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[[email protected]]

We just signed up our 13 year old daughter and she has been using her email account for the past several days.  She and I would like to provide some suggestions and feedback.  So here it goes:

1. She seems to be getting frustrated when typing her emails and using the “tab” key.  They were taught in computer lab years ago to use the tab key to indent their new paragraphs.  But when she uses it in her email the tab button takes her to the “attach a file”.  She finds this frustrating and would like to know if it could be changed.

2.  Could you possibly look into have different “toolbars” for different age kids?  For example, you could have a toolbar for those aged those 8 and under, 9-12, and then 13 and older (or at least 2 age brackets 12 and under…and 13 and older).  This way the toolbar could be more advanced for those that are 13 and older.  Parents could decide in settings which toolbar the child uses.

3.  New toolbar for those 13 and older could have indent, line spacing, bullets, highlighting, undo button, and more so the child feels the account is appropriate for their age.

4.  Maybe send out a survey to all parent email accounts for all children who are aged 12 and older to see what they could recommend to add to the toolbars or site.  For example, my daughter loves the smiley’s but would like some other options if possible to add to her email (clip art???).

5.  We envision my daughter sending me emails to my work account and I would like the ability for her to add a “priority” to her email.  This will alert me to if she is bored and writing me or if she needs me ASAP.  (This could be on toolbar for older children)

I think you have done a great job and love the concept of kidsemail.org.  I would really like to keep my daughter interested in using this site and not outgrowing it by keeping it "TEEN" friendly.  Thanks for listening.

[ajandersen]

Thank you for your feedback.  One of the most difficult decisions to make is how many options to give the parent when configuring the account. On one hand, I want to give as many options as possible.  On the other hand, I want to make it as simple as possible for the not-so-technical Mom or Dad.

The toolbar actually does have a simple mode for very young children.  I am going to have to think about this some more, as I think it would be a good idea to make it customizable. 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for looking into this.  I'm not sure about other parents but I would even pay extra for this toolbar for my account to keep her interested in the service and to have it be something she feels would be up to her age level.  Maybe consider offering this toolbar as a download for a small additional one time fee or monthly fee to parents who choose this option. 

From a marketing standpoint, I feel there is an age group (12-16) were parents want their children to have email accounts but also want the opportunity to have parental controls/monitoring capabilities.  However, to make this a win/win for both its important to have a service/product that meets the parents wants and then also keep the childs interest so they don't stray to using less monitored email sites (hotmail, gmail, et.).  Kids are now setting up their own hotmail accounts without their parents even knowing about them. 

If someone could find the wants/needs of this age group I think the possibilities could be endless for all involved:  the child, the parent, and the company.  Thanks for listening and we look forward to using the site.