An open letter to the young (under 18) people on ATS.

reply to post by boaby_phet

You cannot be serious, kids are not dumb. They´re not dumb, i hate the word "dumb", is a kid with Down Syndrome "dumb"? No he isn´t!

I meself have met many kids who are smarter than me, and the basic idea that just because we´re kids doesn´t mean we can´t make coherent thoughts!

In fact i praise kids who join here because they´ll learn much more here than watching cartoons, i have found more grammatical mistakes in your post than in the post of a Russian!

No offense to Russians, seriously i mean it.

Ok...here I go again. This thread was never meant to be a discussion of kids intelligence (it's been interesting though). And yet it veered that direction...and I even participated in the sideshow.

I suppose in some respects I could be to blame, because I was a bit fatherly in my OP. It was not meant to belittle in any way! I just wanted to warn to be careful and safe.

I got back ahold of the stick now and will steer it back on topic.

Be careful all...don't give out any info you don't want layed out in front of you! Don't regret what you post online!

reply to post by rotorwing

Forgive me, i have obviously been deviated of the OP´s original intent.

I understand the need to hide personal information from strangers, specially these days.

I encourage the author, and many other members to share this thought.


[edit on 9/3/10 by Bildeberg]

reply to post by Bildeberg


who said anything about people with down syndrome?? no need to air your own nasty views here.

i have alot of experience with children through work and in general life, and for the most, kids between the ages of `10 and 20 are for the most "arrogant smart arses" who will not listen to anythign except their own views or what they seen on popular tv that week, and those who do actualy listen and read are just as suceptable to being misled very easily on important topics to the poiont they all start preaching someone elses mumbo jumbo and defend it to the hilt ... this is not healthy for a forum where facts are key!

not to mention, some of the things that have been posted lately seemed just plain ridicilious, for instance "How to summon demons?" .... this just seemed plain stupid till i realised their were children posting on ats!

i think some people forget that to sign up for this forum it asks you if you are thirteen or older. you then "sign" the T&C's. if we're all posting within the T&C's and those who are members are not under thirteen, there's nothing wrong with them reading any topic or participating in any thread on this board. no one here has been assigned as the "save the children bishop". if you see something offensive to kids thirteen or older, or a person claiming to be younger than thirteen, there are alert buttons on every single post in every thread on this board.

no one here has been assigned as the "save the children bishop

All that is required for evil to flourish, is that good men do nothing.

I cant imagine anyone here who has nothing but scorn and negativity for
genuine concern for young people, has any of their own, or god forbid, ever should.
Just because you dont care less, is no reason to demean the caring of others.
Did your mother not breast feed you?

reply to post by optimus primal


hahahah you would assign a bishop to look after kids on a forum??!?!? why not go the whole hog and hire fred west and ian huntly to do shifts!



[edit on 9-3-2010 by boaby_phet]

reply to post by wayaboveitall


save the personal attacks please. the T&C's are there for a reason. one of them being minors above the age, or at, 13. same with moderators. there's really no need for threads and back and forth sniping about protecting the children, as if the terms and conditions, moderators, and their parent's aren't enough. it's like the believer vs skeptic threads in the ufo forums, they get no one anywhere and just stir up a bunch of kiddie comments like " didn't your mother breastfeed you?" is that really what we should be allowing our boards to fill up with? i submit not, thank you very much.


and for the record i do have a son, and i'll keep my own watch over what he does in the world and thank you and the other "saviours" to keep your noses out of my childs business. if a child is posting here either their parents know about it and watch to make sure they aren't reading anything they shouldn't, or don't know about it and don't care and are poor parents for not doing so. that doesn't make it anyone's job here, besides moderators, to police said children and lecture them about internet safety so they can feel better about themselves.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by optimus primal]

Good post

Those who would disagree are the people our Parents warned us about.

Any Parent who is not on top of what their children are reading and doing on the Internet is part of the problem.

The only other side of the fence on this issue is those with bad intent towards children.

reply to post by boaby_phet


i don't know who those two people are, sorry. it was a term meant for effective description, not an invitation to pedophile jokes.

reply to post by optimus primal


it wasnt a pedophile joke .. it was a child/adult murderer joke!

On the topic though, i would not say ATS is any safer or more dangerous for a child to be to in the "child protection" sence, that being child abusers and that kind of deviants who lurk online for their prey.

The area that conerns me, is the area where impressionable kids start reading about topics they really have no grasp of or real understanding, now, that in itself is not bad except for the amount of topics on ats which are posted by adults who are either hoaxers or near delusional (do i need to mention goodchild or Escamilla?).

kids are innocent, but with that innocence brings niavety, as is fairly obvious in this day and age, kids are very impressional, they can see something, think its cool and will start preaching that same cool thing at 10000% no matter how much their parents tell them its stupid.

its a matter of poor knowlage causing people with poor ideas or worse.

some kids reading stuff on ats must be truely mindblown! ... and it really wouldnt suprise me if their was some kids taking posts on ats way way to serious, or taking something very serious to heart for all the wrong reasons and doing somethign stupid .... or, ending up in some sort of institution due to their parents thinking they have lost the plot!

reply to post by boaby_phet



i guess it all boils down to what kind of parent you are(you in figurative, not you boaby). personally i believe kids should be allowed to explore whatever they'd like so long as their parents keep a watchful eye and explain things that may be confusing so that the child understands what they're reading or seeing in it's proper context. i don't believe children should be sheltered untill they're 18, it leaves them ignorant of a great many things and totally unprepared for the scary thing that is the world.


quite frankly to the OP, i don't know you dude, and i'm not trying to attack you for creating this thread really, but there have been three other threads about this very subject, and the basic consensus is always the same. follow the terms and conditions, use the alert function found on every single post if you feel something is inappropriate, and children 13 and older are allowed on the site without lectures.

reply to post by rotorwing


For what it's worth, I agree wholeheartedly, and as a parent, I too have worried about the younger kids frequenting this forum. Heck, I worry about myself at times, because there's a lot of negative stuff here! But I'm old enough to know better, and smart enough to ignore certain things. There are some subjects I just stay completely away from now, because it puts me into a state of fear and paranoia. I don't want to live like that. Inquisitive wonder is what brought me here, and it's what keeps me here so far....although at times I've thought about leaving because the rudeness gets to be too much.

While I won't judge other parents for allowing their kids come on here, I'd have to say I'd never let mine until they were old enough to move out of the house. Young minds are extremely impressionable, and as I said before, there's a LOT of negativity here....a lot of that, ironically, is from the younger kids, from what I've seen. So, where does the responsibility lie here? Is it ATS, us, them, or their parents?

Well, I'm glad you posted this, because I've been tempted many times to stand up and say something. This place is NOT appropriate for young children!

I have been extremely disappointed that ATS doesn't have stricter age rules, or at least enforce them if they exist. (I don't know what they are, if there are any). But based on my experiences here thus far, I'd never let my kids play in this playground, and I think a lot of people would act quite differently if they knew the ages of the people they were responding to on here.

reply to post by emeraldzeus


disappointed in ats?

here's some responses from some moderators in another thread about this exact same topic in BB&Q:

Greeneyedleo :
We have no way of knowing the true age of anyone here. We do not know if a member is truly a child or an adult acting like a child or a child acting like an adult. There is also the case that some kids (under 18) are rather mature and are great contributors to this site. Some adult members even started out here as a kid (under 18).

If you see something that is questionable or needs to be looked at by staff, please use the ATS Complaint / Suggestion form. All staff will see the alert/complaint and review.

At the end of the day, parents are responsible for their kids and what they do online. There is only so much we as staff can do in regards to other people's kids

skyfloating:
While we do have members that are very mature for their young age (SDog), please alert anything you think as content that is offensive to youngsters by using the Complaint Form or "Post Alert" function.

We rely on your help to enforce the Terms and Conditions.

intrepid:
I see where you're coming from. Most of the ATS staff are parents. We keep our eyes open for the younger members. We know what it's like for kids today. We're raising them. I have 3 teens myself. My oldest has been a member here for years.

intrepid again:
Yes, I have been reading what you are saying but as pointed out, we can't assure anyones age. Secondly, the ATS staff does enforce the T&C, which makes ATS a family friendly site. We do the best we can to maintain decorum. The membership helps out too. Personally, I'd rather have my kids here than anywhere else.



all from this thread here ats does what it should to protect minors.

The area that conerns me, is the area where impressionable kids start reading about topics they really have no grasp of or real understanding, now, that in itself is not bad except for the amount of topics on ats which are posted by adults who are either hoaxers or near delusional .

kids are innocent, but with that innocence brings niavety, as is fairly obvious in this day and age, kids are very impressional,

Exactly. I dont beleive its against the sites rules for those adults who care, to warn youngsters of such things. Neither is it optimus primals 'assignment' to preach site rules, or to lecture people for it, as far as I know he/she is not a moderator.
Argument in this and the original thread stems not from those warning the kids, but from those who have a problem with it.
If your only contribution to the threads was not to give us a hard time for it
you would have had no need to post and therefore there be no conflict.

Instead of preaching about 'report' buttons, why not explain honestly what irks you so much about somebody being concerned when they discover a child on a website where many of the members would be considered mentally ill if they were examined by phsyciatrists.
You (members) argue with these people on many subjects, you mock them, you scorn them, you do your best to show everyone else how insane and delusional they are.
Would you have them befreinding your young kids and filling their heads with the ideas you spend so much time debunking and shredding here?
I think not.
Yet you have an issue with somebody warning a child to beware and to think for themselves? How do you reconcile that?

personally i believe kids should be allowed to explore whatever they'd like so long as their parents keep a watchful eye and explain things that may be confusing so that the child understands what they're reading or seeing in it's proper context.

If you agree with parental Guidance, why wax lyrical against those who would encourage it?






[edit on 9-3-2010 by wayaboveitall]

I joined the forum when I was 14. I understood all the points in your post back then because it was common sense.

What happened when the 13 year old posted a topic? I missed it.

I'd like to voice my two cents.

First of all, I really enjoyed the effort the OP put in with this post. Well done.

I'd like to say that sometimes, if you're not careful, a lot of the stuff posted on ATS can really influence one's way of thinking if you're not careful.

I hate to say it but reading threads with sensationalist headlines, articles that are twisted and spit back out by other thread starters and posters can poison the mind. Posts that get you worked up until you actually read what is going on and get the facts. Then you settle down, but parts of the negativity remains.

I just don't want the young people and old alike to get corrupted and disheartened. I say this because I've felt awful after seemingly poisoning myself by reading some of the trite here.

When TSHTF and the PTB finally take over, I fear we'll be too angry at ourselves and drained to actually do anything.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by LiQuiD_FuSioN]

What happened is that I read the thread, and being the father of a 13 yo girl myself, warned her in a parental way to beware of those who would want to indoctrinate her with all kinds of ideas, and to think for herself.
Some folk took exception to it. Some of them were also young and misunderstood the intent, some that were not still misunderstood the intent.
People argued, the thread was closed before the girl could even respond.

Nothing in the thread was particularly bad, just folks natural urge to be selfrighteous, mostly about the arguments because it was an introduction thread, drew the attention of a moderator who locked it.

This thread was begun by an equally caring and concerned man, a father himself who also felt as I did, namely that this website is not healthy for young people.
Naturally those with opposing veiws have hijacked it to preach how young folk are too sheltered etc.

This web site has in the past caused me an over-arousal ie. dizzy, difficulty breathing, weakness is not dangerous, but just to - in my attempts to grasp what others are saying and to also at the same time realize that it is made up, creates something in me that is disagreeable, but I have learned to deal with it and created a sort of obsession in checking this site for my 'weird news.' I know that in reading things real or imagined can evoke a response in me that is unpleasant, but I realize now that I do not need to detect danger, or maybe that I am try-ing to detect danger somewhere because my life is otherwise danger-less. I start to over-focus on my internal sensations of being, you know, part of a top 'secret' forum and then have a reality check that this is just part of the interaction with a sort of online creativity, definitely, like others said better than that old show called 'unsolved mysteries,' man that guy's (narrator character) his voice gave me the creeps, i loved it, just like hm, who's that guy with the pipe, from england, Hitchcock. Avoidance or escape from anything that makes me uncomfortable, real or imagined, does not solve my problems or create any. I try to read things that make me anxious, confront these situations, instead of looking for escape or going 'insane' Safety behaviors, like relying on others to respond for me, or I don't know trying not to expose my fears online, instead I will make a list of my fears and hope that someone 'makes up' a really good post that will evoke a response. It requires some discomfort for me to be a part of this forum, but it hleps me to let go of other, more realistic fears. I am especially interested now that people are posting about - you know, you could be a dangerouse person if you believe such and such...because most people on here have already exposed their beliefs and, you know, any attempt to control my own thoughts will only maintain that thought, kind of like when someone tells you not to think of white bears with red bows, you suddently think it.

Maybe it is a sort of online forum for triggering situations in the mind that elicit unwanted thoughts, in an effort to self-monitor my own thoughts and recognize that I am not an odd person, not bizarre.

My obsession with checking daily for weird news is the same as my obsession with myself as some lonely character with only machine to talk about weird stuff. Maybe it I am contaminated by ats or contaminating it.

I think its important to warn - especially the younger ones of internet predators aswell.