Should young children be on this board.

I'm talking about children 15 and under. I say they are not emotionaly mature enough for some of what takes place on this board. How can a child of that age seperate fact from fiction or hate speech from debate. They can't! Some of the things on these threads could terrify a sensitive child or lead a disturbed child to commit a horrific act using what they read here as justification. The internet is full of monsters who prey on children and I found a post by a 14 year old tonight that included an e-mail address!!!!!!!!! I was going to use an emoticon here, but none of them fit the situation.

I don't have any more to say, nor can my stance on this be changed. I'd love to hear everyone else's opinion on this.

[edit on 24-11-2004 by Blaine91555]

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I see a so called super moderator has allready begun wooing this kid. I'm outa here. I did not know the true nature of this board! Shame on you!!! I think I have an idea what Simon Grey (Gray) is now.:flame :

To the moderator who removes this - COWARD!

care to elaborate some?

I didnt see any problems....

oh wait, your just mad that your post got edited...

you might should have taken this up via U2U, or use the comments feature....

[edit on 11/24/2004 by Trojanex]

We're not baby-sitters, nor surrogate parents here. We assume that people who come to this discussion board has the advance permission of whoever (parents or employer) allows their Internet access. We cannot, and will not, pass judgment on individual member's "appropriateness" of their involvement here beyond our stated terms and conditions.

Originally posted by Blaine91555
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I see a so called super moderator has allready begun wooing this kid. I'm outa here. I did not know the true nature of this board! Shame on you!!! I think I have an idea what Simon Grey (Gray) is now.

:flame :

To the moderator who removes this - COWARD!

I didn't see any wooing from anyone.
I think you are imagining things.

I also moderate a MUD that requires registration and proof of age to get into certain areas... and I can tell you that people DO lie. We couldn't institute an "age verification" system here in any acceptable form -- and I really see no reason to. I've seen adults who are far more immature than some of our younger members here.

And frankly, I think it's good for them. If they learn to question and to research and to understand different viewpoints then we've done them a great service.

The worth of a person does not lie in the number of years they've lived.

ditto.

i think a lot of the material on this site is extremely beneficial to the kids. if they get freaked out and reject it, oh well. if they take it for what it is, and embrace, if not the ideas, but the ideology, well then maybe they've got a future in this world. ive yet to see anything on ATS that doesnt make anyone, age 14, 40, or 70, a better person.

Your *kidding* me right?? Im 14, and will be 15 in 3 weeks, and Iv been here a long time, since I was 13. Kids 13 and under arent allowed on message boards, because of the COPPA. If they choose to violate this, it is there fault. Nobody else's. There is nothing wrong with having kids on a forum like this, infact, alot of teenagers are valuable members of ATS. I believe JediMaster is 14 (?? my memory may be shot) and was a Moderator for some time.

Most people on this board do not distinguish between age, all that matters is that they are knowledgable and have the maturity the post well enough. BTW, my email is [email protected]

[Edited on 25-11-2004 by dreamlandmafia]

sometimes the youngest of children say the fondest, let alone wisest of things. if anything, they've been less brainwashed than us older folk. im not that old, but you know what i mean. ATS needs fresh minds, and it could actually do them some good, like learn to deny ignorance rather than be swallowed by it. dfh out.

um...
I think I missed something. You regulars have always shown me the light, can someone explain what the problem was with drunk's post.

[edit on 11/24/2004 by Notme]

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
i think a lot of the material on this site is extremely beneficial to the kids. if they get freaked out and reject it, oh well. if they take it for what it is, and embrace, if not the ideas, but the ideology, well then maybe they've got a future in this world. ive yet to see anything on ATS that doesnt make anyone, age 14, 40, or 70, a better person.

I agree with Amory totally. This site can be used for mostly beneficial reasons. Learning is always easy to do here as there are a plethora of topic to speak about. I myself am not that old. I'm only 17. I dont think there is (nor SHOULD there be) an age limitation on ATS.

People on here such as DLM and JediMaster are close to that "15 and below" mark set by Blaine. Honestly... if you have problems... take it to the higher authorities rather than post here and make it seem like you have something against the younger crowd.

The young'uns are vital to ATS as sometimes they are the ones with vast knowledge of certain things. I wont get into detail, mostly because I am lazy.

I'm almost an adult myself! (come Dec 26th)

Bring out the hookers! (just kidding)

Besides, the minors are tired of always being labelled as "too young" for doing things. Believe me, I'm STILL one of them. I think it's best to just let things happen. If people don't like it here, LEAVE. No one is making you stay.

'Nuff said.

[STAY COOL)
-prophetmike

Should young kids be on this site?
as long as their parents are aware of what they are viewing and of what this site is about, and condone their childs being here, fine.
I agree with S.O. in that ATS should NOT be doing the parents job of monitoring the media diets of kids...

The only "problem" i see with young posters is that often they lack the deeper educational and historical perspective to do more than spew illogically....They often "parrot" things that lack real substance.
These things usually shine thru in their posts and many of us could guess the poster as a youth.
NOTE: ignorance of history or low educational level is not exclusive to youth. Plenty of "adult" posters seemingly have the mentality of 13 yr olds if you read some posts.

I do feel that being able to read and participate tho can also help open their eyes and to ask questions....so there is some merit for youth using the site.

hi!anti goverment 14 year old looking for news on conspiracies

if you have goverment conspiracy news please email it 2 me @ (censored)

I don't think that's an attemp at anything provacative.




I'am sorry, but I think our new freind here just jumped the gun and falsy assumed that he was being wooed after being greeted.

Deep

[edit on 25-11-2004 by ZeroDeep]

[edit on 1-12-2004 by Gazrok]

Originally posted by dreamlandmafia
Your #tin me right?? Im 14, and will be 15 in 3 weeks, and Iv been here a long time, since I was 13.

Most people on this board do not distinguish between age, all that matters is that they are knowledgable and have the maturity the post well enough.

Right on! I'm almost twice DLM's age, but he's solved several computer issues I've had with a quickness like few others can...and I don't consider myself stupid when it comes to computer problems either...

I don't care if the person on the other end of my monitor is 5 or 105...If I can see that they can formulate a cohesive response with original ideas and opinions then I'm all for it...Mods and Admins regulate this board like there's no tommorrow, to ensure that what's posted on this board is acceptable for all to read and reply to...

Diversity is a part of life we all live with, and ATS is statisically very close to actual demographics, considering our theme and subject matter...It's this very diversity which makes ATS thrive...

I have seen some of the �children�, as you call them, behaving more maturely than some of the adults.

Case in point: your second post.


BG

I see no problem with the age of people on these boards. A vast majority of those who are mature enough to register and take part in dicussions would continue to do so even if if there was an age limit. They would just not admit their age.

I find it difficult to judge posters ages from the more serious discussions on ats. The times it is more noticiable are on bts, such as on the relationship boards, when they are asking advice. Surely that's no bad thing and more experienced members giving a helping hand to the youngsters should happen in any good community?

I also have seen very well thought out opinions from some of the younger users of this board in my short time here. Sometimes the youth show passion and understanding that far excedes that of some of the adults here. At the same time some of the subjects discussed here are controversial even taboo to the mainstream world so I would hope that parents/guardians are monitoring what the kids are doing and saying. I am a parent and consider it my personal responsibility for what my kid is looking at or doing while online. I would let my kid join this forum when she turns 13 or so except flaming is at an all time high and I would hate it if an adult went off on her for her opinion.

doctorduh

I can't see any problems with young people accessing ATS.

Members are not allowed to swear and I have never seen a link to porn posted here.

If a young person has questions I can think of no better place than ATS to ask them.

for the kids!

for the fact that the Terms and Conditions of this board (when enforced & they are) make this a great place for kids to develop their thoughts and stun us older members with their knowledge and intelligence daily.

to any adults who cross the line and jeopardize the appropriateness of the kids being here by behaving like true children.

That's it in nutshell!

I think the person who started this thread and made outlandish statements against the admin and mods of this board who go way beyond to make sure our young members are not mistreated or exposed to things they shouldn't be

needs to be saying a big phat I'M SORRY.

And it was just rich how you put the catch 22 "any one who deletes this is a coward"...uhhh, that would be a big negatory NEW MEMBER... last time I checked the admin and owner of this board have every right to delete false crap about them.

You need to go out and come back in - and leave the B.S. outside this time.