Age limit for this forum is useless.

[patliputra]

Why there is age restriction is beyond understanding. It is persons of impressionable age require most attention. When any one can read all the posts,so why restriction on posting and interacting.

[Hidden]

I respect your opinions and you give excellent advice, but is this instance I disagree with you and the administration

I'm usually not but can be a rule breaker if I think there is a wrong being done I've worked with children  a large part of my life and they don't have the mental capacity at a young age to reason like adults. If they ask for help and don't receive it they will feel rejected and may not try again. . 

I would never turn down a child no matter what the consequence to me. If the administration wanted to make this happen, I'm sure they could. If a child is posting here they are probably already damaged to some extent, and by replying you might save a life or at the very least give some comfort.

I'm ready, blast away...

[Hidden]

As crazy as it seems I was a qualified Youth Leader in the early seventies, we had to be very careful as members could become quiet close to us and would associate us as real friends they could talk to as many of us were anything from eighteen or qualified at twenty one so it was important we passed on any problems to someone who did not have that type of relationship because parents could become quite concerned.

The school was informed and they would arrange with parents some form of treatment that the child would benefit from such as GP or Social Services. It was different if the child was about sixteen as they could approach their GP in there own right. 

Children who have a mental illness need special attention where family members are included, for some very good reasons I will not discuss here

We would never leave ourselves open to any form of accusations

BOB

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I do understand, but don't like.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hello

It is all very sad especially when we knew we may have done some good.

Even  then it was pushed onto us what we had to do, we could advise a route they could take and that seemed to work. The Headmaster would talk to the child with their teacher, generally a parent was included.

It was a shame when the teen came to a leader and it was past toward someone who had a different outlook.

Life even then was so fickle

BOB

[Suebguineapig]

Speaking as a Primary Headteacher, I would have to say there are all sorts of good reasons why age restrictions exist on social media sites. In my brief experience of this one, it is probably the most positive I have come across. However, that does not mean it is not open to anyone planning to exploit vulnerability, sadly. Can you talk to a person you trust at school, or, failing that, use a network such as Childline (they go high up the age range)? I wish you well.

[Hidden in reply to Suebguineapig]

This discussion is a debate among form members. There is no  post from a child on here. It was removed.

[Photogeek]

Hi there I totally agree with all Coughalot  has stated. Children or young adults under

16 are very vulnerable to be exploited or come to harm on a site like this. A child

Of thirteen looking for help and maybe unhappy and feeling unloved, what if a male or female approaches them here. The child could be groomed for exploitation and this could leave any child vulnerable to meeting someone with malicious intentions.

Plus the content on this site is adult and not suitable for children. I don't think the initial poster realises how serious this is. The rules are here for a very good reason and we should be enforcing them, not ranting against them.

Hannah

[Hidden]

Not everyone can see every post,mine are restricted to member's group.Children are vulnerable even without problems, Wrong advice can cause more problems than good, There is also the risk of being accused of cultivating/Grooming I would always advise a child to speak to their parents or a responsible adult ie DR Teacher or in Brighton the local PCSO,s ( I still think there should only be proper Police not pcsos,but have been proven wrong as the pcsos in my area have a really good rapport with the youngsters and I am sure that can only be a good thing) sadly in this day and age Caring can cause adults problems! I have a great rapport with my kids and grandkids but would be suspicious of any other adults motives for being over friendly ! It is a sad fact there are too many strange folk out there and too much Child abuse ,one child being abused is one too many!!

[Gambit62]

It is my understanding that the administrators would not just remove anyone from the forum but would contact them and make sure that they had access to APPROPRIATE HELP.  As others have said there are a lot of factors to consider in responding to a child and I wouldn't consider a forum like this to be a safe and suitable environment for most children below the age of 16.

[patliputra]

A very fruitful discussion where main issue which has come out is exploitation of under age children or to be exact adolescent . There is no doubt that it is a very impressionable age and one can easily be misguided. On the other hand active members on this forum are very mature and responsible ,and they provide very mature and thoughtful guidance to people who need help. So it can not be denied the possibility of exploitation but to me chances for that are very remote. Nevertheless ,Opinions of members must be honoured.

[Hidden in reply to patliputra]

Well said.