Anti-anonymity and Children/Youngsters

[christian liem]

That's a point that I don't think anyone's hit on yet.  It's a very good one, and one we need to consider.

No, it's a point we have thought about quite a bit, and we have a solution.

Children under 18 are asked not to include any identifying information about themselves in terms of their towns, schools, exact birthdates, etc.  So you can say, "I live in Ohio and am in high school.  My favorite subjects are..."

The above statement is self-contradictory because if someone who registers for Citizendium is not allowed to submit their exact birthdate (date and year), there is no way of verifying whether that person is under 18 or not. Ergo that rule does not work.

[Stephen Ewen]

They submit specific material to the constabulary, but it does not get posted publicly to the userpage.

[Matt Innis]

That's a point that I don't think anyone's hit on yet.  It's a very good one, and one we need to consider.

No, it's a point we have thought about quite a bit, and we have a solution.

Children under 18 are asked not to include any identifying information about themselves in terms of their towns, schools, exact birthdates, etc.  So you can say, "I live in Ohio and am in high school.  My favorite subjects are..."

The above statement is self-contradictory because if someone who registers for Citizendium is not allowed to submit their exact birthdate (date and year), there is no way of verifying whether that person is under 18 or not. Ergo that rule does not work.

They submit specific material to the constabulary, but it does not get posted publicly to the userpage.

And then they are admonished never to give any information about themselves in terms of their towns, schools, exact birthdates, etc. either in their bios or anywhere on the wiki.  They are then told that if they feel uncomfortable with any other user to contact me (the constable) immediately.  This is something that we constables take very seriously.

[Zachary Pruckowski]

I went ahead and fixed the broken tag in Matt Innis's post.  It should now be correct (he inadvertently attributed his own words to Mr. Liem and vice-versa by not closing a quote tag).

[Stephen Ewen]

And then they are admonished never to give any information about themselves in terms of their towns, schools, exact birthdates, etc. either in their bios or anywhere on the wiki.  They are then told that if they feel uncomfortable with any other user to contact me (the constable) immediately.  This is something that we constables take very seriously.

I would add that I think it is because of the real names policy and the oversight of the constabulary that CZ is an overall safer online community for youth than those lacking real names and oversight.

[Matt Innis]

I went ahead and fixed the broken tag in Matt Innis's post.  It should now be correct (he inadvertently attributed his own words to Mr. Liem and vice-versa by not closing a quote tag).

Thanks Zach!  Hey, you have to admit, that was a tough one

[Zachary Pruckowski]

I went ahead and fixed the broken tag in Matt Innis's post.  It should now be correct (he inadvertently attributed his own words to Mr. Liem and vice-versa by not closing a quote tag).

Thanks Zach!  Hey, you have to admit, that was a tough one

No question .  Just didn't want to edit another user's post without explanation.

I would add that I think it is because of the real names policy and the oversight of the constabulary that CZ is an overall safer online community for youth than those lacking real names and oversight.

I concur.

[christian liem]

They submit specific material to the constabulary, but it does not get posted publicly to the userpage.

In that case, there must be a mechanism to automatically block the user account on the day when they reach a certain age (in this case 18) until they provide their real name. Next issue is determining why the age limit is 18, because until now it seems that the number has been chosen arbitrarily. Just because many countries use it as the age of consent, doesn't mean other countries that use 16 or 21 are to be ignored. There has to be a good argument for the number 18, otherwise someone could challenge that policy in the future and no one could give that person an answer, and we go back to arguing back and forth about the age limit.

[Zachary Pruckowski]

Next issue is determining why the age limit is 18, because until now it seems that the number has been chosen arbitrarily. Just because many countries use it as the age of consent, doesn't mean other countries that use 16 or 21 are to be ignored. There has to be a good argument for the number 18, otherwise someone could challenge that policy in the future and no one could give that person an answer, and we go back to arguing back and forth about the age limit.

The age rule is 18 because we're a US-based non-profit corporation, and the US treats sub-18-year-olds as minors, and people 18+ as adults.  If we were based elsewhere, the limit would be based on that nation's laws.

[christian liem]

The age rule is 18 because we're a US-based non-profit corporation, and the US treats sub-18-year-olds as minors, and people 18+ as adults.  If we were based elsewhere, the limit would be based on that nation's laws.

The US law about age of consent is different from state to state. In Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the age is 16.

[Zachary Pruckowski]

The age rule is 18 because we're a US-based non-profit corporation, and the US treats sub-18-year-olds as minors, and people 18+ as adults.  If we were based elsewhere, the limit would be based on that nation's laws.

The US law about age of consent is different from state to state. In Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the age is 16.

Correct, but the age of majority (which is the number we're really interested in, as it determines our duty in protecting minors) is federally established at 18.

[Matt Innis]

The age rule is 18 because we're a US-based non-profit corporation, and the US treats sub-18-year-olds as minors, and people 18+ as adults.  If we were based elsewhere, the limit would be based on that nation's laws.

The US law about age of consent is different from state to state. In Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the age is 16.

Is the 'age of consent' the same as 'being considered a minor'?  In my home state of North Carolina, you can be emancipated at age 16, but I think you have to have it legally performed. Unitl then you are still considered a minor (At least for medical consent- which is what I am familiar with).