Children and email

[Daneel]

I didn't have an e-mail address until I was 19... Oh, and did I mention this was in 2002? Yeah, I was quite a late-bloomer to this whole internet thing, but that was largely due to my parents not getting a computer (and, years later, internet access) until quite a while after it was fashionable -- and common. Somehow, I managed to get by though; I really didn't need e-mail for anything before I went to university, and when I got there, I just used the one the school provided for me.

As for the age at which a child should have e-mail: depending on the child's intelligence and maturity level, I'd say somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12 would be okay. I would suggest, if the parent doesn't plan to supervise their child's internet time extensively, that they educate the kid about the dangers of the internet (i.e. predators) and make sure they never, ever give out personal information or agree to meet a stranger.

 

[kustirider2]

I got an email adress when I was 13. It wasn't anyone stopping me getting one, It's just that I didn't realise that each house could have multiple adresses (I thought they were all stored in some kind of archive somewhere )

I've got more than 20 now, The majority are when i'm signing up for something to get something else free (Like the facebook mafia wars points), or if i've forgot the passwords. I also have some for my cat (Yeah, He has his own FB account.. I'm that wierd) and a few of some 'imaginary' people I created (That I signed up for a dating website hoax, between me and a few people )

 

[RevDMV]

My oldest is nine and he has a Gmail account. We gave him one initially to communicate with a cousin across the country. He also has a classmate that he sent email to on occasion.

He only has access to it now after we check and confirm he has approved mail and make sure nothing else is in the in-box.

Yeah, I have a cousin that's maybe nine who has an e-mail address. He comes from a family of very tech-savvy people, but I'm sure he doesn't do a whole lot of e-mailing anyway.

It was actually really cute, I got a happy birthday e-mail from him once and it was the most formal e-mail I've ever seen. He even signed off using "Sincerely"! Clearly my aunt was sitting behind him dictating the whole thing to him.

Opposite of my son, he found the emoticons and went wild.