Email

How can I make it safer?

Consider adding a program like Spam Arrest or Tagged Message Delivery Agent (TMDA) to your adolescent's email. These programs only allow people on your adolescent’s "allow list" to send an email to her/him and force unknown email addresses to confirm themselves before sending email to her/his Inbox.
Know your adolescent's login information and email addresses. What username has your child given her/himself? Does it provide identifying characteristics about her/him or her/his hobbies (e.g. shygirl, bookworm, etc.)?
Know who your adolescent is communicating with online.
Limit the amount of time your adolescent spends online.
Monitor and verify any job offers made to your adolescent, and accompany her/him to interviews.

Reinforce to your adolescent the public nature of the Internet and let her/him know you will be supervising online activity.
Ensure your adolescent understands that s/he can talk to you about anything s/he may come across on the Internet without fear of losing Internet privileges.
Teach your adolescent not to open or reply to emails for which they do not know the sender.
Discuss with your adolescent the concept of dignity and self-respect and how it can be preserved or destroyed by messages sent online and offline.
Discuss with your adolescent the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.
Explain to your adolescent that s/he should never comply with threats, and to seek a safe adult for help.
Make sure your adolescent knows to stop any conversation that makes her/him feel uncomfortable and tell a safe adult.
Explain to your adolescent how experimenting in a public place like the Internet can have irreversible, embarrassing consequences.
Suggest to your adolescent that s/he review Respect Yourself, a website designed to teach teens about the risks they face when sending pictures or videos by email, Instant Messaging (IM) or by posting them online. This site guides teens through the risks and provides them with safety strategies to help keep them safe.