High school is a defining time for teens. For many teens, high school is the time when they really push the boundaries that their parents have set for them. While not all teens are necessarily looking to break the rules, it can be hard for a high school aged child to make the types of adult decisions that they are being asked to make. High school can be a very confusing time as well. These kids are learning who they are and what their talents are. They are making decisions now that will dictate how their lives will play out for the next several years. It is easy to become misled and confused by all of the options that have been suddenly made available.
With all of the ups and downs of high school, the last thing that a parent wants for their child to have to deal with are the potentially negative effects of the Internet and how those negative factors can be made incredibly personal through email. Email grows in importance as a child enters high school age. Teachers and coaches frequently refer their students to a school link in order to do their assignments and may even sponsor things like chat rooms in order to maintain communication between teachers and students whenever it was convenient.
Email in high school begins to be useful in many of the same ways that it will become useful as your child becomes an adult and enters the professional world. Email becomes more of a necessity rather than a luxury. “High school age children” is a term that describes many different personality types. It is therefore impossible to say that one method of email is best for everyone in this age category. Instead, it is the responsibility of the parent to have prepared the child through elementary and junior high, to be able to accept the challenge of having fewer email restrictions.
Choosing the best email providers for high school age children is the result of the process that was gone through where the child learned the basics of Internet and email safety. As the child proved their trustworthiness in having an email account all of their own, more privileges were awarded. Likewise, if a child violated the trust or rules that were set forth, privileges were taken away. Once your child reaches high school age they will most likely be given a list of email providers that are discouraged rather than a list of acceptable service providers. This is because many parents realize that control cannot be exerted over their children forever and that at some time the parent will need to let go and hope that they have taught their child the right things and that the child will remember the lessons of his parents.
There is no research that suggests that one email provider is best for all high school students. There are a number of trustworthy providers and a number of providers that you will want your child to stay away from. If a decision had to be made, the best email providers for high school age children would be the ones who have been in business a long time and can afford to be selective when it comes to their advertisers. Also the best email providers will provide their users with protective features such as spam blockers and junk mail deterrents. The best email providers are also the ones that have policies regarding the content of the messages that are sent and who exert the effort to ensure that the users of their site abide by the rules that are meant to protect them.
