August 4, 2007 11:18 PM
email for kids
Barbara, Our 12 yr. old daughter would like her own email address. Do you know of any family friendly free accounts out there? I have a yahoo account but not always happy about the spam and ads -- any suggestions for my daughter? Thanks! Beth
I'm throwing this out for readers. My family is on gmail now. So far I have found nothing objectionable here. We had been using AOL which has parental controls, so this reminds me I actually need to get some kind of filter.
I have gmail accounts to give away, so if anyone wants one, ask me and I'll send you an invitation.
Posted in Teens and Tweens | Permalink
Comments
Try this article:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11344_7-6424378-9.html
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Do you wish for your child to simply have an email account or to have access to the internet too ?
If you simply want an email account and don't want your child to visit other websites, you can set up an email account at www.gmail.com (It's open to all - no invitation needed) and then configure your email client (Outlook Express, Thunderbird...) for that account. Moreover you can install a few spam filters for these email clients to delete spam.
However, if your child wishes to access other websites too, then you will have to configure your web browser(Internet Explorer, Firefox ...) so that offensive websites are blocked. There are filters/firewalls available that allow/disallow access to websites.
Children usually sign up at websites like MySpace, Facebook and make friends. Some users at these websites can post messages and pictures which may not be suitable for 12 year old children.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 5, 2007 5:21 AM
We have 8 children, ranging in age from 6-14. So far, we really haven't let them on the internet. Occasionally, our boys visit lego.com and our older girls like briomag.com -- but they are not allowed to get on the internet without my permission. And, when they do get on, it's for a limited time and I'm right in the room while they are there -- I've warned them about clicking on photos or links that they're not sure of. We homeschool, and I would like them to use the internet more this year -- so we really need to explore filters, etc. Our internet provider is comcast -- but I've always had a yahoo account. I'm just not happy about the advertisements and spam I see through yahoo, though. I'd like to look into something else. So, maybe I will check out gmail. Thanks for your advice!
Beth
Posted by: Beth | August 5, 2007 4:30 PM
We went through this dilemma this spring. With Gmail I found some manipulations you could do to make sure there is not spam that could get through, but frankly it looked very complicated and I am not technical enough to understand it. After much research, I found that the only way to really have a safe email is with one of the paid services. They are very cheap, about $3 a month, and very effective. We haven't had any problems at all. We chose Zilladog.com because it has this kid friendly home page type website that goes with it, but if you want more limited web visibility, Zooba and Kidsmail were also on the top of our list. Good luck!
Posted by: Christine | August 6, 2007 12:08 PM
