I was in the CIA and FBI – I’d NEVER let my child do these seven things

• Tracy Schandler Walder, 44, from Texas, used to work in counterterrorism 
• The author now breaks down world and crime news on Instagram and TikTok
• In a recent video, she listed some of the precautions she takes as a mother  

A former CIA officer and FBI special agent has lifted the lid on the seven things she would never let her eight-year-old daughter do given her past professions. 

Tracy Schandler Walder, 44, from Texas, previously worked as a staff operations officer at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center and as a special agent at the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. 

The Unexpected Spy author and news contributor is known as @theunexpectedspy on Instagram and TikTok, where she breaks down world and crime news. 

In a recent video, Schandler Walder listed some of the precautions she takes as a parent and ex-spy, warning in the caption that she ‘might ruffle some feathers with this one.’ 

Tracy Schandler Walder, 44, from Texas, revealed the seven things she would never let her child do as a former CIA officer and FBI agent in a video shared on Instagram 

The mom explained that she would never let her eight-year-old daughter go to sleep away camp, walk home by herself, or use public restrooms by herself 

The news contributor noted that she always Googles all of her daughter’s teachers and coaches because ‘social history’ doesn’t come up on background checks 

First and foremost, she said that she would not let her daughter go to sleep away camp because she thinks she is too young. 

‘She’s not at an age that I am comfortable having her do that yet,’ she explained. 

The mother of one went on to share that she does not have a gun in her home, despite her time in the CIA and FBI, saying, ‘It’s just something that I choose not to do.’ 

‘I will always, always, always lock up all of my prescription medication and my alcohol,’ she continued. 

When she got to the fourth thing she does to protect her daughter, she admitted that ‘this one may be unpopular.’    

‘I will always Google all of the teachers that she has, any teacher or coach that is in her life, as well as the parents,’ she said. 

Schandler Walder noted that while she is aware that teachers get background checks, she ‘wants to understand what their social history is like.’

‘Those things don’t come up on a background check,’ she explained.

A post shared by Tracy Schandler Walder (@theunexpectedspy)

Schandler Walder was a student at the University of Southern California when she was recruited by the CIA at a job fair. She is pictured on the day she left for the CIA in May 2000

After leaving the CIA, she became an FBI special agent specializing in Chinese counterintelligence operations. She is pictured on the day she graduated from Quantico 

Schandler Walder wrote about her experiences in counterterrorism in her book, The Unexpected Spy, which was published in 2020

Continuing her list, she said that she would not let her daughter ‘walk to and from school by herself.’  

‘I also would not let her use the bathroom in a restaurant or any kind of public place by herself. I always go with her,’ she added. 

TRACY’S SAFETY TIPS 

The mom concluded her video by saying her daughter is also at an age where she does ‘not let her play unsupervised without an adult present.’ 

Schandler Walder was a student at the University of Southern California and a Delta Gamma sorority sister when she was recruited by the CIA at a job fair. 

She spent the next five years ‘assuming aliases, thwarting terrorist attacks, and hiding in the trunks of cars on her way to debrief terrorists at black sites’ as a covert operative for CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, according to her website. 

After leaving the CIA, she became an FBI special agent specializing in Chinese counterintelligence operations. 

Schandler Walder wrote about her experiences in counterterrorism in her book, The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists, which was published in 2020. 

Many commenters praised her for the safety tips she shared in her recent video, and some added that they take similar precautions with their own children.  

‘You are a great parent. No one should dispute these tips,’ one person wrote. 

‘I always be stalking people who are in my kids’ lives, no sleepovers, monitor internet, only my teen has a phone and more … my kids will not become a statistic if I can at all help it! (And they never go to public restroom alone EVER),’ another explained. 

‘I love number 4 the most. That’s very CIA and I am on board,’ someone else responded. 

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