Age Identification ?

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to have an indication on the left of the posts , if the poster is under 18 ?( or maybe 20 ) .I dont think age information is currently required by railroad net , but i for one would like to know if i'm addressing a younger person . That many younger members have gained titles such as "veteran " , adds to the potential for inadvertant misunderstanding and abuse .

I am infavor of it but I do have some concerns with privacy.

I am for it 100%----------------it makes a big difference knowing if you are talking to a 14 year old or some old fart who has been there and done that!!!!!!!!!!!!

And for privacy concerns JOHN most younger people have just about everyway to reach them at the bottom of their signoff---what else do we need blood type and eye color?

Don't post it if you don't want the people to know

Nashvillie Newbie

I disagree. Age shouldn't be a factor. From what I've seen here, the young people express their ideas better than many of their elders. What members say and how they carry on their discussions are more important. Some of the under (pick a number) year olds have made a lot of great posts.

Stay around and get to know one another.

i am not saying they shouldnt post , they should be encouraged to post , just sometimes others dont relaise how young they are , and either say something inapporiate for that age group , or take offence at something that age group would say and not think was offensive .

We currently do not collect age information. We also have no way of verifying age even if we did.

-otto-

anyone with half a brain would be able to pick up pretty quickly who is underage by reading a post or two

that is true i guess , plus it would be extra work etc for the admin .

crazy_nip wrote:anyone with half a brain would be able to pick up pretty quickly who is underage by reading a post or two

For once, I agree with Nip. If someone were underaged, they'd be either incoherent with their posts, or act like real n00bs.

Of course, most of the younger members are actually good contributors. But you never know if a troll (*cough* TransitTrash *cough*) might return...

The forum really isn't all that much different from a normal workday at the diesel shop. Sometimes the folks who don't know and haven't got a clue are the ones who want to argue the most. That's life.

It's not a matter of extra work for the admins, it's how do we verify the age data? Even if we asked for age data, we have no way of knowing who is telling the truth.

I agree with you in spirit. I wish there was an easier way.

-otto-

Looking back, I know I was a lot more prone to flaming during my own teen years....DPM and Rosy wisely pulled one or two of my early letters to Trains..... but the majority of the posts to the Amtrak forum by those we know to be of fewer years are responsibly written. Still, it's the imagined need for "protection" that's led to most attempts to exercise greater censorship over the net....something I definitely feel is not warranted.

Probably the best safety valve we have going is the Teen Rail Enthusiasts forum.....it lets our younger members sharpen their skills among their peers. As they gain a few more parlimentary skills, they'll find their way into more serious posting. Under stricter standards, a young age becomes a badge of distinction.

Otto Vondrak wrote:It's not a matter of extra work for the admins, it's how do we verify the age data? Even if we asked for age data, we have no way of knowing who is telling the truth.

I agree with you in spirit. I wish there was an easier way.

-otto-

I know of this feature on another phpBB messageboard, walmartsucks.com. I think how it is done, you enter your birthdate in your profile, and then your current age is shown below your avatar... you don't have to manually change your age when your birthday comes, it automatically changes.

No need to wink, we know it's available... but how do you get somone to be HONEST and enter their ACTUAL birthdate? Short of using a major credit card to validate with (forget it), we're out of luck.

-toto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:-toto-

Thanks, Toto...