks and lunchboxes based on your child’s age, routine, and level of supervision.
- What parents should know about school apps, portals, school-issued devices, passwords, and two-factor authentication.
- How school cyberattacks can create follow-up phishing risks for families, and why unexpected school texts and links deserve a second look.
- Why every additional app can create new privacy, security, and social risks for kids.
- How a “no trouble for telling the truth and asking for help” approach can keep kids talking when something goes wrong online.
Episode chapters
- 00:00 , Welcome back, Cathy Pedrayes
- 00:59 , First-day-of-school photos: what not to post online
- 03:47 , Are personalized backpacks with kids’ names safe?
- 05:34 , School data privacy: apps, portals, and school-issued devices
- 07:21 , School cyberattacks and ransomware: what parents should do
- 11:55 , School group chats, Snapchat, and location sharing
- 16:25 , Cathy’s most important back-to-school safety takeaway
- 19:07 , Where to find Cathy
Links and resources
- Cathy Pedrayes: Follow @cathypedrayes on TikTok and Instagram.
- The Mom Friend Guide to Everyday Safety and Security
- CISA K–12 Cybersecurity Foundations Resource Package
- Episode 75: How to Stay Safe Online in a Digital World
- The Running Wine Mom on Apple Podcasts
- Samantha Cieslinski: Follow @therunningwinemom_ on Instagram.
If this episode helped you, share it with a mom who needs to hear it, subscribe to The Running Wine Mom, and leave a review. You are strong, you are capable, and you are amazing. Cheers!
