Under age users

michael s said:

Had not considered it heated just that we are probably putting young people off from becoming future members and it must be unfair that a young member of RSPB cannot participate on forum after paying sub while older person non RSPB member can join forum.

At the very least in my book that is very unfair and think lots of us are not heated just suggesting the rules which are not clear and are unworkable anyway are looked at.  

They are the RSPB Community rules and they are workable for them. Once they have corrected the discrepancy between 16 and 18 that will be that.

They aren't canvassing for opinions, just reminding us what the rules are

Everyone who signs-up has to agree to abide by the rules, just like we all did when we signed-up.

It's the same in all forums.

Hello Everyone

Thanks for all you comments. We agree young people need to be encouraged and their love for wildlife and nature nurtured. However, due to our legal responsibilities it is just something we cannot achieve at this moment in time. In the future, we hope to host a forum that allows young people to engage with each other to discuss wildlife and nature in way that appeals to them. Some content on our current community (specifically calls for campaigns and information regarding the complexity of the law) are not suitable to be aimed at someone under the age of 18 and it is for this reason our cut off age is 18. Thanks again for all your support in the continual growth of our Community.

Take Care

Tom

How can we (or RSPB) tell how old any of us are on these forums?

Unless something went drastically wrong,does anyone actually check?

In the first post by Ian H its because of child welfare and safety

Then on this page Tom says its because we have campaigns and complexity of the law.

What if someone under 18 turned up at a RSPB event would they be turned away.

I also saw the post from the young lady and it was great to see what a passion she had for our hobby. I just hope we dont destroy that :-(

 Chris.

madpenguin said:

How can we (or RSPB) tell how old any of us are on these forums?

Unless something went drastically wrong,does anyone actually check?

The answer is that we can't, and if a young person choses to lie about their age, then that's the end of it. However, there have been very young children using this forum and they have been easy to identify by their style, content and so on. There has been at least one child who said on his profile page he was in his first year at Secondary school. His posts were clearly those of a young child, and it is these we should be vigilant about for their own safety.

Could not agree more ClaireM.

Thats why I didnt say anything until the last few posts.

 Chris.

Think i must have been so old with too many responsibilities at 18 and so many others were still bairns.Starting work part time at 12 and full time like Sooty at 15 ....... not complaining.So pleased i was given a good education,mind of my own and freedom of speech along with strict supervision from fab parents.Also nice that i was treated with respect,could learn to drive and get married with my parents consent at 18.

I have to agree............ rules are rules and those put forward have to be adhered to.