Important! Please read re: Underage Posters

[tigger]

Valan,
All I made was a statement. Why is it when I say something, it seems like you have to make it sound like I am being some horrible person or however you want to look at it? It was a statment which you took out of context. So, I said policy instead of law.

 

[hopehacker]

Actually, I'm glad I'm learning this here. I have a message board on my Hope's Paul Stanley Page website. I remember when a 10 year old kid joined up. A lot of the members were getting really uncomfortable with him being there, because they couldn't understand why a child at age 10 would want to converse with a bunch of adults. I didn't know the law about this, (I know ignorance is no excuse), so I allowed him to take part in my board. Fianlly, I had to ban his ISP, because people complained so much about him being there. I am glad I'm learning that there is a 13 year old age limit.

 

[raggiemom]

SIGH...you know, people are getting really bent out of shape over this. Hissy, I UNDERSTAND that it is a law, and i'm allowed to say i find it to be silly. if you kept reading, i said i'd abide by it and i accept it. but as my FIL says "opinions are like a**holes; EVERYONE has one."

as far as i can see, no one has been debating this policy/law/whatever you want to call it at this point. (YES. i understand it is federal law) i don't see why it's a problem to say that you don't agree with something. it's not like we're going to go out and find as many 12 year olds as we can and to get them to join the board. lighten up people! this post is in IMO and that's what everyone is doing; stating their opinions. this whole forum has been on edge all week.


yes, tigger, you and i are in the same boat; i loathe people my own age for the most part. i don't drink, i don't try to "get with" as many people as possible, i'm married. i was born and raised with a sense of morals and responsibility and at times, i feel like an alien species or something. (people as a whole have REALLY been failing their children these last 25 or so years. yes parents, you dropped the ball.) when i was 10, i spent my time inside during recess reading biographies of famous people, and college-level texts...or i preferred to talk to my teachers rather than people my own age. by the time i was 14, i had people convinced who met me in person that i was in GRADUATE school. had i been on-line at the time, i also would have had you all here convinced of that as well.

i do agree with some of the other things that have been said; you really should moniter the internet use of your children. we didn't get on-line access until i was almost 15 and i had some bad experiences and went into "virtual" hiding for almost 6 months before i did anything except check my email and get off. i STILL can't play interactive games in yahoo; it has too many bad memories for me. i had a plethora of people try to "cyber" with me...and i picked up an internet stalker who told me things like he was going to visit me in my dreams (a math major in CA...). i'm only saying this so that people don't think that i'm living in a rose-colored la-la land (which is the impression i'm beginning to get). i UNDERSTAND the dangers of the internet as i have experienced them first hand. and i UNDERSTAND why this law is in place. but i'm allowed to think that the 13 year old rule is silly for a site like this one. if that makes me a bad person, then so be it.

 

[valanhb]

Actually, this isn't IMO. It's The Cat Lounge. It was posted to bring attention to the law that we have to abide by, because most people don't know that it is a law.

It appeared that people were arguing just to argue. If it is that important to converse with people under 13 years old, then there are places you can go to do it. But it isn't going to happen here - not if we can help it.

 

[kimward34]

13 year old rule is silly?

I could go on and on with this topic so I'll try to summarize to spare you all...

As a mom of a 13 year old I am TRULY grateful that TCS has this policy and enforces it. More boards should do the same. Call me "silly" or old fashion but in no way shape or form is my 13 year allowed to hang out online with adults for hours on end, unsupervised... (I mean no offense - this is strictly my opinion and parenting style. ) It's just that I have a hard time understanding what in the world a 13 year old would have in common with a bunch of adults...


Anyway, my son is only allowed on the internet with my husband or myself present - even with our mega-firewall he is not permitted to surf alone. We allow him a certain amount of time to look up "fun things" that he is interested in like paint ball, skateboards and motorcycling... He also uses the net for research papers, book reports, etc... other than that he's outside playing with his friends.

 

[deb25]

I have to agree with Heidi here. This thread was started to alert members to COPPA and to ask them to do their part in bringing suspected underage posters to the attention of moderators. If some of you want to debate the merits of this law to death, I would suggest you begin a debate on the subject over to IMO. Sounds more to me like people want to debate a point that, frankly, isn't up for debate here.

 

[kiwideus]

I agree with you Kim - I don't think kids should be spending a lot of time on the internet - they should be outside, enjoying life, playing with their friends and not behind a monitor typing away. I think it is sad that kids feel that they need to be on the internet to meet people. When I was 12 I was doing normal things like any kid. I do feel more comfortable with people older than me, but still, I need to be doing things that are appropriate for my age as well.

 

[hissy]

Besides, don't most 13 year olds NOT want adults around? But as Deb and Heidi have said, this is not debate class, nor is it IMO. We just hope that the members will alert us if they suspect new members are joining us that are underage. And so with this being said, this thread is now being locked down.

Thank you all for your responses, especially you sockies mom. It has been a very enlightening post, but leaving it open would mean just beating a dead horse that doesn't need to be beat.