Protect your child’s email experience with Tocomail for iOS

There’s always a degree of tension present when it comes to technology and children; what’s appropriate and safe for a savvy 10-year-old may be nothing but trouble for a less-responsible teenager, and only an involved and vigilant parent or caregiver can make decisions about what works for a particular kid and family dynamic.

While most parent agita centers around social networking, bullying/abuse and photography (what I like to call the “unholy Snapchat trinity”), even the question of whether young kids or tweens should have their own email accounts may raise eyebrows.

Providing safe and secure email experiences for kids is the business of lots of services, including some that have come and gone over time (this PC World article references our parent company AOL’s former AOL Kids offering, which was sunsetted back in July of last year.) Tools like Zoobuh (US$1 a month per kid) deliver filters, monitoring and granular control for younger email users.

While parents can and do set up regular email accounts for kids, most consumer services have a minimum age limit like Google/Gmail’s 13-and-up rule. Trying to slide by on that may result in your child’s account being suspended at the worst possible time (like when a key assignment is due or a big birthday party is coming up). And maybe it’s not the best lesson regarding integrity and honesty when you have to warn your child to consistently lie about her birthdate lest the Google FBI (family birthday investigators) throw her into juvenile digital detention.

Read more: Protect your child’s email experience with Tocomail for iOS