This is a really common situation, and honestly it helps to frame it in a way that makes sense to a teenager’s world, not an adult privacy lecture.

Here’s how you could approach it.

First, start by validating how he feels. If he thinks his mates will take the piss, that matters to him. Dismissing that just makes him dig in.

Something like:

“I get why you don’t want to stand out or get mocked. Nobody likes that.”

Then reframe Proton not as a “privacy thing” but as a control and independence thing. Teenagers respond much better to autonomy than fear.

She could say:

“This isn’t about being paranoid or hiding anything. It’s about having something that’s actually yours, not owned by a massive company that scans and profiles everything you do.”

It helps to explain Google in very plain terms. Not evil, not scary, just practical.

For example:

“Google email is free because you are the product. Your emails help train ads, profiles, and AI systems. That data doesn’t just vanish, it sticks around for years.”

Then bring it back to his future, not abstract privacy. Teenagers care about tomorrow versions of themselves, even if they pretend not to.

You might say:

“Stuff you send at (insert age here) can still exist when you’re 25. Uni applications, jobs, background checks, even account breaches. Proton means less data floating around that you don’t control.”

A really effective angle is to make it optional and low pressure. Not a replacement, just an upgrade.

For example:

“You don’t have to ditch Gmail. Think of Proton like a lockable drawer. Use it for important stuff, school, logins, recovery emails. Keep Gmail for mates if you want.”

This removes the social fear instantly. He is not “the weird kid with a hacker email”, he is just using a better tool quietly.

You can also flip the peer pressure argument. Teens hate being seen as naïve.

Yoy could say, lightly:

“Honestly, people getting laughed at aren’t the ones protecting their accounts. It’s the ones who get hacked, locked out, or have old messages dragged up years later."

No drama, just reality.

If he’s into tech, gaming, or crypto at all, that helps. Proton has real credibility in those spaces. It’s used by developers, journalists, and security researchers, not conspiracy theorists.

If he isn’t, keep it simple:

“It looks like Gmail, works like Gmail, just doesn’t spy on you.”

One last thing that really helps is giving him ownership of the decision.

End with something like:

“I’m not forcing you. I just want you to understand why having at least one private email is a smart move. You decide how and when to use it."

That changes it from a rule into a grown-up choice, and teenagers respond far better to that.