When the forums first opened up, I had three moderators. Two of them was 13 and the other one was 15. I put up with so much drama and issues with the two 13 year olds and now, the criteria is 16+. Although, the 15 year old mod is still a staff member because of his maturity and contribution.
Age is a terrible delimiter for staff. The idea of maturity translates incredibly poorly over the internet. To quote: . Pretty much that. I don't usually know that much personal info about my staff, and as my selection method is "choose people who seem like they like the community, follow the rules, and act mature", it doesn't matter either way.
I just added three more moderators. Two are in their 20's, the other is sixteen. The sixteen year old was previously a mod at a (somewhat) competing forum that was bought and merged into a larger forum. He didn't mesh well with the new forum owner over there. He's been a good contributor at our forum since we opened in December. Plus, he will be very helpful when we're ready to go multi-language -- he can help moderate the Dutch and French forums.
I know plenty of younger mods/admins (15 and up) who acted a LOT more mature than some people who are even in their 30s. I'm not even making that up. Maturity should play a more important role in selecting staff members than age, although generally you probably shouldn't take in anyone under 13 anyway.
I've seen this, as well. Maturity should indeed be one of the key (if not the most important) deciding factors when it comes to selecting staff members. You could have some of the most knowledgeable and actively dedicated members "lined up" for such a position, but this does not necessarily mean that they are mature enough (or, if they will show maturity in the long-run) for such an "elevated" position.
I don't have a set age requirement, however I do have an 18+ only section on my forums but if I have a younger moderator for example, I disable that section for them so they cannot access it.
King Kovivor is. He is 17, but has been a member since 2004. Who knows at what point he became a part of the team.
the staff ages of the forums i am admin on are a variety of ages. i am 18. the other staff members (from all 3 forums) are 13, 15, 15, 25, 38, 44, 53 they all seem capable of doing their job and are quite mature. some of the members who are in their teens are more mature than the older members-in fact the biggest forum problem is a 42 year old woman. i go off maturity rather than age, and will give powers to anyone mature, responsible and actively contributing to the forum, as long as they meet the age requirements of the forum (16 on one and 13 on the others)
The admin paying for the site I'm a Mod on, is actually 12 years old and he knows coding and graphics better than a lot of people I know. The rest of staff consists of teenagers (including myself), there's two staff members in their 20s although.
All depends on their knowledge experience and maturity, I've been a forum admin on my own site for about a year now about I have 3 years experience(and im only 17)working with my dad who helps set up multiple communities