*Very* Young Users
I recently received a PM from someone who claims to be a very young user. I know that we have our share of kids on board, and this is generally a good thing; it is also one of the reasons why we strive to keep the Forum clean.
Nevertheless, this person claims to be younger than my own son, and I know that at 10, he's not ready to tackle something like this Forum on his own.
I'm willing to allow that the user that wrote me (to complain that he/she didn't like an answer I gave) is very precocious and able to interact in a meaningful way... but the truth is, I find it rather unsettling.
As I said, I think it's good that we have young users, maybe as young as 12, 14, and more. I think several of them have shown the capacity to ask good questions, and participate actively, enjoying a good learning experience.
And while I'd like to be able to explore some more adult themes every now and then, I can deal with keeping my posts at least PG-rated, if not G-rated.
But I am concerned about not being able to identify the small kids. It is possible that they ask a question that for their age is innocent enough, or that sounds obvious to the older folk, and then may be given an answer that is inappropriate, for their age, or too harsh.
From previous discussions about user profiles, I gather that there isn't much that can be done about the information that must be displayed there. For obvious security reasons it is best not to display a user's actual age, but I think it would be good to know that a given user is not an adult, at least. I wonder what everyone's thoughts are on this subject.
18 Answers
Galsally said: if she was really really keen to learn it will be a hard blow for her
From what I saw she was simply playing around on the forum. If she were a serious student we would not have noticed her age and immaturity.
I realise you have deleted kay's account for sound reasons Heidi
The Administration does not delete any account with out very good reasons. In fact, I was one of the people who called Heidi's attention to Kay's posts because they were getting out of control.
If you still wonder whether Kay was treated fairly.. she also sent me a PM with derogatory language, which is a clear violation of forum rules and grounds for banning.
Here I speak for myself in the hopes that somebody will agree with me. The very young poster is a transitional problem. One that I don't think it is necessary to focus on too much. We are a novelty to them, and they become bored very fast and move on to more age appropriate sites before we really get to know their names. Oh, if only my kids would have hung around a site like this when they were nine and ten! I would have paid for them to stay! Just my thoughts folks. I don't think we should dwell too much on the really young ones.
I would love to see the site remain (I say remain because it is usually) family oriented enough that the age doesn't matter.
I don't think that should lessen the requirement to use proper punctuation, and anyone too young to at least attempt that is in my opinion too young even if they are 20 years old.
I suspect that the majority of the questions that are not necessary here, come not from the 10 to 12 year olds, but more likely from the teenagers feeling their oats and then emboldened by the anonymity the internet provides.
It doesn't take long to figure out who one can PM to ask for information that may not be suitable for the general consumption and there are certainly enough watchdogs to mind the troublesome ones.
Face it mis amigos, no hay mucho podemos hacer. This is the internet with it's inherant problems. What most of us would like is just not possible. I would like to see this site open to everyone old enough to understand their own language first, not necessarily a grammatical wiz {as I would certainly be out} but having the knowledge and common sense to use correct punctuation and capitalization. Most of us aren't flawless in our spelling and typing so some leeway there is OK. I liked it when we had some profile information but again, face it, there is no way of knowing if any of that is real or padded a little. Waivers Feliz? I doubt it would do any good. I don't think you're being paranoid, just concerned as I am but I just can't see worrying about anyone else's kids. This site is run very admirably by our administrators and policed by the many concerned members using the forum every day so there really isn't anything more that can or should be done. People like Kay are a problem only if you let them get to you. The best way to handle it is flag and ignore. I know it's hard Gekko and they drive you nuts but take a deep breath and click on another post.
remember me its kay1027 and i am nine years old
Wow! I think it is great that Kay is only nine and has enough desire and drive to learn Spanish and the intelligence and technical savvy to sign herself up and participate in the lessons and forum here at SpanishDict.com. That is amazing! I wish there had been a resource like this when I was a child.
I have thus far not seen anything on this site that would be inappropriate for a child. Perhaps occasionally there is something, if so the moderators and members must take care of it very quickly.
What I believe is important to learn from this is that it is always best to make our answers as kind and friendly as possible. Even more so, if you are unfamiliar with the person you are answering or commenting. Online and in e-mails it is very easy to misunderstand the intent or tone of a statement. The exact same words said face to face with a friendly smile could be interpreted in a negative way when written because of the lack of physical and voice cues. There are people of all ages who may be overly sensitive and take offense easily.
There you have it, my two cents, for what it's worth! Is that in the phrase book yet?
I realise you have deleted kay's account for sound reasons Heidi, without wanting to make waves I just want to express that I feel that if she was really really keen to learn it will be a hard blow for her; even as an adult it would be difficult to be rejected like that.
I don't have any answers, maybe she will join again and lie about her age or maybe she will cry a little and move on.
What can be done about the Internet...
Heidi, me di cuenta de que has eliminado la cuenta de Kay para razones de peso, sin estoy queriendo que hacer olas solo quiero expresar que me siento que si tenga realmente muchas ganas de aprender, seriá un duro golpe para ella, incluso ser adulta, sería difícil de ser rechazada por esto estilo.
No tengo ninguna respuesta, tal vez se unirá de nuevo y mentirá sobre su edad o tal vez vaya a llorar un poco y se adelante.
¿Qué puede hacerse acerca de la Internet ...
Es un problema muy muy difícil de tratar. :(
Actually, I am sure you are talking about this user, kay.
I have tried to be friendly, but really, this is not allowed on this site.
We have users on this site who are very young, as young as 12 or 13, I have some students who are on this site too.
but the minumum age is 14 as far as I know, so this is really not allowed.
The age is not displayed any more, there had been some complaints...
Anyway, if anybody discovers a very young user, please let me know.
Thanks Gekko, I should have deleted this profile right away.
Well yes, even if we keep deleting the accounts, they can use this site however they like by entering their age as18 or etc., Well , unless they act as a child , I think there is no problem. Of course it's not legal but there is nothing to be done..
"Kids are everywhere!" 
I was going to say that if a child of 9 or 10 or whatever was old enough to be learning a language he/she was probably capable of using this site to ask/answer questions but would probably not be capable of following some of the forum threads and discussions. Then I saw the statement by Heidi that the minimum age to register for an account was 14 - well "rules is rules" as they say and have to be obeyed so unfortunately young Kay was well out of order. Rules are made for a purpose and to protect all parties.
that requires people to be at least 13 to sign up for a website
This is also true for our site. But people even as young as this member, do not tell the truth and it is easy to change your age ....which is what she did.
I think it is great that Kay is only nine and has enough desire and drive to learn Spanish
This is true, however, it is not a good idea to allow such young users on board, this is a site used by young people, but this is definitely too young and I guess illegal too.
This member account has been deleted.
Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! You could have fooled me! I was totally unaware that there was any problem at all. I do not remember seeing any inappropriate posts from Kay or any one else for that matter. This is news to me!
I agree with a previous poster that says minor children should only be allowed to use this site under a parent's supervision and that would involve using their parent's account. If they do not use it properly,off they go along with their parent !
Under no circumstances should children on any site give any personal info about themselves and that includes their age, address, phone number, school or where their parent's are employed.
I might suggest that the legal age requirement for this site be put in BOLD letters so there is no question on who should be here.
As for Kay - Sorry Kay but we all have to live by rules. They are what make the world a little more orderly and civil. They also keep us from unnecessary grief and pain . Read the RULES, follow the RULES, they are for your protection and mine.
Sally said:
I realise you have deleted kay's account for sound reasons Heidi,
We only ban members for sound reasons, sally, no banning is taken or decided lightly
We appreciate everybody here, Kay included of course, but this is a very young child, and she is not old enough to be on an adult forum like this one.
As a parent, I try to monitor what my son does on the internet, but you can't watch them all the time. I found some very unsavoury behaviour on a childrens website, where teenagers have figured out they can use the message service freely.
That site is "Moshi Monsters" if any other members have children who use it, message me if you want more info.
The obvious flaw in the age limit, is that younger kids will just lie, particulary if it will get their homework done. However, they can't complain if they are offended, because they shouldn't be here.
I know it's hard Gekko and they drive you nuts but take a deep breath and click on another post.
I don't think we should dwell too much on the really young ones.
The thing is, that's not really quite what unsettles me.
On the one hand, I am inclined to agree with what Joe says. I'd rather my kid spent time in a site like this, than watching moronic video hashes that other kids post in Youtube.
But Kay wrote to me to complain about I reply I made. I wrote that reply thinking I was aiming it at a girl old enough to take it. Maybe not happily, but she could deal with it. I never suspected it I was replying to a 9 year old -or my reply would have been very different, if I had replied at all.
So it's not that kids bug me with their posts. Yes, some can be annoying, but those I usually ignore. And as I said, some of our young users have become pretty good at posting good questions, starting games, and taking advantage of our resources. Rather, I'm concerned that some kid simply may receive an answer he or she is not ready to handle yet.
Since what Yesero says is the truth, and there just is no way to happily accommodate everyone, I suppose that a minimum age limit becomes necessary. Still, I kinda wish my kid were able to defend himself as ably as young Kay here...
