What has always bothered me, and the same holds true for non-technology related issues, is what my kids could be exposed to via their friends of so-called friends. In other words, I feel confident that my husband and I have tried to raise children who can decipher between right and wrong. What they become exposed to in the wider world is what is most disconcerting. I would hope they would make good choices and come and see us if they have any questions. However, the reality is most kids, through curiosity, serendipity or sheer naievete will venture into choppy waters from time to time. The internet has made this puddle into a vast ocean.
Enter Kids Email. A smartly-conceived technology that helps parents place some structure and parameters on their children’s online behaviours and choices. As the single mom of a teen boy told me during a recent interview, “searching your kids’ room is something all parents will have to do at one point, whether they like it or not.” In this case, she was talking about drugs, which she found and was then able to deal with.
KidsEmail is no different, providing some detective-like features and controls to give parents some peace of mind about what their kids are exposed to online. We take this ‘inappropriate’ messaging for granted — visual pollution that comes in the form of racy or suggestive web ads, coarse language, questionable poses, spam messaging, etc. Why expose children to that if they don’t need to be or more importantly BEFORE they should be?
KidsEmail has thought about how to give parents’ some peace of mind when it comes how their kids communicate via email, whom they chat with and what they connect about.
With email being one of the first touch points for kids as they journey into technology, the premise, mission and objective of KidsEmail is both important and necessary.
Respect for themselves and others on email will hopefully translate into respectful children and young adults. If nothing else, it may well preserve some childhood innocence — for a little while longer, anyway.
