Birthdays

[Dragon]

I implemented the requirement that people enter birthdays for potential legal problems.  I am uncomfortable with teeny-boppers wandering around even though I expect most, who I think are looking for cocktails, etc., to be bored quickly.

At the same time, I chose not to disallow enrollment of said youngsters since we know that they have issues as well.  I've seen 12 year olds who have more innate intelligence and less common sense than some who are older and vice versa.

As admin, I have a certain responsibility to you the user; I also have a liability to insure that our discussion are suitable for the average teenager (whatever that is!)

All of that said, if your birthday / age doesn't at least reasonably reflect your true age - please correct it.

[Satiny]

It's great that you allow even young people to join. Many of us remember how we felt as teenagers and I wish I had a place like this in my young dark times.
Ah - I'm one of the eight year old people. I'm sorry
Are we still allowed to hide our date of birth?

[Dragon]

Yep, if you don't want others to know how old / young you are that's fine - but as admin (and really only because I'm admin) I'd like a reasonably accurate date there.

[Ashley]

My birth date is approximate and I don't particularly want to hide it because aging is something I need to talk about here, not as in I don't think a 12 year old could relate to me or I could relate to a 12 year old, just that I think it's relevant backstory.

Thank you from me too for not locking under sixteens out. The point of the GDPR was to provide transparency and choice about data collection and kids do have to live with their digital footprints longer than we adults do, but turning EVERYTHING into over sixteen spaces seems awfully harsh.

Twelve year olds grew up on the internet. We call their generation "digital natives". If we lock them out of the only social spaces and sources of information they know, that's called "solitary confinement", isn't it?

It's extra work but I wouldn't personally enjoy an adults-only internet. I've gotten some great advice from under-16s and they are often the only people with enough time, energy, and sense of humour to teach us oldsters how to get the most enjoyment out of our tech and avoid making the most obvious online and interpersonal mistakes.