Pre-teen to join this site?

[Pearly]

Hello again, I've already introduced myself as RF and Cherryhead mom, but should have probably rephrase... Our babies belong to my 10.5 yr old daughter! so that makes them my... Grand-torties?? and me, their Grandma???? love it!!! Anyway, the question I have is about my daughter joining this site. She is very computer savvy and doing lots of research on the species, care, etc. the reservation I have is that it is a social network and I'm just not sure about that... I thought perhaps few chimes would broaden my spectrum of ideas and either make me more weary or put my worries to rest. I have not seen anything about age restrictions in the site guidelines (may have misses some small print?) but please correct me if I am wrong about this. It would also be nice to hear some voices on the topic, perhaps from other parents. Thank you and I'm looking forward to hearing some tips/opinions

 

[G-stars]

Hello, I'm not a parent but I think this is a fairly kid friendly site. I also think it's never to early to start learning about "her" tortoises. After all they will be around for many years.

A suggestion can be to allow her to use your account to view the material you would like her to see only.

 

[Greg T]

I don't have an issue with it, but one thing I have seen with younger kids (even on this site) is the maturity level can cause issues with mistunderstandings. Some adults don't like to see cryptic, street, or txt type messages, and some kids take immediate offense to a statement made at an adult level, and all this blows up into a posting war.

So the short of it is if you let her post, please check on her occasionally, and have her tell you if she has issues with someone on the site so you can intervene. As with all of us, people come here to learn and share, so why not start early.

 

[jaizei]

In the US, I think the law is that under 13 has to have parents permission So many sites set that as the minimum. I think that is referenced somewhere in the rules.

I would also suggest sharing an account if you have reservations.

 

[Tom]

This is generally a family friendly site. When we know we are dealing with a kid we always put on the "kid gloves" too and we take it easy on them. I have an 8 year old daughter and I let her read this site.

The one possible issue is that we do discuss breeding and tortoise reproduction. We use appropriate medical terminology and are not "crude" about it, but adolescent male tortoises frequently demonstrate erections, so there is occasional penis and libido talk when new people come here asking why their tortoise looks like it is pooping its guts out. My daughter is not ready for that discussion yet, but I don't know where your daughter's maturity level stands. These are biological animal facts, but my 8 year old still thinks the tortoises are "wrestling" or "playing" when they do the deed.

We will all try to tread lightly, but your supervision on some level will be necessary. The regular members and the mod staff will help out where we can too. We deal with kids here regularly and it hasn't been a problem yet.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I personally have started conversations with members that I would have treated differently had I initially known that they were just children.
I would suggest placing something in the profile about her being a minor and most of us should have enough sense to treat her as such.

 

[Speedy-1]

I am just a "new guy" but I wouldn't see a problem . Especially with a bit of adult supervision as has been advised .

 

[spud's_mum]

I'm a teen
I think it's quite kid safe as long as you make sure your not giving personal info out!

 

[Yvonne G]

We have many teen and younger members on here. We try to keep the posts family oriented, and it really helps for us to know if we're giving answers to a youngster or an adult. So having her own account, and posting an introduction letting us know who she is and that she's a youngster, will be very helpful to us. Your daughter is welcome here.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Occasionally, posts in the debates thread and one or two others can get a bit aggressive and some threads have comments that may be considered a little strong for children, but this is rare.
There are many teenage members here, who contribute a lot and are very responsible and adult in their posts.
I don't know of any pre-teens, but I'm sure the majority of members would use kid gloves if they were aware of the fact.
Everyone is welcome here.

 

[Pearly]

Thank you guys! Really appreciate all posts and thoughts/tips. My Baby Girl has always been mature way beyond her years and for that reason has always been treated on that level. As far as procreative talk goes I must tell you that kids these days learn stuff much earlier than I did way back when and I feel no need to shelter her from tortoises mating issues. This kid can handle it. All the other issues brought up in the discussion are very valid. I think there is a great opportunity here to teach our youngsters about the social media etiquette and again, hope my child will be fast learner. I think my biggest worry would be her safety, though I hope that I have been teaching her well since she started understanding about different level of trust in different people and different relationships. I like to think that my child is very special and that I'm doing a good job role modeling for her, but I guess you Guys will be the judges of that once we get her to join in. Thank you, Everyone.

 

[wellington]

She should be very safe on this forum. If you wanted to caution at all, be it with new members that have not posted enough for us to figure them out yet. However, most of them become very active members that seem very trust worthy. Very active members, I wouldn't hesitate at all about being safe.

 

[pam]

Never to early to start learning about her tortoise this is a safe family forum Welcome

 

[Pearly]

Thank you.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Thank you.

Though I'm old enough to have my own teen and preteen grand kids, I'll be the first to admit that I can drift into my “channeled 16 year old". Typically though when some of us get going like that, it's all innuendo that I would really worry about until your child is making the same type of humor. I recommend this site to all ages during tortoise outreach but as you've done, I direct the parent to check us out and assess there comfort level with us.
On a side note, bounce over to “off topic" and find “pretend chat 2.14" or some of the other lively threads around there and say hi and get to know us on a fun level as well.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Though I'm old enough to have my own teen and preteen grand kids, I'll be the first to admit that I can drift into my “channeled 16 year old". Typically though when some of us get going like that, it's all innuendo that I wouldn't really worry about until your child is making the same type of humor. I recommend this site to all ages during tortoise outreach but as you've done, I direct the parent to check us out and assess there comfort level with us.
On a side note, bounce over to “off topic" and find “pretend chat 2.14" or some of the other lively threads around there and say hi and get to know us on a fun level as well.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Okay. Just reread your first post and see you have a daughter. Fortunately, girls tend to be more mature. Please though, for my peace of mind, insist she maintain personal privacy both in threads and in private mail. Do you have a smart phone? There is an app that you could download for this great group of people which would allow you to monitor her usage without looking over her shoulder. I'm only hyper like this because I raised 2 beautiful daughters myself.

 

[dmmj]

We are a family friendly forum. We have a ptofanity filter. We can get a little crude sometimes (No one is perfect). She should be pretty safe.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

We are a family friendly forum. We have a ptofanity filter. We can get a little crude sometimes (No one is perfect). She should be pretty safe.

He's lying. Profanity filter my ***!
See? It works fine! LOL.

 

[Pearly]

You Guys are great! Thank you for understanding and trying to help. To some this may seem trivial but to a mother who's spent past 11 years thinking of few other things than safety, nurturing, growth and healthy development of her children, this is a major mile stone. I simply want to do this right Just like I need to know we provide best home for our baby tortoises. As for my checking out the off topic threads, I fully intend to do that in time, but for now the little time I can spend online I have to invest in getting all the necessary info for our new babies. Their setup (or setups) are nowhere near where we'd like them to be. Things are in place but some arranged very temporarily. Thinking here of our light fixture holders. I have yet to figure out something that looks better and know there are threads about that with pictures, I just need to have the time to find them. Anyway, thank you once again! And I too am looking forward to making new friends here