Eco forum for kids?

[the.fee.fairy]

I don't think anyone is traceable on here anyway, the only way we know where anyone lives is/was through the secret santa, so surely if anything like that was done again involvng children, then it would be limited to children of forum members, with the parcels being sent to the parents so they can check it first.

I understand the problem of groomers and stuff, but they're a real life threat, and surely educating children about what is not right on this kind of forum, such as anything that says 'pr0n' is going to be wrong (or i am a dirty spammer...).

i personally think it would be nice to allow the children to join in with the adults on this one, as they do in real life. An example would be Chickpea(?)'s son who wants to post pics of his mushrooms...as long as they're not bigger than mine, i'd love to see them!! The same goes for the sunflower competition, The chilli pepper competition might be a tad different!! But, then, they're just chillies in a rude shape. most kids would find that funny rather than offensive (i hope!).

My friend's got a 6 year old and a 3 year old, and i know the older of the two would love to play 'compare the sunflower' with other kids, and would love to outdo some of the adults!

Also, if there was a kids only area, would that not encourage groomers? And, most groomers tend to work in chat situations, so if there was a block on the kids signed up using chat, or PMs then that cuts that risk a hell of a lot.

[the.fee.fairy]

and, finally (i think) if there were kids of people on the forums on here, then surely those parents would be checking what they were writing (i know i'd be checking to see what my friend's son had posted) so they could flag up anything suspicious to the mods.

[Annpan]

I agree with fee

Lets not get all freaked out about groomers.

The idea is to have somewhere for kids to discuss green issues.

Comparing the hieght of your sunflowers or asking how kids get their schools involved with recycling, I just don't think that this is dangerous. If all that 'groomers' can find out is that little freddy has turned an old tyre into a swing or is learning how to make paper from scraps. Well I think the groomers would realise that 'ish' is not a hunting ground.

Also 'ish' is a very well moderated site and if kids can only post via a moderator inn a kids only section it would be great.

We are not talking about disillusioned 15 year old who is thinking about running away from home, we are talking about a 7 year old that wants to show everyone how well his mushrooms are growing.

It is really sad if we can't sort something out on this type of alternative thinking web site.


Ann

[Andy Hamilton]

Phew, sounds like we have to go ahead with something then. Ok how many kids are we talking about?

It will have to be kids of members that have asked to join through their parents. - Not entirley sure how I will set this up yet, so any advice or patience will be apprechiated. Also could do with a moderator in charge of it, a parent does not have to be a present moderator but someone (or 2 people) that we think we can all trust.

[Milims]

Thank you so much Andy - I know that there will be a very happy boy here who will want to be involved and most likely so will his sister - so that makes 2 for your list!!!
Perhaps the best way would be for parents sending you a PM with the childs details and you set them up with a log in.
We'll have to put our thinking caps on for appropriate picture themes, instead of the Good Life how about Wombles, Bill and Ben or maybe even growth stages of a sunflower seed.
Really looking forward to it!!
Helen and Chris (and the mini Milims!!)

[Wombat]

Pardon my stupidity here, but I don't understand the "pr0n" thing and what is a "groomer"

Tks

Nev

[Shirley]

I'm quite happy to mod this section BUT would appreciate another helper :D

[Shirley]

Pardon my stupidity here, but I don't understand the "pr0n" thing and what is a "groomer"

Tks

Nev

pron is p0rn...

a groomer is someone who basically pretends to be a nice person/child etc and gains the confidence of the child... makes friends, then arranges to meet them... and... I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Most definitely NOT nice people - the lowest of the low.

[Wombat]

Ahhh! verb sap. Thanks Shirl!

nev

[Andy Hamilton]

Cheers Shirley, yep I think we need at least 3 moderators on there just to be sure.

Changing the defult avatars would be impossible I think. Anyone offering help to sort out the programing needed?

[Martin]

it should be pretty straightforward - you can probably do it yourself - just create a new class of members - I'd suggest something like "family members" - best not to use words like "kid" - that could be picked up on by googling perves - then remove the pm and email facility (or make sure it's hidden), disallow them from seeing the "dreaded spam" forum, and there you have it!

[Andy Hamilton]

How do you create a new class of members?

[Martin]

http://www.phpbb.com/support/guide/#section3_3_1

[Shirley]

ok - I've done that for Neeps! but doesn't it mean that other people can't access that particular forum. Is the idea that the kids just have their own little section that the rest of the Ishers can't see?

[Martin]

it's easy to get giddy with all the settings! - you can have the forum as "open to special members and mods only", or you can make it visible to all - best thing is to have a tinker!
I'd go for just having "Family members" -, give them their own forum, remove their pm and email abilities (or keep them hidden), and disbar them from the "spam" forum! - I'd allow every member entry, but not "visitors"
(if you're a member, there's some "trace" of "who you are!") - I hope that makes sense! - a good help is to register yourself as a member of that group
"Minishirlz" or whatever, and try it out from their viewpoint until you get it right - you could be in for hours of fun!
if you get really fed up with trying to get it right on phpbb, check out the SMF forum software - in comparison, an absolute doddle to drive!