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GREENSBORO - All students in Guilford County schools will receive e-mail addresses this school year, a move educators say will create more tech-savvy students but that has some parents asking questions.

The initiative is aimed at providing an efficient means of communication for older students and a way to teach younger students about e-mail and the Internet.

Mark Jewell, president of the Guilford County Association of Educators, said he likes the plan, which he said to his knowledge is the first of its kind in the state.

"This is going to be a good thing," he said. "Technology is continually advancing."

David Graves, who teaches at Dudley High School, said it's essential that today's students be comfortable with technology and having the accounts also makes it easier for students and teachers to communicate.

Graves, who teaches computer classes, said he already encourages students to set up e-mail accounts, which he uses to send grades and homework assignments and to let them know what they missed when they are absent.

Parents, who also will have access to the accounts, can be kept in the loop as well.

Students, in turn, can e-mail him their homework and get immediate feedback.

The accounts aren't mandatory, and parents can decline for their children to have them, said Haley Miller, a district spokeswoman.

Steps will be taken to prevent students from encountering inappropriate pictures or language, she said.

"Accounts will be heavily filtered," Miller said.

David Andrews, the parent of a fifth-grader, expressed mixed feelings about the plan.

"Personally, I like the idea, but there has to be a safety net there," he said.

The accounts make sense for middle and high schoolers, he said, but elementary students need to be focused on the basics of learning.

Not all students are necessarily ready to distinguish between a legitimate e-mail and something shady, he said.
"You get all kinds of stuff. You really can't tell what's what," Andrews said.

Graves said teachers will be keeping a watch on what students are doing with the accounts.

"We'll be able to keep close contact and an eye on what's going on," he said.

"It's an extra responsibility, but it's not one we're not used to, because we already do that now," he said.
In the end, while the district touts the value of the accounts for communication, some say e-mail isn't necessarily the preferred way of communicating among the young.

Andrew Brod, director of UNCG's Center for Business & Economic Research, said that while adults might not believe it, kids see e-mail as passe, particularly compared to popular social networking sites.

"If left to their own devices, kids are going to prefer Facebook or MySpace," he said. "If I were a teacher, I'd be setting up a Facebook page."

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or at jason.hardin@news-record.com