huntnteen

ok well, i know what it is like to be a Mod, for i have been a mod on several sites/games before. It may not be all fun and games, but for sites/forums your job is to make it active. I am not placeing blame on anyone here, for it may be a coincidence, but i have noticed that in thee past month(when Red returned) there has been a fall in the amount of posts that are going on in the youth forum. Ah, Andy, and others have worked hard to keep the youth site going, but now it is collapseing around them, and they worried that they will be kicked out of it themselves, do to age, and other factors. Also i feel that if you dont wish for us to be 'immature' then the site shopuld create a new section for 'young adults' or make a sub-forum in here for us, where we dont have to watch what we say AS MUCH because it is not ment for the kids but for late teens and up.

Red Hawk

Okay.

I was gone for while yes and when I returned, I checked my email and there was lot of negative stuff about how some members in the youth forums were getting out of control and such on and so forth. I returned and we delt with it. My only guess, and quote me on that part,on why some of the activity as dropped is because some of the rules had to be enforced and some actions had to be taken and that made people think negative.As for the worries and troublesome ideas that people may think, such as age. Again, the age thing is something that is not an issue with me and Ihave already mentioned about that in previous post, as well as how I feel about the maturity thing.

And moderators having to enforce some things now and then shouldn't be used asan excuse for people not to come and post in the youth forums anymore. We encourage people to post, just use goodjudgment because this is outdoors family site so there will be parents or other guardians who might wonder what is going on in here.

As for the idea about 'youth hunters' and 'young adults', I'll bring that up with HNI if it comes down to it, which hopefully we will not.

sachiko

I'm the kind of person who feels that a consistent set of rules along with consistent enforcement should be applied here. It doesn't make sense to allow certain vulgarities at this time and then ban them because a parent sends an email objecting. It should be possible to post here without using vulgarities that a parent might find offensive.

How old is too old? Evidently there is some feeling that some people might be too old for this forum. How should that be decided? An Admin sent me a nasty PM because he noted that I was married and then withdrew it and apologized when he looked up my age. That left me confused. Is it okay to be 17 and married but not 21 and married? Is it okay to be 21 here unless you're married? Is a parent going to object because their ten year-old or 14 year-old might get the idea that it's okay to be married at 16? And having a baby at 17? Let's face it, some people have some very strong opinions about that.

Are 8 year-olds and 16-21 year-olds compatible? Sure if the conversation is completely restricted to hunting, and maybe fishing, topics. But get off into the kind of topics which teenagers might discuss and they might not be compatible with the tender ears of an 8 year-old, even if the language is completely clean. Not that the younger kids won't be interested. They definitely will be. But what kind of emails are you going to get from their parents?

Now for the touchiest problem. In business they say that the best customer is the one who complains and lets you know what you're doing wrong. The worst is the one who just goes away and never comes back. What about the parent who takes a look at this forum and tells their kid, whatever the age, to stay off and never emails or PMs you with a complaint?

Just some thoughts.

AmateurHunter44857

DLG it seems you, Hooker, and I have all had a nasty run in with one Admin in particular. You know who he is, i know who he is and Hooker knows who he is. Huntnteen while the forum activity has dropped since Redhawk has returned it's not his fault activity has dropped, in fact i enjoy his witty remarks in different topics. The reason activity has dropped imo is from a few certain posters poisoning the forum.

What exactly determines "Young Hunter"? I'm a young hunter compared to Redhawk and even HG89. I'm less experienced, have less knowledge, and am a few years younger. The phrase "Young Hunter" is not very definitive at all [&:]

sachiko

Having a moderator doesn't bother me. I think it's a good thing. But I think there should be consistency. It should be possible to look at the rules and know if what you are going to post is acceptable or not.

What is a "Young Hunter?" Daddy (my husband) says he's too old for this forum and I agree. (He doesn't mean that as a put down. He often reads the stuff here and enjoys it.) But what is the cut-off point for a Young Hunter? And should it be moderated so that any 8 year-old or his/her parent would be comfortable with the topics? What is appropriate for an 8 year-old? My mom told me all about the "Birds and the Bees" when I was in the 3rd grade. And I mean she told me EVERYTHING. She asked if I needed any advice when I got together with daddy. (I had the knowledge but I had absolutely no practical experience.) I told her I didn't, I still remembered everything she had told me. Are these comments themselvesinappropriate for the Young Hunter forum?

Should married people leave the forum? Evidently Rob has some conflicts about that. What about people who are unofficiallymarried?

And once again,should 8 year-olds and 17 year-olds be on the same forum unless the discussion is strictly limited to hunting or fishing? If they are deemed compatible on the same forum, at what age level should the discourse be maintained?


May The Sheep Be With You

Rob/PA Bowyer

What exactly are you implying. There has been nothing in any post or PM by me that has been "nasty" as you put it. In fact, our clearification in our PM exchange ended with me wishing you to have a nice day. I will not stand back and allow youth members, especially those deemded disruptive to younger members to attack them nor another mod or admin. You can easily post half truths to try to get your point across but truth be told, well never mind. If you have a problem questioning authority, I suggest you take up via PM or email to me, another admin or HNI authority or need I post HNI posting rules again?

5. No discussion or challenge to our editing policy are allowed within the forums. If you disagree, or want clarification as to why a particular topic, post or individual was removed, you must email [email protected]. HuntingNet.Com moderators, administrators and staff will NOT respond to any inquiries or challenges of these rules or decisions on the public forum. However, we will respond to email or private message inquiries.

If push comes to shove as you seem necessary to attempt, we have been talking to limit the age of the youth to under 18. That has not happened and may not if rules and respecting the younger members who may not be educated or have the typing skills of a 20 something.

Personally I'd suggest Mr AmateurHunter44857 is that you become part of the solution and not part of the problem. Mr Red Hawk does an outstanding job in this forum, make his job easy.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Did you not understand our PM exchange, I have zero issue "conflicts" with your marital status as I did not know your age. I apologized for that and I apologize again. I hope we have clearification on that. Your fine.

Siman08/OH

Personally i think everybody is doing alot of bickering over nothing. You don't have to post, so i dont see what the problem is....if somebody is bothering you with there grammar, then just ignore them, it is a"youth forum" after all. Its very hypocritical if somebody pesters a younger member and they are over the age of 18 in a"youth or young hunters forum".I think this whole thing is being blown out of proportion.

FYI - I have played the part of the older member bickering about grammar and i apologize

HNI_Christine

The hope with the forums is that the users will abide by the rules and get along without us having to stare over your shoulders constantly.

There were over 45 thousand posts made on HNI forums in the past 30 days. And that's a slow month. We can only watch over so much.

If you have a problem with a certain user.... let us know. It's pretty much the only way we'd know about it.

Also know that if you think the mods are 'picking' on you... it's probably because we've received complaints.

Trust me, we've been trying to figure out what to do with this youth forum. We're not doing it because we're jerks and have nothing better to do than make your lives miserable. We're doing it to make the place as good as possible for the majority.

Work with us on this.

Thanks.

Siman08/OH

I know this has been discussed, but cant you make a "youth" forum, and a "teen/young adult" forum. That seems like an easy fix to the problem to me.