Allowing members under 13?

[Thomasss]

So one of the huge things owning a forum, let alone a website, is abiding by all the laws that most people don't even know about. One being the whole COPPA act; that I believe is only for anyone in the United States, or rather server hosted in the US.

The main deal with COPPA is that you cannot collect personal information (including email) for anyone under the age of 13; which is why you see many of the newer softwares coming out with settings to turn on COPPA compliance, etc. However with this act comes something that I think would be an interesting discussion.

Apart from COPPA, would you allow users under the age of 13 to be on your forum? Furthermore, do you think it would be a good idea for anyone under 13 to even be on message boards? And are you COPPA compliant if you do accept underage registrations?

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I actually starting moderating when I was around 12, however mature for my age many people thought I was at-least 13; and I usually had the grammar skills to pull it off. I do not think being on a message board when your that young is ideal, especially if you're not mature enough to handle what the internet can throw at you. I've seen so many petty fights on forums where the pre-teens will yell at each other and over dramatise the situation, and even though it's the most hilarious thing I've seen, it's somewhat troubling.

To answer my own question, I deny ANYONE who is under the age of 13, or rather doesn't like about their own age, simply because I think it's just to young to be joining message boards. My sister is 13 and I cannot imagine her being on message boards. :lol:

 

[Forces of Steel]

It depends on what your forum is all about. On my forum, cuss words are never censored, and there are some semi-graphic posts that would be deemed inappropriate to those under thirteen years of age.

 

[THF_Martin]

It depends on what your forum is all about. On my forum, cuss words are never censored, and there are some semi-graphic posts that would be deemed inappropriate to those under thirteen years of age.

Same here. I don't censor cuss words and my topic is somewhat adult (horror can have a bad affect on the mind), so I would probably not allow people below the age of 13. But the fact is that most people around that age lie about it anyway and say they are much older so you wouldn't know.

 

[Ashley z]

I became interested in forums, instant messaging, IRC and other online communities at a very young age, when I was in 4th grade (USA). I did not really mature into an adult though until I was in the second half of high school and that definitely shows in some of my oldest posts that are still available on the internet. I had some good ideas before growing older, but I wasn't as intelligent or experienced.

For that reason, I don't think allowing anyone 13 years old or under to be on a forum is in my best interests. It just depends on what type of website you have and how lenient you are.

I haven't created a forum in a while, but if I did I would want most (if not all) of my members to be at least 16 years old. Pretty sure I would ban anyone under 13 just because I'd want to attract more intelligent and experienced visitors.

 

[Cierra]

I allow them, but I have the MyBB COPPA compliance turned on. I've only ever gotten one of those forms before, but the member ended up not signing up. I think she/he just turned 13 when there parent(s) submitted that.

 

[Cosmic]

I know for a fact that someone under 13 can contribute valuably to a forum, although it is rare. Different people mature at different age. Some at 12, and some at 22. 😛 So, if the COPPA law didn't exist, I probably wouldn't enforce an age requirement (unless I had a forum of an adult nature), although since the law does exist, I'd rather ban all members under 13 than deal with the red tape involved in allowing them under COPPA.

 

[Teapot]

I would definitely enforce COPPA. I mean, I started at a very young age on forums and I wish I hadn't. Looking back on it now I feel embarrassed for anyone who knew me during that time, lol.

 

[John]

It would depend on what my forum was about. A forum like FP, for example, I would have no problem allowing a 12 year old to join and participate on, because there isn't anything graphic enough to emotionally scar them. On a forum where cuss words are not censored, graphic images might be present, or a forum that would be overall adult themed I probably wouldn't allow anyone under 13, though.

 

[Chester Gorilla]

I have no problem with it, but I will not change my policies to pander to that crowd. I allow curse words and I won't change that. I expect grammar to be decent enough that one can reasonably comprehend what one is saying. I've seen a handful of young'uns that can contribute very positively to a forum, I've seen a large amount that can't, but I'd rather risk dealing with a mass of people who use emoticons between every other word than prevent a single posting prodigy from joining.

 

[ecoo]

For my forum, I pretty much do not allow people under 13 to join.