Your Advice Please (no its not a site review!)

Firstly wasnt sure where to put this but im looking for some advice, any will be thankfull -> Read Below
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Ive been having a few people join my teen forum, that are slightly over the
age of 19 (say for e.g. 22), they introduce themself and they seem like a
nice person, looking to make friends or even after some advice or wotever,
however they are over the age limit (13- 19) should this person be banned
from using the site or not??

In one hand ---- He/She could be a friendly person that wants to make a few
friends, get advice or even there just for the chats, or maybe he/she is
looking to maybe be able to help by giving advice etc etc.

In the other hand --- He/She could be a (to put it bluntly) paedophile and
plans on causing harm to my teen visiters.

Safety for my visiters is my main priority, of course i cannot protect them
100%, but i will do the best i can to stop online prediters.
However at the same time i do not want to block vulnerable teens/visiters
that are seeking advice (that could possibly be a life or death situation)

What would you do? any advice?

Thanks

Mark

 

Hard choice, maybe allow those over a certain age to be moderators but then knowing if they are legit and not as you say after something is another thing.

For safety I would say don't allow them, for success of the site overall though I'd say allow them. Might be an area of do you want $ over safety on your site.

Sorry I couldn't give a better answer, it is a tough call, one I'm glad I don't have to make

And Smyrl great answer, I thought of that as well, a bit hard to get age verification without doing complete background checks.

 

they are required to input a date of birth at registration http://www.just-4-teens.com/advice/register.php, altho this is not fool proof since a fake date can be entered it helps a little.

 

The safety of my visiters will out run any amount of $$$ involved. Of course i want a successfull site but want a safe place for my visiters too.

maybe i need to ask someone thats also runs a similar site.

 

now that could stop a few but also cause some aswell, since my site gives advice. for e.g. would someone who is thinking of causing self harm or maybe worse (i have had emails asking for advice that have been worse) take the time to ask there parents to sign a form?

 

Teens are pretty computer/internet savvy these days. Just look at some of the younger members of DP forum. Perhaps you could use Smyrl's parental permission format with an option of OR a dated proof of identity.

Sure if you were up to no good you could fake it but perhaps the creeps will leave you site to find easier pickings elsewhere.

 

often times adults can provide good advice to teens, as they've been there and done that. if it were me, I'd keep the focus on teens but allow any age to register.

 

I think J4T is right to be cautious. A site aimed at teens is going to attract some weirdos. Who knows about the 22 year old - all I remember is that at 22 the last place I'd be hanging out was in the school disco.

Of course, you can't tell and maybe this guy is uncomfortable with people of his own age. Perhaps he was bullied at school or whatever. I would say J4T should stay loyal to his group and stick to membership ages within the guidelines. At the same time perhaps J4T can affiliate with a group more suited to those who are just outwith his own visitors and gently introduce the 22 year old there.

 

i would remove all conversation and information pertaining to someones age.

that way a p#do could be preying on another 45 year old

they have to be over 13 to register, thats enough, thats your disclaimer.

keep the conversation focused around teen issues, and anyone not interested will leave.
Post a few stickys about NO AGE DISCUSSIONS or MEETINGS ARRANGED ON THE BOARD
and if anyone posts saying "what mortgage do you have"
BAN THEM

 

at this moment in time anyone that is way over (30+) is getting a straight ban - unless they contact me b4 hand with a gd reason y they should be aloud on (authorities, fellow worker etc) anyone just over the age say 22 is recieving a pm which states that it is a teen only forum and if they wish to participate they must follow a set of strict rules (no pm'ing, no off topic/adult posts/convos etc) and if they break them just once they will be kicked for life.

I am also gonna post some info about online internet safety and create a new user_group for the non-teens, and block them from the forums that contain sensitive data (e.g. advice forum 4 teens that have been abuse, i will also set it so they cannot pm/email members.

It is also set so personal homepages do not show in memberlist/profiles/post so spammers are less likely to join and post there porn links.

emailing members is all done thru the forum like http://www.just-4-teens.com/advice/sendmessage.php?do=mailmember&u=1 so no members real email addy is actually ever displayed.

I have set it so no under 13's can join, altho this aint fool proof but it helps.

I also plan on getting some help from people that are fellow youth workers (like i am) and deal with teens on a regular basis to help out with moderating and stuff (but they must send me a copy of their CRB check and photo id).

I will probally do as sum1 said above and remove what age they are from their profiles and since teens ask the "A.S.L" question a lot there isnt much need for it.

anymore suggestion would be great.

 

also i might think about doing a seperate advice site for the non-teens. what ya think?

 

It was Solicitors Mortgage that said remove the ages and it is good advice.

What is the A.S.L. question?

And yes, I think a seperate advice site for non-teens would be a good idea.

 

Personally I would disable all forms of private communication through your site.

Disable the ability to send other members private messages\emails and enable a personal issues forum that lets members posts anonymously.

That way any "dodgy" members can't actually contact anyone privately..

 

A.S.L. is short for Age, Sex, & Lacoation, commonly asked in things like chat rooms etc.

 

I was chatting to someone who is in the same field of work, and also runs a teen site and this is what advice he gave me

 

I think the idea is flawed.

You may think you have a forum full of pony-tailed 14 year old girls, when in reality, your have a forum full of 55 year old balding fatmen.

The internet is not the place to setup weird and strange setups and then ask why they dont work.

 

what ya trying to say?

 

At least J4T and others are trying to provide a secure meeting place for a vulnerable age group. The security measures can never be perfect, I suppose but I thought the quote J4T provided with added measures would go a long way to frighten the crap out of a creep and encourage them to go elsewhere.

digitx, do you have children? Would you rather they hang about on totally unsupervised corners of the internet or somewhere where at least some safeguards are in place?