Do you worry about the emails popping into your child's inbox? Can you be sure who they are from and what they contain? Short of sitting with your child each time they are online, the answer seems to be no.

How can you protect your children without compromising their growing independence? Safety vs. freedom is a balancing act all parents have to face. The problem is heightened when it comes to the Internet. The web is so vast and difficult to monitor that some parents feel that the only way to keep their kids safe is to keep them offline.

The main concern is when strangers can send messages to your child directly. But this can all change. Thanks to a brilliant web service by www.kidscom.co.uk your child can have an email account which is totally private to them but which you control.

Peace of mind for parents
The premise is simple. When you set up the account, you and your child agree on a list of authorised email addresses. When messages from these addresses' are sent to your child only he or she will be able to see them. If however, your child receives an email from someone not on the list it will be bounced to another account, which you control.

This means that if your child joins an inappropriate chatroom and is contacted, as a result, by another user via email, the message will go straight to you rather than your child.

Even if an ill-meaning adult sets up a kidscom.co.uk email account, claiming to be a child, they still could not contact other children without first being authorised by the youngster's parent or guardian.

Independence and safety
'The system is about prevention - not cure,' says Chrissie Burak, MD of kidscom's parent company, TownSites.co.uk. 'It is about stopping unwanted emails getting to children in the first place, and letting them concentrate on having fun.

'It works both ways - the emails that are in the agreed list are totally private, the parent never sees their contents. This means a child is allowed to grow and develop and interact with their peers privately. But at the same time the parent has total peace of mind because they are happy about who their child is chatting with. If the parent receives an unauthorised email they can sit down with the child and decide whether the address should be added to the allow list.

'The parent is the only one with access to the allow list so the child can't get anywhere near that,' says Chrissie.

Spreading the word
The secure email system was the brain-child of a then 14-year-old Carl Gaywood who was sick of being bombarded with unwanted spam. Now, aged 19, he is employed by TownSites.co.uk and runs the kidscom.co.uk website.

Kidscom.co.uk is spearheading a campaign for government recognition and wants to provide every child in the country a safe email address. They already have the backing of Labour MP for Sittingbourne & Sheppey, Derek Wyatt, and 11 schools have signed up.

In a testimonial on the site Mr Wyatt says: 'Unwanted and potentially dangerous contact with children via e-mail is a significant and growing threat, and I am very supportive of a British company taking the lead in providing an effective and simple way to protect children from such e-mails.

'I think this is an extremely good idea. As a family man with two children who have received a growing number of unwanted spam e-mails, I am pleased this does the trick.'

To get a free, safe email account for your child click here.

You can also join their campaign to lobby the government.