Poll.. Setting Age Limits..
 

This may get me in trouble or maybe banned! But I think there should be an age requirement to join a forum.. specifically YT.. So I thought if we took a poll and if members agree that YTalk needs an age limit / requirement.. Maybe the administrator would agree..

please post your agreement or disagreement ..

its hard to say cause there is another 14 year old on here that i didnt even know she was 14 shes very inteligent and has yorkie

mabbee there could be a trial period :confused:

I agree that there should be an age limit.

I don't have a problem with the age limit...but how would anyone prove it? Anyone could say that they are in their 40's and only be 12.

There is an age limit. Its 13 to join any Internet forum unless you have parental consent. There's one EXTREMELY intelligent, charming 12 year old on our forum and I love reading her thoughtful, well-written posts. Its so refreshing.

I'm admin on another forum we have members as young as 4-5 but they are not allowed to post on the forum they only use the arcade with their parents sitting next to them. Either their Mum or Dad has to be a member first and then only with permission from admin are their children allowed to join. They also do not have access to the pm facility for their own safety.

She is VERY mature - I know who you're talking about - I'd say that would be really hard to monitor ....and if someone sounds very young they really may need help - A scam would eventually be found out I would hope.

That or a real young person could have their parents confirm they are on the site before they can post ?

I don't think there should be an age limit, children own Yorkies too and love to tell their stories. Better there talking on a Yorkie forum than an XXX rated forum or chat. :eek:

Here's some info from the Federal Trade Commission:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/


Starting April 21, 2000, a new law puts you and your parents in charge of your personal identifying information -- if you’re under 13. Websites that ask for certain information about kids under 13 have to get their parents permission to get the information. This means that you and your parents can talk about the information the website collects and decide together if it’s information you want to give.

Why is this law important? Because it can stop website operators who might misuse information they collect from kids like you. This law protects you by asking your parents to give websites their permission to collect information from you. Now you and your parents will know what information is being collected and how it will be used.

Here are some important things to know about surfing, privacy and your personal information:
Never give out your last or family name, your home address or your phone number in chat rooms, on bulletin boards, or to online pen-pals.
Don’t tell other kids your screen name, user ID or password.
Look at a website’s Privacy Policy to see how the site uses the information you give them.
Surf the Internet with your parents. If they aren’t available, talk to them about the sites you’re visiting.
Talk about the site’s Privacy Policy with your parents so that you and your parents will know what information the site collects about you and what it does with the information.
Websites must get your parent’s permission before they collect many kinds of information from you.
If a website has information about you that you and your parents don’t want it to have, your parents can ask to see the information – and they can ask the website to delete or erase the information.
Sites are not supposed to collect more information than they need about you for the activity you want to participate in. You should be able to participate in many activities online without having to give any information about yourself.
If a site makes you uncomfortable or asks for more information than you want to share, leave the site.

taken from: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcam...ivacy/kidz.htm

For the parents:

Whether playing, shopping, studying or just surfing, today's kids are taking advantage of all that the web has to offer. But when it comes to their personal information online, who's in charge? In an effort to put parents in the catbird seat, the Federal Trade Commission has established new rules for website operators to make sure that kids' privacy is protected while they're online. These rules are part of the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Below you'll find the FTC's tips for parents. Click on the in each section to read the Website Operators' requirements under COPPA, starting April 21, 2000.

Parents Should:

Look for a privacy policy on any website directed to children.
The policy must be available through a link on the website's homepage and at each area where personal information is collected from kids. Websites for general audiences that have a children's section must post the notice on the homepages of the section for kids.

Read the policy closely to learn the kinds of personal information being collected, how it will be used, and whether it will be passed on to third parties. If you find a website that doesn't post basic protections for children's personal information, ask for details about their information collection practices.

Decide whether to give consent.
Giving consent authorizes the website to collect personal information from your child. You can give consent and still say no to having your child's information passed along to a third party.

Your consent isn't necessary if the website is collecting your child's email address simply to respond to a one-time request for information.

Decide whether to approve information collection from your kids based on new uses for the information.
Website operators will let you know about the need for new consent by sending you a new notice and request. They will do this when they are changing the terms-of-use of the information in a "material" or significant way.

Ask to see the information your child has submitted.
The site will ask you to verify your identity to ensure that your child's information isn't given out improperly.

Understand that you may revoke your consent at any time and have your child's information deleted.
To stop a website from collecting additional information from your child, you can revoke your consent. You also may ask a site to delete any personal information it has already collected from your child.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcam...acy/adults.htm

That's a tough one because like others said there's a young person who posts here and is mature. Also I don't see how it could be enforced.

What I think is maybe it should be based on the individual like what they're writing, how they're writing etc., and that it would have to be the sole discretion of the moderators.

I know "I" wouldn't mind my young child posting here as long as I was aware of it. This is such a nice community!

I agree with you Lenora-- there are a few younger ones on here who you would never know they are 13 or 14, and I enjoy reading what they have to say. They do seem very mature for their age.

I just wanted to clarify I am not against children being allowed to post.
Just an age reguirement. there is a 12 year old on here and she is very mature along with others under this age

I think that anyone who loves Yorkies should be allowed on. My whole family lurkes on this site, and my daughter and I each have an account. Besides, what would you set as a limit? I've seen some stuff from early twenty-ish people that was less mature than the young people who post. It's the diversity of the members that makes this such an interest site!

Your daughter is lovely Teri. I would be so proud if I were you (and I'm sure you are!) :)

I don't think it's fair to set an age limit because there are those younger members whose parents are trying to raise educated, responsible children and encourage them! Yes, we have some of those parents/children here on this forum and I thoroughly enjoy conversing with one of them! On the other hand, there are some here whose parents should have used the money they invested in computer equipment to enroll their kids at Sylvin Learning Center! I don't know what the answer is for this delima but I do not think it's really fair to simply set an age limit.

Ditto! :)

Even if there were age requirements to post, you'd still have someone underage posting. They just lie about their birthdates if they want to join a site enough. A friend of mine told me about a teenage forum site that her son frequents, now he is the correct age to join, but we viewed the site and recognized many, many posters who we know are under the age 16 limit. Some of these kids didn't post their age as 16 but some as old as 40:) Hmmmm, some sure are aging well, cause their pictures look like a 12 yr old kid. Kinda funny. I guess the moderator on that site isn't paying a whole lot of attention

School's out, let the fun begin cause there's a definite increase once they're home with nothing better to do.... :eek:

With the new rules from admin, I can't see why a child couldn't be here. As long as we are polite and kind, this is a wonderful place for a child. It is not an X rated site, and the only thing I would worry about kids here is people being mean to them. They give out more information than necessary on a lot of other forums that I would be more worried about, the schools are constantly sending out warnings to parents, they even do it at school with all the check they try to put in place.

I guess I don't really understand the problem with kids?

Thought of something. There's one site I belong to that charges a $5.00 a year fee to join. It's a small fee but would probably deter children from joining plus the webmaster really has your personal info

What's more - as long as we are not being silly and gullible to fall for every tacky little post by going crazy, we will not draw the kids who find it so funny. My son thinks of all sorts of bad things to push buttons here. He laughs at us! He knows everyone's pet peeve. Those kids are a lot more computer savvy than we are. Maybe we are just intimidated by them?

I tend to agree with Laura. As the "responsible adults" we need to be very careful that we are always on our best behavior, act respectfully and even try to find out a little about the member before we post. I was concerned recently by what I considerd to be some rather harsh comments made to a young member in her early twenties who had admitted being suicidal. She has left the forum as a result I think.

Anyway, it is sooooo important that you THINK before you post.

Now I don't see ages on a lot of those posting here, it is nice to know the age of the people we are talking to, maybe admin should make it part of our screen name. ie: Laura-46.

Would that cause us to 'act our age' :confused: :confused:

Agree but dont see how to enforce it....Angie 25

I like that, we could do it ourself, add it in our siggy??? laura-46

I think what makes YT so special and fun is that age, background, lifestyle is not the subject. We are all here to share our wonderful stories of our babies. I think younger, middle and older people should share their stories alike. We should focus on our questions and stories not each others ages, because there are some very mature teens on her that have given me excellent advice. It's good to know our youth is on here educating themselves instead of out doing other things. Personally I like our mix of folks, JMO :)

I stand corrected! I go back to my original thought, let's just be nice and it doesn't matter how old we are!

I understand what you are saying, especially when it comes to Prank Posts. However, I have also seen adults that can't spell any better than a child. So, who do you pick?

I don't see any reason why children shouldn't be allowed on here. I have learned a lot from the younger folks on here and from the older folks on here. I have no idea what age has to do with anything. I find it odd that that would even be an issue. Who cares how old a person is? That's like having a cutoff at the age of 65 or something because the older person's view might be outdated. I think that this site is GOOD for the younger people. Wouldn't you rather a 13 year old visit this site than a porn site or a site that advocates violence?