To worry about email accounts for DS

[CrochetAway]

Sorry - writing this in a hurry and couldn't find the internet safety board, but thinking I might get more diverse opinions here anyhow...

DS(12) downloaded Outlook onto his phone yesterday and according to my parental app spent about 10 minutes on it.

He says it's because he has an Outlook email account that school set up and he wants to access it from his phone.

I've blocked it for the timebeing until I check it out - I've said it's a glitch on his phone and I'll check it out tonight (thinking that gives me some time for factfinding). I told him he could go to the school library and access the account there until I have a proper look later. He has left the house in floods of tears

1. if he has a school Outlook account, would he actually be able to access that on his phone anyway? I would have thought it was confined to the school network - or does it work like Yahoo and the like?

2. Should I be allowing him to have his own email account at his age anyway even if it wasn't a school account? What do other parents do? Am I being over protective?

I confess I find the whole tech thing a total nightmare. I don't understand it and I'm worried about making a mistake.

Thanks for any thoughts

Most education licenses are the online / cloud based software, and so yes he probably would be able to access outlook on his phone.

Sounds ok to me. DD has access to her school email on her iPad, and gets email notifications etc about school work & other extra curricular (sports & trips).

At her school they are expected to start to take responsibility for organising themselves from yr 7 and this is part of it.

I think you are massively over thinking it. You have caused an upset for nothing. What do you imagine he is doing with it?

It's standard that they have school email accounts from secondary school to be able to access office 365 etc. My daughter uses hers to email teachers, submit homework etc. I think you're being unreasonable about him having outlook tbh, it's probably the safest form of communication that he can have!

If he's 12 then I'm struggling to understand what the problem is with Outlook!

Arm his with a slate and some chalk Op, he should get along fine at school with that.

Yes, DS1 has an email account that he needed to access in Y7 for all of his school work. His teachers often reply or send over new stuff outside school hours which makes weekend/weeknight homework much easier and there is far less paper for him to lose.

His teachers are pretty tough in terms of when they expect stuff returned, too, so if he had something due in that might have contributed to why he needed immediate access and got upset when you blocked it.

My children have to access their email accounts daily for school. You are being massively overprotective.

A lot of secondary aged children use email / school portal access for homework and school updates. DSS is 15 and often emails homework to teachers (at their request). He is 12 so rather than blocking access and misleading him you need to have a conversation about internet safety and email. If you dont have the info to do this, find a good YouTube video you can watch together or ask for resource recommendations from the school.

Of course he will need to access his email account for school. In my sons school this is how communication is made with pupils along with and app. Homework is set and submitted and they use the internet on a daily basis for research etc. I really don't see the problem here. Having an email address is just part of life now.
My kids have also got their own gmail email addresses which they set up when they got phones.
You say you don't understand the whole tech thing. I would suggest that if you have a nearly teen in the house then you educate yourself a bit as life runs online these days. If you at least know and understand the basics then it may reduce this kind of knee jerk reaction that has caused so much upset. Many schools and local authorities run courses for parents.

Thank you. That seems pretty unanimous! I’ll unblock it now. Just he’s very vulnerable at the moment and I’m on my own. I made a huge mistake when setting up parental controls on his phone when he first had it and they failed without me realising so I feel particularly anxious I guess.

YABU

It’s a school email ffs! What do you imagine he’s doing with it? Especially since he only spent 10 minutes on it.

If he's 12 he should surely have email access? Very important to learn to use.

I think it would be better if it was accessed from a home PC or Mac. You will probably know passwords and it makes sure he is not on email on journeys etc. It will also help prevent it becoming addictive.

Too many adults check work emails when on holiday and never really switch off, and so instilling a responsible and sensible attitude to email and school is starting in a good way.

OP should be commended for showing diligence and checking into this beforehand

Just because a parent isn't as up to date on the requirement of it in a school scenario, doesn't mean the holier than thou brigade should wade in. Just support your fellows, and encourage others that might be nervous about obvious answers to come forward.

Thanks. And thanks SkinnyPete (love your name btw).

I suppose I wasn’t sure whether DS was accessing his school email or setting up a totally different account, and if he was setting up a different account, whether I should monitor in anyway - I have no clue who he might be emailing.

My dd has email accounts which I have access to - I have all the passwords. I trust her to be sensible and do random checks.
Her online life, so to speak, is via WhatsApp and social media. I randomly check this in the same way and discuss anything I'm not sure about.
I am trying to instil responsibility and good practice in her rather than taking a "thou shalt never go online " approach.
Is it perfect? No. Do I think she sees things I don't like? Yes. Is she showing a general level of maturity and common sense? Yes. Do I take this for granted? No.