The kids !!! how do you id, filter, handle?

Holey moley, school is out and the kids are driving us bats*t! They are registering and not reading the rules and spamming annoying posts. I don't remember it being like this in previous years ... perhaps with the bad economy they are not in summer camp being eaten alive by mosquitos, as they should be?

My forum is primarily adults and is managed for adults, mostly. We have a place for minors 14-18 ... but 13 and under really belong on restricted access. 10 and under probably are not ready for this forum. Our General Off Topic, available to all, can get some fairly hair-raising adult issues (with over 1000 active women posters from all walks of life, you can imagine ... :speechless: ) Not to mention the high-dollar transactions reviewed & discussed, with kids wanting to make remarks as well.

vB is lucky I don't own that joint ... I would tell them there is no 4.0 or any other new thing until age handling functionality is fully provided for. Priority #1 above every other happiness they can provide.

The primary user approval screen, Moderate Users, does not show age, does not flag COPPA. The only way to see that is to pull up each and every user profile, one at a time.

There is no query function based on age.

There is no usergroup promotion (moving users from one usergroup to another) that will filter on age.

These things above are not optional, for my forum, anyway. Even for a forum that wants to keep the kids out entirely, I would think.

Then of course, because of the whole COPPA requirement for a signed form from the parents ... some unknown numbers of 13 and unders dodge it by registering as a different age. The truth shows up in their post content - and lack of attention span to read the rules, much less remember them.

Thinking about the new forum, which is going to have to be 14+ only, figuring out how on earth this can be managed with (a) available sw tools and (b) lying kids, is making my head swim.

What are your forums age policies, especially if you do permit minors?
Do you have different access for minor members?
How do you capture ages, filter ages?

Does your sw have age handling functionality adequate to your needs? If you query and move users based on age, what sw are you using?

Throw in some war stories ...

 

I move them into the kids usergroup manually; they do still have the ability to post on all public forums, but they also have access to the private kids forum where they can act silly as their heart's content.

 

We do have a Youth forum and it has been a big help. But it's hard to catch them on registration without individual reviews of all new member profiles. And then of course there are the ones registering with false information.

 

Right now ...

... one had 690 posts in less than 30 days ... and no not everyone thought they were quality, they included a total meltdown in a thread where she got some criticism, she admits she "doesn't like criticism"

... come to find out that that one registered as 19 but is probably 13

... 'nother one may also have registered as older than she is

... 'nother one may be only 11, but she has offered to buy just about every model and accessory currently offered for sale, perhaps a dozen people have realized they are hearing from her, someone who may be her mom says she does not have $ or permission

... and that one may not even be the same girl she is claiming to be, according to a dad who is now in touch with us


:speechless: :speechless: :speechless: :speechless:

 

Under 18 get put into an "Under 18" group and get a "Youth" tag next to their name. I have to move them into the under 18 group manually. And I only do it if someone post their age in public view.

 

I don't do this, in fact I believe you're not supposed to publicly identify which ones are the kids. Might lead to them being targeted.

 

At any rate, I wouldn't tag the youths in any way. As you said, it makes them much easier to target.

I'm so glad I don't have this issue with kids, otherwise I think I'd lose my mind. My patience is severely lacking. :unhunh:

 

if someone registers with an age that is too young to join the forum, then their account isnt approved, and gets deleted. if someone does join with a fake age, and turn out to be too young to join, then they will be banned, but will be allowed to reregister in a few years, when they are older.

i cant tell from their posts, as ive seen some very mature teenagers, and some very immature adults, so i guess theres nothing we can do if they dont tell their age and just post like every other member.