Tuesday, May 22, 2012

KidsEmail to Save the Day!

For the past year Caleb has repeatedly asked me to start emailing. At first I thought it was a great idea and went right to Google to get him a gmail account. I quickly realized that he was too young to even legally have one. But as I went through the process I became aware that it was for his protection. My spam box is consistently filled with inappropriate and immoral words, pictures, and links. In addition to my spam, occasionally one of these emails actually makes it to my inbox. This brought the realization that email, which is such a wonderful tool to communicate, can also be used to lure my son to places with lifelong repercussions.
A few weeks ago, Caleb revisited the topic of email with me, and so I started to research. I was thrilled when I found KidsEmail. I started with their free 30 trial to see if it was a good fit for us, and I quickly fell in love with the site. It is extremely easy to use and keeps Caleb safe while using email. One of my favorite benefits is that I control the levels of protection. As this is a new privilege of Caleb's, I currently have set stronger controls. However as he gets older and proves himself to make wise choices, I can slowly ease back allowing him to gain more responsibility. For example, I have set specific contacts in his address book that he can send to or receives emails from. Anyone else that sends an email will first come to my personal inbox for approval. In addition, the program will filter out any inappropriate words or images. You can find the full list of features here.
When Caleb was a preschooler, I would teach him to "run from temptation." I literally would grab him by the hand when he was about to get into mischief and would would run to another spot. I love that this tool completely removes the temptation and still allows Caleb to grow in communication and technology while having fun. Try out KidsEmail today... it's free for 30 days... and tell me what you think!
http://www.kidsemail.org