Since 1996, ePals has been facilitating thousands of rewarding and educational learning exchanges. It is always best to play it safe and be informed and this page offers a few suggestions for users participating in online exchanges.

We want your ePals experience to be fun, friendly and safe. We hope these general safety guidelines will help you make the most of ePals.

What we do:

ePals staff preview each new profile before it is added to our online database. New profiles that have clearly not been submitted by a teacher, parent or other supervisory adult are rejected. We try to limit profile submissions to teachers, parents, school officials and other supervisory adults so that email correspondence will be screened by an adult before being passed on to children. In addition, an approved profile is a prerequisite for members seeking to contact others. This means that you can always find basic information about an ePals member who has contacted you, reducing some of the problems associated with absolute anonymity.

We also moderate our discussion boards, to ensure that the messages are appropriate. You can read more about our discussion board guidelines here.

If you have concerns about the behaviour of someone in a discussion board, we encourage you to contact us.

What teachers, parents and other adults should do:

  1. Always list a teacher, parent or supervisory adult as the contact for your profile. This contact person should screen all initial email correspondence.
  2. Never respond to messages that are suggestive, obscene, threatening or that make you feel uncomfortable. See What to Do below.
  3. Never give out any personal information (such as addresses or phone numbers) to anyone you have not verified. See how to verify individuals below.
  4. If you find a profile in our database that you know is intentionally erroneous or misleading, please let us know immediately.

To verify the identity of anyone who has emailed you about an ePals exchange, do the following:
  1. If the class, school or organization has a website, visit it and see if the individual is listed as a staff member.
  2. Email someone else at the school or organization and politely ask them to verify that the individual is a staff member.
  3. If the class, school or organization does not have a website, check with the appropriate school board or call directory assistance to find out if the the school or group exists and attempt to verify the identity of the individual.

Sign up for SchoolMail!

What you need to make sure your students or children know:

  • Never give out any personal information (such as last names, addresses or phone numbers) to anyone without the permission of a parent, guardian or teacher.
  • Never arrange a face to face meeting without a parent, teacher or guardian present.
  • Never respond to messages that are suggestive, obscene, threatening or that make you feel uncomfortable. Always let a teacher, parent or other trusted adult know if you receive an upsetting message.
  • If you are suspicious of someone you've met online, always tell a responsible adult, like a teacher or parent.

What to do if you receive a suspicious email message:

Before taking the following steps, please remember that ePals members come from all around the world; some correspondents may have a limited understanding of your language and culture and miscommunications sometimes occur. With that in mind, the following steps should be taken in the event of a suspicious message:

  1. Immediately cease all correspondence with the individual - do not reply.
  2. Save and print the message(s).
  3. Do not investigate the suspicious message(s) yourself.
  4. If the individual is an ePals member, inform us immediately, providing as much information as possible.
  5. If the message contains threats of harm or other criminal content, immediately report it to your local police department.