How about a new “Something” Board or. a part of this one that kids (In the HS and JC age) can come to for help for homework? I realize this could be delicate, but “Filghting Ignorance” does include the kids! (Was Cecil a Kid?)
Jack (63 year old fart)
This really isn’t a kid-friendly site, and we never wanted or intended it to be, even when we were on AOL. Most of the content and discussion ranges from PG to X rated. Even if we have a “Kid Safe” forum, any child who accesses the board WILL want to get into the mature areas, too.
We’ve found, too, that people who want homework help often want SOMEBODY ELSE to do their homework for them. The general feeling among the staff is that homework is generally supposed to be done so that the student learns something. Sometimes, a student only needs a pointer to the right direction. More often, a student wants a thesis, with bibliography, by tomorrow morning.
We’ve had, and still have, the occasional teen poster…but they have to be pretty emotionally and intellectually mature, as most of our regulars won’t put up with a lot of nonsense. I understand that there are legal headaches in allowing underage posters free access to the boards, too. We have a minimum age requirement (13) for that reason.
I’ve moderated a group of message boards for kids and teens. It was far more than I could take.
None of this is the Official Straight Dope stand, except for the minimum age of posters. But I really doubt that we’ll be starting a new forum or area for Homework Help any time soon.