Note: Why not have your parents go through this with you. They'll enjoy learning how to save time when using email.

Just imagine:

You were put in a group to do a project. One of the group members sends long emails.  Most of it is about things she's doing and not about the project. It takes forever to read them and find the stuff for the project.

Your teacher gave your class her email address and explained that you could email her with questions you might have. The night before a big science test, you have a question for her. You decide to email and show her some of the "computer talk" you've learned. You type,  "hello mrs. evans IDK if i need to K the ?s on p. 20. TYVM Bill Thompson. Mrs. Evans replies, "I will answer you if you write in correct English."

One of the kids in your class keeps forwarding you emails that threaten things like: you won't receive a million dollars, you won't have good luck-if you don't forward this to 20 other people.

You get called to the principal's office about an email you supposedly sent. When you see it, you can't imagine why anyone would send something like this, but the sender looks it's you. It's from your email address. You are really confused.

You send an email to your baseball coach and keep waiting for him to reply. He finally sends you the answer-three days later when you don't need the information anymore.

Your best friend thinks it's cute to write emails in lots of colors and to add those silly clip art animations.

You had this problem with one of your friends, and you emailed him about it. He emailed you back and this went on for about a zillion emails, which didn't solve the problem.

So what can you do about emails like these?

Here are some good rules to follow:

1. Most emails should be short-no more than five sentences. An exception to this rule would be for grandparents, great aunts, and people like that who love long emails and nice photographs from you.

2. If you have a problem with school or the kids at school, it's better to talk directly to your teacher than to write out the problem in email. Problems are best not discussed in emails.

3. Never, ever use computer slang or forget to write with good grammar, punctuation, and capitalization when you are writing to adults.

4. Keep in mind that many people don't like messages written in different colors and don't appreciate graphics and animations in their emails.

5. Remember that you can't expect instant replies from adults. Many aren't online as much as kids are.

6. Stay away from trying to be funny in your emails. Some people may not understand and take it the wrong way.

7. Always show respect for others. This goes for your emails, too.

8. Don't ever give your passwords to anyone but your parents-not even your best friends. Your passwords could get to other people who could send nasty emails using your address.

9. Get your parents' permission before you open attachments and THINK carefully before forwarding any email or attachments.

10. And most important-think before sending anything. Put your common sense to work.

There's an EMAIL CHARTER online, which has some helpful suggestions about saving time when using email. We bet your parents will like its recommendations. That's because the CHARTER makes sense and will save them and everyone else from wasting time with email they and you don't want. If they are not going through this section with you, make sure to tell them about the CHARTER.