Email for kids

Started by DCurry, March 12, 2016, 03:44:28 PM

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DCurry

Does anyone use a dedicated service specifically for kids email? I know there's a few out there, but wondering if anyone has any personal experience with them. Not necessarily looking for free - it can be a paid service. Just looking for a good way to monitor what's going on. We've been letting my daughter use our email accounts, but it's getting a little burdensome to have her stuff clogging our inbox and I'm not ready to turn her loose with her own Gmail yet.

I think I'm an anomaly these days - my kids (5 and 13) do not have cell phones or tablets of their own. The 13-year-old has an old deactivated iPhone that she uses as an iPod, but I do not have it on the network so it can't be used to surf. The only way the kids can get online in my house is on our family iMac, which is in a public location. So far, no problems, but I remember what it was like to be 13! (I swear I'm not a prude in my regular life, but when it comes to the kids I am!)

Prinect • Signa Station • XMPie

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a night. But set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life!

StudioMonkey

You could set up a dedicated service for your kids' email, but after a while you would get twitchy wondering who they're emailing.  You would then set up a mirroring routine so all their emails get sent to your email.  And then you would STILL have all their stuff clogging your inbox.  But hey, at least your daughter would THINK she's not being monitored. Until she finds out.
Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana

DCurry

She knows she is and will be monitored. Your description of what is possible is exactly why I want to use one of the existing dedicated services out there.
Prinect • Signa Station • XMPie

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a night. But set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life!

wonderings

This might be something worth looking into:
https://kindera.com

I have not used it but we printed from them a while back, looked interesting. I guess it plugs into the router and then creates a custom network that you can control and monitor. So your kids would connect to this network rather then your main home network. I believe you can set usage times, block sites, see what they are looking at, etc etc. I  have not used it, have no kids, but did a little reading on it and it does some interesting.

mwc

Just an idea, look at setting up her own gmail account, then in the setting for the account you can turn on account delegation for that account to your account.

This gives you access to the account from you main account without having to forward everything to your account. (Although you can still do this if you set up filters to forward all messages).

This allows you to access her account without having to login to it separately, you use your main account and you can select her account to look/monitor.

Of course, you should always have her account password to force a login (setting up 'rules' with her not to alter the account, but this would only be needed to setup the delegation settings.

mwc

plus, have a look at your router and computer parental controls to control the online time(s) and safe sites to visit.

delooch

my 9 and 11 year olds have gmail accounts.. surprisingly i grabbed their names while they are still available.
with the g-accounts i can monitor all their shit, especially youtube. they have to log thier gmail accounts if they want to use the browser. 
it doesnt keep them from anything, but i know exactly what they are doing and what they are seeing.
for the most part they are good kids, dont stray to what they shouldnt, but that shit is force fed to you in some corners..

they introduced me to Marlon Webb Vines, check that shit out, some funny crap, most likely inappropriate, but harmless, they know better.