Back in my primary school days – or grade school as the Americans call it – my class was matched with a class from a different grade and students were paired up to form random pen pal partners. Every month, we exchanged letters by placing them in individual cubbies outside the classroom. You could choose to use actual names or just make up fake ones in writing, but the connection we had was very real. It wasn’t life-changing and I didn’t make a new best friend, but it was exciting and fun to have a conversation with another person who experienced similar things from a very different perspective.
A few decades later, paper letters are all but out of style, and penmanship has been exchanged for typing speed. Connections are made and lost in a matter of clicks, and we have so many “Friends” and “Likes” but still feel lonely and misunderstood. Add a global pandemic to the mix and we’ve got a recipe for isolation. To help ground my child in meaningful relationships that can safely expand his horizons, I started looking into digital penpals and found several great resources I’d like to share.
To help assuage your concerns about the many cyber dangers out there, all these programs require an adult (such as a teacher, parent, or guardian) to register with the minor. All information is monitored on respective sites and no real identification details are shared. These sites were built and designed for information exchange; mostly in the form of language learning. Of course, how our children use these resources also provides a great opportunity for us to guide them through digital dangers and educate them on making safe choices.
PenPal Schools
Of the pen pal programs I tried, PenPal Schools offers the most modern interface, with even a snazzy app for tablets. PenPal Schools was created by teachers with project-based learning in mind. Simply choose a topic that your child is interested in and you will get connected to someone else of the same age/grade level. Entirely teacher moderated, kids can discuss more than 30 topics and read others’ insights. Right now, Penpal Schools is offering free access during the COVID-19 pandemic, yay!
ePals
This was built for classroom-to-classroom contact as ePals can help you connect students with other classes from around the world. Teachers help to set up necessary registration details such as country, age range, language, and class size. All conversations take place through the site’s “My Messages” tool. Teachers can connect classes by subject matter via online project spaces, where both student and teacher can collaborate on projects using Discussion Boards and other ePal messaging tools.
Students of the World
Sporting a pretty retro interface, students of the world purportedly has more than one million members on their online student pen pal network registered all over the globe. No personal information is needed as all messages are exchanged through the site’s mail app. Simply search for a country that you’re looking to learn more about, then search through the online profiles to find a student that matches your age and interests.
PenPal World
If you are a parent looking for a pen pal for your child, head on over to PenPal World where a whopping two million members from all around the world are also looking to find a pen pal of their very own. Signing up is straightforward and you can add penpals based on age/interests. PenPal World offers a free account but limits contacts to no more than three members within 24 hours. Do note that on this site, minors can block all adults.
KEEP READING: Mind Your (Text) Language: Texting and Teen Literacy
