You should be aware that Google has minimum age requirements. I was not aware of this and my son disclosed his age to Google as part of setting up another Google service, which then locked out his account.

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1350409?hl=en

I switched to Fastmail after that.

Google's subject to U.S. law, they can't knowingly maintain a child's personal data without parental consent (which is a manual process). There are also further restrictions on the types of marketing they can do to children. It is fine if the product, like gmail, doesn't target children and they don't collect age info, but once they do know age they've got to either get consent (costly) or shut down the account.

That's okay with me and I wasn't criticizing Google, just stating what happened. My recollection was that I was able to get the account re-activated by providing a CC #, but once I was aware it was in violation of the ToS, I switched to a different provider.

Ironically you could create google voice numbers as a workaround

IIRC Google doesn't allow using Google Voice numbers for account verification (or other known VOIP number blocks).

One workaround is to use a number and then port it to Google Voice.

This is the time to get to know https://mail.yandex.com

Seriously, the interface is so much better than todays gmail, its astonishing. There is no spam either, and no ads.

The email account is not the issue; I run my own email server with all the fun that brings.

It's that the Chrome Books really need separate Google accounts otherwise, settings + notifications to end up replicated to all of them.

And yes, I have a greater than average number of children. I feel as if the only way forward is to purchase a google for business account, and add them all there :-/

Install a different Linux distro on them?

Anyone have any experiences with their support?