Children on My Internets

[Nast]

Is there a certain age that at which you would allow your child to post on an internet forum that wasn't child oriented?
Of course there are the usual issues about safety and child predators and "is my little Johnny looking at weird Dutch porn again?" that any parent would be concerned about, but I'm more interested in hearing about what opinions you would have in terms of what level of social development a kid should reach before being able to interact with adult strangers online.

The only issue that comes to my mind, and this is something that comes from my own experience, is that while a kid may have enough smarts to engage in forum interaction, they may lack the proper amount of emotional development to avoid and/or cope with the usual pitfalls of online dickery. I know that if at age 15 I got into an argument with a stranger over the internet, I would definitely take it personally, resulting in lots of butthurt and hurt feelings and simmering resentments. Not to say that this sort of thing doesn't happen to adult forum users. In fact, it's awfully common.

I joined my first internet forum when I was 13, and PD a few years after that. I'm an adult now, so looking back on it naturally makes me feel a bit embarrassed about the silly things I must have posted, but it also makes me think about this sort of thing more.

[LMNO]

I joined my first internet forum when I was 13, and PD a few years after that. I'm an adult now,

I'm an adult now,

I'm an adult now,

I'm an adult now,

Oh, sweet merciful fuck.  How long have I been here?

[Cain]

No, LMNO, you are the adults now.

And then LMNO was a grown-up.

[LMNO]

 

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I think sometime between 13 and 16 depending on maturity. Yeah, they're gonna say retarded shit and get themselves all worked up over bullshit but they'll do that anyway as teenagers, no matter where they are and they need to learn it's not the end of the fucking world sometime. I would add that a strict ban on any selfies, real names, or any real information about themselves online goes with that. The internet is for porn and lying.

[Eater of Clowns]

Being embarrassed when looking back at the silly things you've posted is a lifelong thing.  Take it as a sign of how far you've come.

As a teenager the Internets were still new enough that there really weren't any restrictions for me because nobody knew they were necessary.  I think people will find places at their maturity level on their own, and distance themselves from too far above or too far below that.

[Cain]

Between 13-16 seems reasonable.

I remember trolling the fuck out of the MSN chatrooms when I was 14 and it never did me any harm.

[Elder Iptuous]

hell, i'm pretty embarrassed about the things i have yet to say.

[Eater of Clowns]

hell, i'm pretty embarrassed about the things i have yet to say.

We are too, Ippie, you sick fuck.

Nast the alternative, of course, is that you look at the advice given by complete degenerate bastards like Ippie and myself and consider the relatively positive possibilities of doing the opposite.

[trippinprincezz13]

Between 13-16 seems reasonable.

I remember trolling the fuck out of the MSN chatrooms when I was 14 and it never did me any harm.

Likewise, or at least in the sense of a bunch of 12-13 girls being all "let's go into a chat under this name and when someone invites us to a private chat and asks for details we'll be all 'I'm really a 50 yo fat guy lolololol". Which, in retrospect, was probably a horrible idea - but the point being I don't think there was any emotional scarring from it.

This being when Alta Vista was popular as a search engine and chat space. (Was it ever popular? I don't know, I was a kid)

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Legally, you're an adult at 18 (at least here).  Adult is defined as "can vote, can get shot while advancing Halliburton's bottom line in the Middle East, but cannot have a beer while waiting to get shot.

In reality, you're not really an adult (most people, anyway) until you're about 30.  This is a good thing.

[Bu🤠ns]

I'm slowly introducing my kids to the culture.  They don't have FB but they do go on youtube and various learning websites.  They're monitored.  I think as they grow into it they'll more easily adopt the etiquette.  The net appeared to me slightly before I was entering puberty (omg sudden insight just struck....shit) and it was kind of an odd transition.

I remember posting some spammery on some BBS wall somewhere and, it turned out, that the tech guy at my mom's work read it and told my mother...lol.   So we trip and fall and get back up again although I think 'small doses' is probably best.     

Legally, you're an adult at 18 (at least here).  Adult is defined as "can vote, can get shot while advancing Halliburton's bottom line in the Middle East, but cannot have a beer while waiting to get shot.

In reality, you're not really an adult (most people, anyway) until you're about 30.  This is a good thing.

Yeah I agree with this. I used to think I was all grown up...then one day I turned 30. 

[Pergamos]

Between 13-16 seems reasonable.

I remember trolling the fuck out of the MSN chatrooms when I was 14 and it never did me any harm.

Likewise, or at least in the sense of a bunch of 12-13 girls being all "let's go into a chat under this name and when someone invites us to a private chat and asks for details we'll be all 'I'm really a 50 yo fat guy lolololol". Which, in retrospect, was probably a horrible idea - but the point being I don't think there was any emotional scarring from it.

This being when Alta Vista was popular as a search engine and chat space. (Was it ever popular? I don't know, I was a kid)

I dunno, saying you're a fat 50 year old is probably a better idea than saying you are a 13 year old girl...

[Faust]

My brother is 11, he goes on facebook, tumblr and that's about it. I trust him not to go elsewhere for the next few years.

There's not many places I would worry about him going after that, 4chan, any of the desensitisation sites really. I only worry that when he does go looking for pornography he gets studio produced tame not too nasty stuff.

[LMNO]

If he's on Tumblr, he's seen the nasty stuff.