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elementary school kids with email accounts
At what age do kids start emailing/face-timing these days? and what guidelines would you typically use for 4th graders using ipads/itouch?
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Posted 3/5/13 11:28 AM  |
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rojerono
Happiest.
Member since 8/06 13803 total posts
Name:
Jeannie
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
Noah is in 4th grade and does not have e-mail access. He also has parental controls on his Kindle and does not own i-anything. I don't think he's 'ready' from a maturity standpoint.
Robbie - on the other hand - had an iTouch in 4th grade and an e-mail to go with it (to register the thing). Last year I allowed him to have Instagram and FB. The rules are simple.. I have access all the time to everything at anytime. If I find anything inappropriate or distasteful - it gets deleted and he gets punished. I also 'follow' him on any account he has so I can always see what's going on. And he can't 'block' me. He was so unhappy with my level of scrutiny that he just doesn't use any of his accounts at all anymore!!
I don't know when 'most' kids start this type of thing... but just about all of his friends have FB, Instagram, Skype, FaceTime, etc.. and they are in 6th grade. Most of them had access last year as well. He complains daily that they all have more than he does - including cell phones (he doesn't have one because I just don't see a need for it!)
Message edited 3/5/2013 1:40:43 PM.
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| Posted 3/5/13 1:38 PM |
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
Thanks, good to know. It's like we're facing stuff that there are no guidelines for. I don't see the need for a cell phone or email account at age 8/9 but a lot of my daughters friends have both.
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| Posted 3/5/13 1:46 PM |
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rojerono
Happiest.
Member since 8/06 13803 total posts
Name:
Jeannie
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
Posted by waitingonasunnyday
Thanks, good to know. It's like we're facing stuff that there are no guidelines for. I don't see the need for a cell phone or email account at age 8/9 but a lot of my daughters friends have both.
It’s definitely unchartered territory, isn’t it? Cellphones weren’t even AROUND when I was in 5th grade! But I guess all generations have their ‘new challenges’.
My basic rule is that *I* am in charge.. not my kid, not their friends and not their friend’s parents. I know my kids better than anyone else and I make the decisions about what devices and access they should or shouldn’t have. Some people agree with me, some think I’m too lenient and other’s think I’m too tough.. but *shrugs*.. It’s my house, my rules.
There is a level of peer pressure – my sons do sometimes feel out of the loop because they don’t have the same privileges that their friends have. And I don’t care how much of a tiger mom you are – it still stinks hearing that your kid was being razzed because they don’t have a smartphone or because they aren’t allowed to watch a particular horror movie or because they can’t stay up until midnight or whatever. But I look at it as though it’s a lesson in helping them become more independent and in seeing the value of self over the power of the group mindset. It’s not easy – it’s hard for them AND for us. But I have to believe the end result is worth it.
The moral of this ramble? Trust yourself. You know your child. Do what Is right for YOUR kid and don’t let anyone else’s convictions tell you what you need to do.
Message edited 3/5/2013 2:12:32 PM.
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| Posted 3/5/13 2:11 PM |
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
thanks, it's nice to get a second opinion. I feel like everything is moving too fast these days for kids and it worries me.
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| Posted 3/5/13 2:40 PM |
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nrthshgrl
It goes fast. Pay attention.
Member since 7/05 57538 total posts
Name:
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
My kids just got email addresses this year & they don't even know about them
WHen I set up their iPads, I needed to set up different accounts for them so one kid wasn't messaging the others friends and causing trouble.
They have access to Facetime & only have a few contacts.
We have rules too. I have the parental controls set up their iPad & iPods & they have to give me their passwords. I do review what they've sent/received. The same thing goes with my older one's cell phone. I look at texts.
They have to turn them in at night & earn time with them to use during the week with a good progress report from school.
One thing to be wary of is you should not be using your child's name as a user name for anything. One of the girls in our district used her first initial/last name & we had an incident where some asshole was sending photos of himself (yeah, HIMSELF) to the girls. Somehow got a hold of one of the girl's friendlist & messaged all of her friends. Then told another kid if she told her parents, he'd burn down her house & gave her the address of their house. Police & the schools were involved pronto.
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| Posted 3/5/13 2:51 PM |
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PatsBrat
LIF Adult
Member since 10/06 2326 total posts
Name:
Ms. Brat
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
Posted by rojerono
Robbie - on the other hand - had an iTouch in 4th grade and an e-mail to go with it (to register the thing). Last year I allowed him to have Instagram and FB. The rules are simple.. I have access all the time to everything at anytime. If I find anything inappropriate or distasteful - it gets deleted and he gets punished. I also 'follow' him on any account he has so I can always see what's going on. And he can't 'block' me.
This is exactly how things work with my 4th grader. He has an email address, iMessages people and uses FaceTime and I have full access to everything and can delete him at any time. It's kind of like being The Great And Powerful Oz 
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| Posted 3/5/13 4:41 PM |
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GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
DS is in 4th grade. He has had an email address almost since birth. I own my own domain name, so it's really easy to set up... 
He receives email at that address, but doesn't send any emails yet. A couple of his friends have email, but not many that I know of.
He's doing on-line Minecraft, but I'm keeping an eye on what he's doing.
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| Posted 3/5/13 4:50 PM |
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jes81276
summer fun!
Member since 3/06 4962 total posts
Name:
Jaime
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
Don't know about email access, but I teach 4th grade and it seems as if at least 1/2 of my class has either an iphone, itouch, kindle fire or ipad. Craziness!
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| Posted 3/5/13 7:38 PM |
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
What parental controls do you have set up on the ipad? All of my daughters friends spend their time on you tube, which I was able to put a restriction on.
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| Posted 3/6/13 7:17 AM |
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Re: elementary school kids with email accounts
My DD is 13 and has an ipad and itouch. No phone but she can text me from her itouch. She uses facetime often w her friends. She does not have twitter or fb accnt.
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| Posted 3/6/13 8:13 PM |
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