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What do I need to know about email?
No doubt you use email, either at home or at work, so we won’t go into the details of the technology itself. Suffice to say, you’ll understand what a useful communications tool it is.
But you probably acknowledge that there are also some annoyances when it comes to email – perhaps you’ve been spammed, picked up a virus or been the target of an identity thief.
These potential risks, along with others such as cyberbullying, can make younger email users vulnerable.
What can I do?
- Set up Parental Controls based on your child’s age and maturity (if you have younger children, you might decide that they can only email people your family knows, for example). But remember, Parental Controls might not be 100% effective and they aren’t a substitute for parental supervision
- Make sure your son or daughter has a strong password (containing a mixture of letters, digits and symbols) set up on their email account and that they don’t share it with anyone
- Explain to them why it’s important to keep personal information, such as their name, address and school, to themselves
- Encourage your child to only give their email address to people they know and trust and to never respond to emails from strangers
- Read our articles about cyberbullying, identity theft, inappropriate content, online grooming, privacy, security and spam & scams for further advice
- Learn about managing reputation and sexting so that you can talk to your son or daughter about how they should use email responsibly
- Explain to your child that companies might contact them via email – you can find more information in our articles about online advertising and spam & scams
Where can I go for more information and support?
- Visit the Chatdanger website for email safety advice
FAQs related to this article
Find out more about Parental Controls
How old are your kids?
What you need to know to get started
- 5-7 years old
Technology is part of your child's life before they start primary school. They're probably using the computer, the internet and interactive TV for fun - watching programmes on the CBeebies channel and website or taking part in the Club Penguin chat rooms...but they still need adult guidance and supervision.
- 8-11 years old
If you have 8-11 year old children, your house is probably full of technology - PlayStation, Nintendo, iPod...the list goes on. In fact, research shows that 8-11 year olds in the UK have an average of four media devices in their bedroom.
This is a crucial age for young people to embrace new technologies and develop their ICT skills both at home and at school...and it's a crucial time for you to take control when they start exploring the digital world as well as the real world.
- 12-14 years old
They're at secondary school and growing up fast. It's a time of change and their digital world might seem as important as the real world to them. They might spend their evenings on Bebo, Facebook or MySpace ; watching videos on YouTube and uploading their own for others to watch; or doing research for their homework.
You want to encourage their technology and social skills, of course, so it's useful to understand what they're doing with technology and to get involved with it.
- 15+ years old
Once your children are teenagers, it might be tempting to think that they're tech-savvy and dealing with everything the virtual world can throw at them. You probably watch in awe as they switch from chatting with friends on Facebook to updating their Twitter profile; playing against someone on the other side of the world on their games console to downloading music on their mobile.
It's all great fun but, as they get older, the things you need to help them to cope with in their digital world are ever more challenging. Far from leaving them to it, you really need to keep communicating with them.
How much do you know?
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