When a minor visits the forum

I think this thread exists because TOTJO policy prohibits minors from announcing their age/status as minors in the forum and that rule has been repeatedly violated.

As already discussed, yes, it is indeed everyone's duty to be decent and behave in a manner consistent with the fact that this is a Church.

Youth Officers are, so far as I know, the Temple's way of honoring its obligations to the minors, not a get-out-of-jail free card to let other members off the hook with respect to, like, vigilance.

Ok, wait, so we all agree then, that the rules are there and we should follow them?

What on earth are we arguing about?

Because not EVERYONE agrees with some small parts of the rules

I think that some parts of the rules are more to help cover TOTJO legally. They do serve the purpose of protecting the youth members, but only so much. To me, it's like if you're playing Pokemon Go (that's right, I still do) and you're in a car. The message that pops up asking you to click "I'm a Passenger" in no way actually stops a person from driving and playing (which is a stupid thing to do) but it legally absolves the game makers. Or a line from an episode of House "Someday 17 year olds are going to get smart enough to click 'Yes I am 18.'"

We can only do so much to stop things from happening, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't do what we can.

I don't know what's in the youth FAQ but a section on internet safety might not be bad. Heck, put it in the regular FAQ also. I think some "grown up" people could use a reminder.

There was a thread a while back about a website that was a collection of cat pictures but the site makers laid them out on a map of exactly where they were taken. They accessed the photos legally and got all the location data legally and were able to pin point the exact location. The whole purpose was to show people just how much information a person can legally get and what they can do with it. They used cat pictures to help make it not quite so scary.

Leah Starspectre wrote: Ok, wait, so we all agree then, that the rules are there and we should follow them?

lol

+ :evil: =

Goken wrote: I think that some parts of the rules are more to help cover TOTJO legally. They do serve the purpose of protecting the youth members, but only so much. To me, it's like if you're playing Pokemon Go (that's right, I still do) and you're in a car. The message that pops up asking you to click "I'm a Passenger" in no way actually stops a person from driving and playing (which is a stupid thing to do) but it legally absolves the game makers. Or a line from an episode of House "Someday 17 year olds are going to get smart enough to click 'Yes I am 18.'"

We can only do so much to stop things from happening, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't do what we can.

I don't know what's in the youth FAQ but a section on internet safety might not be bad. Heck, put it in the regular FAQ also. I think some "grown up" people could use a reminder.

There was a thread a while back about a website that was a collection of cat pictures but the site makers laid them out on a map of exactly where they were taken. They accessed the photos legally and got all the location data legally and were able to pin point the exact location. The whole purpose was to show people just how much information a person can legally get and what they can do with it. They used cat pictures to help make it not quite so scary.

The last time I looked there is a section on internet safety. I can't see it now, but when I was a youth officer I used to bang on about being safe in the youth forum often. If a minor continually flouted the rules and ignored our requests they would probably get themselves banned (under 13s are banned automatically). As a knight I kicked minors from chat more than once for ignoring me on talking about their 'minor-ness'. I'm pretty sure that cat pictures thread was mine... I know now which of my neighbours owns which cats!

In case anyone wondered, all Youth Officers are subject to criminal background checks and while I was a youth officer (don't know if it happens now) I used to email the parents of all 13 and 14 year olds to ensure they knew their kids were on the forum. I never got a response, but that is another subject entirely.

We do an awful lot for minors here, a hell of a lot more than I have seen other forums do. We should be proud of the effort we put in.

The reason I posted this thread is because not all members read the youth faq, or have read it recently, and it pays to be aware that our attempts to help may unintentionally confirm or highlight that someone is a minor, something we are actively trying to avoid.