At what age should I allow my kids to have an e-mail address?

[mando]

My kids ages are 14 ,12, and 10 and they are bugging me about having an e-mail address. I personally think its not time for them yet becouse of all the dangers of the internet. I think maybe at least when they are 16 . Any suggestion?

[@ng]

My daughter is 10 and she has one. Mainly to keep in touch with her father and his side of the family. Snail mail is just not a good option. However, I do have strict watch over it. I know her password and check through it frequently. I have her spam levels high. Her account is linked to mine. You just have to be very protective of the account no matter what the age.

[Miss. Skyla (:]

What dangers? Tell them to talk to family and friends and never give out personal information over the internet. I have had my eamil address since i was 7, let the kids breathe a little. When they are 16 they move out in 2 years, come on, i am 15 and had one since i was 7, i am perfectally fine, i don't have a baby, im still a virgin, i help my mom raise my 5 brothers and sister, im perfectally fine, let em have one.

[L.P.M]

Are you serious?! like 5 is old enough. you should trust your kids more. if not then let them have a email adress but check thier emails if it bothers you that much...

[Toxiicpandaa]

Now. All the internet creepers flocked to myspace years ago. Just tell them not to talk to strangers blah blah blah.

[ILoveLA]

what dangers can they be if you teach them to use it responsibly?

also, make them give you their password and you can check it every now and then. (not go through reading every email and getting into their business - unless you suspect drug use or something serious like that)

[Edward Hughes]

12 and 14 is fine to have an email address. 10 I'm not so sure. Who would the 10 year old be emailing? If it's just schoolfriends and relatives, then the 10 year old can have an email account, but you should have the password to it, and the child should not have the password to it. That means that when they want to check their email or send email, they are doing it "with" you.

However, sending and receiving email is usually the first step on to other things. Lots of instant chat services use an email address as the user's identity. Lots of social networking sites require an email address in order to sign up. Most of your kids' friends probably use some of these sites already. These sites are not intended for children under 13, and they are full of people who WILL stalk your child.

The most dangerous aspect of online contact for kids is access to a webcam. Do not ever allow a child under 16 to have unsupervised access to a webcam. Not even for ten minutes.

Also think very carefully if your kids have access to camera phones that might get them in trouble through "sexting".

Email addresses are not dangerous, but other things can be.

If your kids go to http://www.hotmail.com they could create an email address for themselves without you even knowing...

It sounds like you have some control over, and knowledge about, what your kids do (and don't do) online, and that is a great thing. Most parents just don't take the slightest interest.

Trying to keep your kids off the internet forever will not work. Give them permission to do things online so long as you are able to monitor what goes on, and are actively involved. If you can, make it impossible for them to be online when you are not in the house. Teach them about fakes and predators online, show them round a few YouTube or Facebook profiles and ask them to spot the friends/subscribers that are obviously suspicious. Make sure they understand that predators target boys as well as girls, and that pictures and even live video can all be faked.

If you really want to know what happens online with kids this age, look here - http://www.webcamsafety.org/

[Luckypoison998]

Um, I would say ten. A lot of teachers are now giving home work out through e-mail. Also, it can help them stay in touch with relatives that live far away. My parents live in Florida and as soon as my girls are old enough, they will have e-mail addresses so they can write to Nana and Papa (we live in New York). I also have a sister in North Carolina, and my in-laws live in Canada. When families are spread out, you have to stay connected. Give them an e-mail adress-even if it's just one and they can only use it for family and schools.

[Bob Crans]

I have been down this road before. My kids have access to the internet, but I monitor them. I don't do this to spy on them purposely, it's the other side of the computer I am worried about on the internet. I monitor them occasionally, not like a hawk when I first started.
Try getting some computer keylogger software. I got Spy Agent and it works for my wife and I.

Try this site:

http://computerkeyloggers.com

Hope that helps!