How to keep children safe in the modern world: advice from a former CIA agent

There are things you should never allow your children to do if you want to keep them safe. A former CIA operative and FBI agent has spoken out about her incredibly strict child safety policies, including background checks on teachers, reports Daily Mail.

Tracy Walder, 44, of Dallas, Texas, spent several years as a spy, even working in a counterterrorism center during 11/XNUMX and traveling abroad several times to carry out secret missions.

She recently addressed the difficult topic of child safety by posting a video on her TikTok in which she revealed the extreme lengths she goes to to keep her own eight-year-old daughter safe.

In the video, the woman shared her tips, including how to Google check your child's teachers and coaches. She explained that she prohibits the child from staying overnight at camp, walking to and from school on his own, going to the bathroom alone in public, or playing unsupervised. The caring mother added that she always locks up her prescription drugs and alcohol and would never keep a gun in the house.

@theunexpectedspy I might ruffle some feathers with this one, but here are 7 things i would never let my kid 8 year old do #cia #ciaofficer #ciaagent #fbi #fbiagent #safetytipsforgirls #safetytipsforkids #kidsafetyontiktok #kidssafetytips ♬ original sound – Tracy Walder

Don't trust and check

Speaking about one of her more surprising tactics, Tracy said that she always Googles the parents of her daughter's friends, as well as all of her teachers and coaches. In her video, Tracy admitted that while doing a thorough Google search may be “unpopular,” she does it to “understand what a person's social history is,” as that is not taken into account when searching for information when applying for a job.

The former CIA agent remains vigilant when it comes to her daughter's surroundings. Tracy asks people around her daughter to find out more about them. “I also check them through BeenVerified, Intelius, and search for federal court cases in PACER, a free federal case search engine,” she admitted.

On the subject: How to protect yourself on the Internet: advice from Edward Snowden

During her search, Tracy discovered that some of them had not only financial, but also personal problems. “Social history is very important,” she explained.

“One of my daughter’s teachers was friends with me on social media, and I always found his social media to be weird—not criminal, just weird. He constantly talked about how he hated his job and how he was always partying.” The man is now in prison, sentenced to 20 years on federal pornography charges.

Don't trust anyone

When it comes to her own children, Tracy has a simple opinion: trust absolutely no one. “I mean, don’t trust anyone, ever,” she admits. “Trust must be earned; it is never given blindly and immediately.”

Some people find her point of view on trust offensive because no one wants to think that they are not trusted. “I have a lot of wonderful, trusted friends, and my daughter has some very trusted teachers, but I never trust people right away.”

Posting the video online to her 12 followers, she received more than 800 likes and hundreds of comments. Most subscribers supported the methods, admired her ways to ensure safety and thanked her for her advice.

Tracy worked for the CIA for five years and then became an FBI special agent, which she says is “very rare for a woman.” Although she “loved the counterterrorism mission,” she did not want to stay overseas any longer.

Tracey admitted that because of her experience, she now wants to focus on “protecting” her baby. In recent years, she has traded her active field work for a desk job in Homeland Security.