How to safely introduce your child to email

The following is a sponsored post with KidsEmail. While I have been compensated for this review, all opinions are my own.

When my son started school last year, I was a little surprised at the amount of technology they were teaching him, but so grateful that his school had the ability to provide the teaching he needed. And when he started first grade this year, I felt a little disbelief that every first grader had a dedicated iPad to use during the school year. (In the next couple of years he’ll be issued a laptop through the school!) He understands more about the internet than I ever did when I was in high school (considering it was still a very new “thing”) and I never imagined he would have an email account at age 7, but here we are. 

The last thing I want to do is issue my son an email account that he could potentially keep me from accessing, so I decided to try KidsEmail for his first email. KidsEmail is designed for kids and gives parents a peace of mind – as much peace of mind you can have when your child is accessing the internet. They have several safeguards in place to protect our kids, and features so I can restrict my son’s usage. 

In order to even access the internet, my son has to log onto one of our home computers – and both are password protected. Or he has to have one of our iPhones. I know that he won’t be able to get online without our help for a while. Even when he has my phone, I put it in airplane mode. One of the features with KidsEmail is the ability to keep your child from logging into their account during certain days and times. Say, for instance, I want to keep him out of his email during school hours. I can do that. 

I can also get copies of emails he receives and sends. He doesn’t realize that I have this access, but he’s 7. He’s not sending top secret emails at this age. 

There are several other pros to using KidsEmail:

1. No Ads. I don’t have to worry about random advertisements appearing at the top of his email, looking like a normal email. 
2. The spam filters are strong. He shouldn’t receive inappropriate emails. 
3. I can control his contact list. I can add email addresses that I don’t mind him connecting with (like grandparents, his aunt or uncle, and of course me and my husband.) 
4. Availability. KidsEmail is available through the Apple app store, the Android app store and on the Kindle Fire. We have an extra Fire that I’m contemplating installing the app on, so he might be able to use that on occasion.
5. Filters. KidsEmail has an offensive word filter set up. While my son doesn’t use these words (yet – I know that day is coming), we can control what ends up in his inbox. 

I want my son to have some freedom, but also to be safe. I also want him to learn about email in a safe way. I remember email being so fun when I first started my account. It can be a fun, and useful tool. We, as parents, need to guide our kids in the best and safest way possible, and I love that KidsEmail is helping with that. 

You can try KidsEmail for 30 days (free!) and subscribe for a year of email for just under $40/year. 

And I’m giving away three subscriptions for a year of KidsEmail – just enter through the Rafflecopter below! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do you remember your first email account? What tips would you have for kids just starting out in the world of email?