I recently exchanged messages with Rob (Nifty-Chicken) about establishing a sub forum for the many youngsters that pop up by reference on the forum. His response was that this had been considered in the past and rejected:
This post is intended to invite both moderators and members to do just that.
Background to my Suggestion
I was talking with my sister; she lives on a small acreage with another family who have 2 young children (11 and 13). That family expects that everyone contributes and the girls are expected to help with life including the maintenance of a 150 bird flock. They feed, pick up dead birds, clean and enjoy the many things that bird life offers.
The youngest is husbanding a brooder hen sitting on 12+ eggs (some of which came from my flock) that should hatch Easter time frame. Sister and her have discussed BYC and the child is interested in reading and contributing her experiences to the forum.
While most BYC members are kid-centric the discussions are not aimed at a younger group and it makes sense to me to establish a sub forum (set?) aimed at kid level participation/interaction.
- May cause potential issues with "grouping" all our younger members together and exposing them to extra risk.
- May cause duplication and confusion regarding where to post a topic. Say a younger member:
- Wants to start a thread regarding building a coop; would this be a better fit in the coops section or the new sub-forum for youth?
- Has an emergency with a hen, should they post it in the youth sub-section or the main "emergencies" section?
This post is intended to invite both moderators and members to do just that.
Background to my Suggestion
I was talking with my sister; she lives on a small acreage with another family who have 2 young children (11 and 13). That family expects that everyone contributes and the girls are expected to help with life including the maintenance of a 150 bird flock. They feed, pick up dead birds, clean and enjoy the many things that bird life offers.
The youngest is husbanding a brooder hen sitting on 12+ eggs (some of which came from my flock) that should hatch Easter time frame. Sister and her have discussed BYC and the child is interested in reading and contributing her experiences to the forum.
While most BYC members are kid-centric the discussions are not aimed at a younger group and it makes sense to me to establish a sub forum (set?) aimed at kid level participation/interaction.
- More senior members would be allowed but strongly encouraged to do so in response mode only; let any discussions be initiated and led by the kids.
- Perhaps the sub-forum could be structured to allow only members with “Junior Memberships” to start a thread?
- I believe this could expand overall site appeal and give senior members "teaching" opportunities that many would enjoy.
- Grouping - BYC already "groups" for many things, I personally do not see this as an issue, kids will naturally want to congregate amongst themselves and we let/encourage this in every other aspect of their lives.
- Sub Forum Duplication - This could well be a problem IF IT WERE allowed.
- In my mind I simply would not, rather force use of existing sub forums as needed. If a youngster sets out to build a coop they certainly have the capability to use the Construction forum.
- Security for the Youngsters – When I sent Rob the suggestion I had not thought about the security aspects, stupid because this is a PRIMARY consideration. However:
- I started my career as a software engineer; it would seem to me that appropriate safeguards should be able to be put in place (I say that without having any idea about capabilities/limitations of the software platform BYC uses). Examples:
- Youngsters could register and add their age (date of birth) per the normal Profile creation mechanisms.
- Under a certain age their profile would be highlighted so everyone would know they are dealing with a youngster.
- Youngster Profiles could be set up such that both post responses and especially PM conversations could be duplicated to the parents.
- I participate on several forums, this and others focused on Woodworking and Automobiles.
- I have observed inappropriate comments being made and bickering on those other forums. Those forums have Moderators who intervene as a result.
- I have rarely seen such interaction on BYC. Perhaps it is a consequence of the predominate membership demographic?
- I would also note that BYC moderators decided recently that they would move to a “self moderated” model.
- While comments that should be subjected to moderation do happen they are rare and I see and participate in “push-backs” that come from other members; even these are done in a respectful manner.
- My point is that I believe the BYC membership is well suited to protection of the site and I would think would instantly jump in should inappropriate comments be made.
- I started my career as a software engineer; it would seem to me that appropriate safeguards should be able to be put in place (I say that without having any idea about capabilities/limitations of the software platform BYC uses). Examples:
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