Solved Kid Centric Sub Forum?

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Ted Brown

Crowing
Premium Feather Member
5 Years
Dec 12, 2018
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near Shawville Quebec Canada
My Coop
My Coop
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:
  • 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?
He reiterated these considerations but suggested it would be best to post in the public Feedback section to see what others think and maybe brainstorm ideas to resolve potential concerns.

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.
My response to Rob’s issues

  • 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.
 
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The above post delineates my thoughts.

I should acknowledge that while I am a father of two girls they are in their 30s and well able to manage technology based social interactions. Also, I have not had to live through raising children in the social media age where they essentially “live” with their phone and I may be naïve regarding things that happen (I think not but…).

I invite EVERYONE to participate in this discussion thread. I suggest that reply posts should focus on:
  • Voting (you can change your Vote once made).
  • What are the pro’s and con’s of having a kid-centric sub forum?
  • What are the possible issues that could arise including those that Rob outlined as well as any others that you may think appropriate? What are possible solutions?
  • IF such a move were to be undertaken are there sub-sub forums that would be appropriate (remember the forum duplication concern, it is real!!).
Thank you in advance for your participation. Should be an interesting discussion.
 
Well just to be honest, sometimes I wonder who I am replying to, kid or adult. Not that I really care how old you are but it matters how I would reply in terms of helping. That's actually why I am a member here, because I wanted young ones to be around and have some livestock and learn something about them. In these times I am grateful for this.

I don't really care if there is a kids section for them to flock around in but if I am trying to help a kid build or design a coop or such, then I want grown ups to see that too because we all have to learn as I did too.

I think the forum should show the persons age and general location so I can better help them or be helped. It also kills me nobody wants to input their general location like its a big secret so I have a clue where in the world you are, but turn on the "location" feature on their phones so Google can log where they are at all times. :rolleyes:
 
I don't think that creating a subforum specifically for minors would be a good idea. It would likely be impracticable for us to allow members under the age of 13, due to the size of BYC, combined with the COPPA regulations that we'd have to adhere to. Doing so would heavily strain our staff team. I would also tend to think, or at least hope, that most individuals above the age of 13 possess the sufficient cognitive maturity required for interacting on the main forum, which if true, would largely eliminate any practical need for a minor-specific section.

I am also strongly against the idea of publicly identifying minors on the forum. While the objective would obviously be to protect them, I think that publicly identifying minors would be heavily contradictory to that objective, as in my view, doing so would merely place a target on their backs. I'm also fairly sure that I wouldn't have joined BYC if doing so would have required me to publicly identify myself as a minor. I value privacy, and being talked down to repulses me.

In regards to "self-moderation", that was just an April Fools' joke from last year. A shift towards "self-moderation" was never actually effectuated.
 
nobody wants to input their general location like its a big secret
Although it's super helpful to know where a person is, a lot of people have good reason to be cautious. Stalker. Government suppression. Escaping domestic violence... Safety has to come first.
 
I don't think that creating a subforum specifically for minors would be a good idea. It would likely be impracticable for us to allow members under the age of 13, due to the size of BYC, combined with the COPPA regulations that we'd have to adhere to. Doing so would heavily strain our staff team. I would also tend to think, or at least hope, that most individuals above the age of 13 possess the sufficient cognitive maturity required for interacting on the main forum, which if true, would largely eliminate any practical need for a minor-specific section.

I am also strongly against the idea of publicly identifying minors on the forum. While the objective would obviously be to protect them, I think that publicly identifying minors would be heavily contradictory to that objective, as in my view, doing so would merely place a target on their backs. I'm also fairly sure that I wouldn't have joined BYC if doing so would have required me to publicly identify myself as a minor. I value privacy, and being talked down to repulses me.

In regards to "self-moderation", that was just an April Fools' joke from last year. A shift towards "self-moderation" was never actually effectuated.

I agree with the above reasons for not creating a subforum for minors. If children under the age of 13 want to be a part of BYC, their parents can join and be the filter for passing information on to the minors.
 
Beyond the COPPA legalities which we don't want to remotely come close to violating, we have discussed that in years past. And it always has been determined to be a bad idea. We don't allow minors to identify themselves and take swift action (editing, etc) when they are noticed or reported. We want all to feel that BYC is a safe place for all ages. Pointing minors out would violate so much.

We will never EVER require anyone to publicly post anything they are not comfortable with, whether it be their birth dates (adults only) location or other personal information.

I am going to go ahead and close this now.
While we understand the reasoning behind the suggestion, it just is not feasible.
 
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