Protecting Kids Online: KidsEmail.org Email for Kids Review

When I was in college, a professor asked everyone in the class to add our email addresses to our contact information.  Um.  Email?  I didn’t have a computer at home "back then" and didn’t even realize that the university “gave” each student a university email address!  Fast forward 15 years and my kindergartener requested her own email account!  I will be honest—the thought of a 5 year old exposed to all that is the world around us (in a nanosecond) terrified me.  As we approach summer break, our girls are swapping emails, phone numbers for texting, and IM details with everyone at school.  My girls are too young for Facebook and Myspace—but, email is still a must.  How can you keep the kids safe (easily) online?  I recently had the opportunity to review the features and tools available at KidsEmail.org .  What did the girls and I think of this online email service for kids (and parents)?

We partnered with KidsEmail.org to facilitate this review--but, all opinions and experiences are our own.

Internet and email is no longer optional for kids.  My third grader was requested to email her assignments to her teacher.  It was assumed that the 8 year old had a personal email account.  My 5^th grader was asked for her email as preferred communication with her school orchestra.  My kindergartner asked for an email address to communicate with friends because their schedules didn’t mesh well for evening phone calls or playdates during the week.  While access to technology for kids is a must—protecting our kids is a more important necessity.  How does KidsEmail.org stand up to other email service providers?

KidsEmail.org is extremely parent friendly.  In less than 10 minutes, literally, I set up my parent account and the user accounts for both of my daughters and selected from an assortment of online safety features that I felt valuable for both girls relative to their ages and email usage.  The site operates flawlessly.  My account confirmation email for setup arrived in seconds—and every email safety option that I want as a parent is available at the click of a button.

What are some of the safety features available for families from KidsEmail.org?

• Allow child to only receive and send emails from those in their contact list
• Email a copy of incoming and outgoing messages to the parent
• Remove images within emails
• Remove links within emails
• Only allow specific attachment types such as: images, pictures, video, mp3s, zip, pdf, Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.
• Allow a parent to approve or deny any email sent to your children via the mail queue
• Filter out offensive words found in incoming emails
• Spam filtering
• Kids can modify the look and feel of their account by choosing from several fun templates--even ones designed with older kids in mind
• A simple mode for young children as well as an advance mode for slightly older kids
• Time restrictions to limit days and times when children may login--grounding and punishment times may even be set up!

Additionally—I am able to have both incoming and outgoing email messages from the girls’ accounts forwarded to my personal email account.  That may sound a little extreme—and, I’m sure it’s considered quite the invasion of privacy—however, my job is to keep my daughters safe—and the only way that I can do that effectively is by staying in the loop.  Will I read every message?  Of course not.  Will I read messages from senders who concern me? You bet I will. 

I love that the site blocks ads from users.  This is truly a huge advantage of a paid email service provider.  My daughters will not see the latest dating sites or the latest medical breakthroughs in sexual enhancement. 

Another feature that I love about this program is the GPS Tracker.  This functionality is currently only available for Android Mobile Devices via the mobile app—which we also reviewed--but, I think this is a great feature that I hope is extended to include other mobile devices soon since my girls are more inclined to pick up the iPad these days.

How is the price of KidsEmail.org ?  Currently, users may purchase a full annual subscription for $2.99/month billed at $38.95 for the year.  This provides an easy to use, easy to monitor, ad free, email interface for families.  This is actually much less than I pay for several of our online game site subscriptions.   Certainly, there are free email service providers available that offer some of these safety features—but, I will be honest—this is the best, all-in-one program that I’ve found (at this price)—that is both easy to set up and easy to monitor.

Would we recommend KidsEmail.org?  I wish that a program like KidsEmail.org had been available when my oldest (now 19) was a beginning email user.  I spent SO much time trying different programs, filters, and software to protect her even minimally online.  My younger girls see all of the functionality of grown-up email programs—my tween even has a kmail.org address rather than a kidsmail.org address to make it seem a bit more “grown up”—and I see a quick and easy to use program to help me monitor my girls online.  We usually find something that either the girls or their Dad and I dislike about such programs--but, not with this site.  It offers so many safety features, all in one program, that we have pieced together from multiple sources over the years--that the time saved by this one-stop-shop, email service for kids is invaluable to busy parents.

Ready to register for a KidsEmail.org account?  If you think that KidsEmail.org may be right for your family—the site offers a 30-day, no obligation, no credit card required for registration, free trial.  It is available in Android, iOS, and web platforms so our iPod, iPad, Kindle Fire, and Google App connected kiddoes can enjoy the service as well.  Once your free trial period ends--you can choose the subscription terms best for you and pay via credit card or Paypal.

Learn More about KidsEmail.org & set up your free trial by visiting KidsEmail.org

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Disclaimer.  This review is brought to you by KidsEmail.org.   All opinions and experiences are our own and were not influenced by the reviewer.