Important! Please read re: Underage Posters

So bascially what age do you need to be to post? 18?

The age is 13, but I wish it was higher. Anyone younger than that has to fill out the form and send it in. She tried to re-register and got caught today, that's how serious this issue is.

I had a feeling she was fairly young but her Hello Kitty post kind of let me think she was even younger then I thought.

Personally, I think anyone 16 and under should have parental consent to join and post on a board. But maybe i'm old fashioned!

I was kinda scared while this post was loading... I thought everyone under 18 was going to be forced to leave or something.

I wasn't ALLOWED on the Internet by myself when I was 12. If I wanted to surf, mum or dad were always sitting in a chair beside me! At 13, I had a real problem with Internet Addiction because I was finally allowed to surf by myself. Seriously, I was on for 10+ hours a day. It was just so enticing, at a time when I didn't feel comfortable with myself at all, that I could talk to people who couldn't see me. I think the age for forums and chats should be raised to 15... but allowed with parental permission. I know that in my situation, my parents never would have given permission because I was so addicted. They would tell me that I couldn't go online for so many days, and I'd get up at 2AM just to surf. It was like a drug. I didn't go anywhere, do anything. I considered the people on the chats that I frequented as my only friends. I've never really talked about it with anyone before now, and I'm not saying that every 13 year old is as crazy as I was. I think the parental permission thing is a really good rule.

As a person who wasted MANY hours of her childhood on the Internet, I would like to tell that girl to go outside and play. Paint a picture. Go to the library, read a book. Go to the playground. Don't worry about getting on a forum so soon. Although this forum is one of the best I've ever been to, good things come to those who wait.

-Jenn

"Stunning Post Jenn" Thank you for your insight on this! I wish she would go outside to play, but sadly it looks like the parental presence in her life isn't really there. She felt so accepted her by everyone- we became an instant family to her.

Sam, you are the most mature, well-spoken and intelligent teenager I've met in ages. (Since myself, when I was one, LOL! )

Originally posted by Mom of 10 Cats
Sam, you are the most mature, well-spoken and intelligent teenager I've met in ages. (Since myself, when I was one, LOL!

)

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That's the truth!!

Originally posted by Mom of 10 Cats
Sam, you are the most mature, well-spoken and intelligent teenager I've met in ages. (Since myself, when I was one, LOL!

)

Click to expand...

I agree.Very mature for a 13 year old.

WHOA i diden't see the child either

Jenn do me mind me asking? How did you get un-addicted to the computer, or did you?

Thanks Sue,Fran & VTS!

That really makes my day, We first got the internet last September.. It was a christmas present Mum had to get it for her business as well but I have made alot of friends, none really my age.

I still run around outside, paint, etc etc.There's a playground next door and the beach down the road, but I can't stay out all day/night so I come on the net..

It's kind of stress releiving..

It is so amazing how 13 year olds (like Sam) are a lot like us. I thought she was actually my age when I first talked to her I was never really into the whole computer thing and internet thing when they first came out. I was more into swimming, and hanging out with my friends. I just started the internet when I was a junior in high school, which was only 5 years ago! My sister is 16 and already has her own freakin' laptop! That is crazy!LOL

I think it is very sad that the really young are not encouraged to go out and play. The tough thing is that a lot a parents are scared to death as to what is out there and what will happen to their kids, stolen, raped, murdered! The world turns and changes dramatically from when I was a child. We now have a tv advert for computers etc showing a small child on the computer, shuning his friends who arrive with fishing rods and balls etc to play while he locks himself away with his screen! Havent seen it for a while, so i hope has been pulled. It seems that these days you just go to school, sit down and you get 'plugged' in like your some damned machine yourself!!!! When i got the internet i could nto think of anything to look for so never went on line for ages - its a bit boring (except for TCS of course)!

I didn't see any of her posts! Boy people can miss alot around here if they don't read all of the threads!

Originally posted by hissy
Jenn do me mind me asking? How did you get un-addicted to the computer, or did you?

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Of course I don't mind, Maryanne. I've never really told anyone about it before, but now it actually doesn't hurt to talk about it. Especially in an environment like this, where I know (hope? lol) that you won't all think I'm insane.

Basically, I refused to go to a counselor at that point because I didn't think there was anything wrong with me (though now I see that there really was). My parents didn't know what to do with me at all, and there really wasn't much advice for them because I'm pretty much in the first generation to widely use the Internet for chatting/leisure. Frustrated and confused with me, they packed me up and we headed to the cottage (no electricity at all!) for two weeks. After that, I was allowed a half hour a day, and if I got up during the night to go on the computer, the computer would be taken to the neighbour's house.

It was so many things. I'd lie to my friends so I didn't have to go to sleepovers, so I could talk to my online friends. I'd stay up all hours of the night to talk to them... sitting in my computer chair often for 5+ hours continuously. Occasionally, people online would say mean things to me and I would take it to heart and hate myself even more and go to other online places to find friends that would like me. I thought it was great that a fat girl with acne and funny hair, like me, could make so many friends. And I felt so close to them. But you know what? Now I look at pictures of myself from back then, and I was a lot prettier than I thought I was. The "fat girl with acne and funny hair" was just a girl that hadn't come out of her shell yet.

In my case, I don't think I'll ever be truly "un-addicted", really. I do have to limit my free time on the computer for my own sanity. I don't know if any of you really notice, but sometimes I'm here a lot for a couple weeks and other weeks I'm not really here at all. It's because I don't want to end up like I was four years ago. Though I do love chatting and making friends online, I keep myself busy with other things.

I hope I wasn't too hard on that girl when I first replied... I really don't mean to say that every kid on the Internet has problems like I did. I just wish it could wait a while. Kids are growing up far too fast as it is. They need to be kids for a little while longer.

Wow Jenn- thanks for your honesty and a personal glimpse into your world of internet addiction. I have an excuse for being online as much as I am because the internet is my livlihood. I wonder if I had to walk away from it if I really could or not? I would like to think that if I had a 9-5 job that it wouldn't take up so much of my day.

One of the problems and also the pull for addiction that I notice about the Internet, is it is always busy. There is always someone online, that you can talk to, and it never closes. For people who have problems sleeping, or who are shut-ins that can be both a blessing and a curse.

I know of no one who would make fun of you or make light of what you went through. Kudos to your parents for taking the bull by the horns and going to such a length to get your addiction under control. I do sometimes wonder if subliminal advertising is part of the Internet as a whole, and we are all subjected to it in subtle ways.

Thanks again for your honesty, and no you weren't rough on the kid that came here, you were truthful and that's all that counts.

Originally posted by WellingtonCats
Thanks Sue,Fran & VTS!

That really makes my day, We first got the internet last September.. It was a christmas present

Mum had to get it for her business as well but I have made alot of friends, none really my age.

I still run around outside, paint, etc etc.There's a playground next door and the beach down the road, but I can't stay out all day/night so I come on the net..

It's kind of stress releiving..

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Sam, I hope I didn't offend you with anything I've posted in this topic. You're one of the most mature people your age that I've ever met. Unfortunetly, a lot of people, at 13, are not as mature as you are (i.e. myself at 13). Obviously, you know how to balance your Internet time and your normal social time, and that's a very good thing. You talk about going to parties with friends, and you talk about things that aren't totally centred around your Internet life. See, I didn't do that. My friends' names all had an '@' in them somewhere. That's one of the reasons I was a little worried about this girl... starting so young, I'm worried she will get sucked in and do the same dumb things I did. It saddens me, as awesome as this forum is, that she had to turn to TCS as her "friends" or "family". I don't know how old she was, but her eagerness frightened me. I saw too much of my younger self in her. Could you imagine a little girl in third or fourth grade walking up to a group of strange women (and a couple men ) in the mall and asking to be their friend? I certainly couldn't.

I know I'm really touchy about the issue, and by no means did I mean to offend the younger posters at all. (Heck, I'm one of the younger posters. )

However, I still do believe that anyone under the age of 15 should need parental consent to join things like this forum. Sam, as an example, your mom probably knows that you wouldn't go overboard with forums so she probably wouldn't have a problem with signing the papers. At 13, my mom would have had a problem, and I think that being barred from forums/chats would have helped me a lot at that really hard point in my life.

I know a lot of adults that are addicted to the internet too. Any addiction for anyone is bad. I've overcome a few of myself. I'm glad you had your parents pulling for you Sockie's Mom. You're one of the lucky ones. And Sam? Yes, you're very mature for your age, but you still need a lot of time with kids your own age and I think you're getting it.

I'm just glad everyone here is so aware of things and is actually concerned. I'm also glad I didn't have the internet when I was a kid. I'm bad enough as it is now and I only spend a couple of hours on line a day. It's instead of TV for me. Our TV is rarely turned on any more.

I believe it's very easy for anyone to get caught up in the lure of the net. When I first got a computer and signed on at the ripe old age of 39, I spent time in some aol chatrooms. I remember a few nights of looking at the clock, and suddenly it was 2 or 3 a.m.

It's also way too easy for kids to get caught up and be in situations where they don't have the life experience to be able to accurately judge the people on the other side of the monitor. It is so easy to misrepresent oneself via the internet.

And finally, Sam, although I will chime in and restate what others have about your maturity level at 13, I still have that parental/educator side of me that tends to lean toward thinking that maybe a little less time on the net wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for you. After all, you are the person who racked up some 9000+ posts in only a few months here, and I don't even know if this is the only place on the net you visit. Just some food for thought. It's not my intention to hurt feelings, just being honest.

Thanks guys and no nobody offended me!

Yeah Deb this was the only place I visted for ages, I now belong to three boards.

I do spend alot of time on the net but I still have a social life!

I really do feel at home here and I think you guys are just as special as my "real" friends and I like spending time with you'se!