There is a topic started by D_Master where he states that he is 12 years old.
The topic is:
How big should a penis be?
But my question is, should we even be talking to him about sexual subjects like this?
URL:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2815607#post2815607
Well, sir, if D_Master is 12, he is below the minimum age for board membership as specified in the rules one agrees to when one signs up. Note, though, that he didn’t reveal his age until a post nearly at the bottom of page 1 of the thread. I had him pegged as a kid in his early teens based on the question and the style he expressed it in, which is why I answered the way I did.
I suspect strongly that when his age as stated in that thread, or your bringing it to people’s attention in this thread, is noted by a Moderator, he’ll be banned as being underage based on the rules.
The SDMB doesn’t have any “age-appropriate” guidelines – it’s the assumption, I think, that a 13-18 year old who signs up does it with the approval of his parents or their willingness to allow him to surf the Web without their supervision, and is as entitled to read any thread he chooses to and ask/comment as he chooses as you and I are.
What’s your problem with the question, anyway? Boys under 18 aren’t supposed to realize they have penises? It was a GQ on what “normal” size at selected age groups is – that’s an honest question that has a definite answer that he could have found on the Web with a little Googling – and a concern for many kids of his age. Had he been 13 rather than 12, he would have been completely within board guidelines in asking, and I’d have no problem with anyone answering it (granted, the tone of some of the responses is something I’m uncomfortable with kids that age reading – but it’s their prerogative if they become members here, not your call or mine to judge, but rather his and his parents’ (and if problems arise, the Admins. and Mods.).
I believe 13 years is the minimum acceptable posting age (counted in the European/North American style; not as per the Japanese - hmm…, how do they count age in Croatia?).
I think every 12 year-old boy has that question, and D_Master was able to ask here it in an anonymous way that minimized his embarassment. Yes, perhaps it might have been better to ask his family doctor, but could you have asked your pediatrician when you were 12? And yes, there were some joking answers, but Polycarp and others provided some factual and reassuring answers.
Since he has admitted violating the member agreement, I expect that he won’t be around for long, but in the meantime, one little bit of ignorance has bitten the dust.
I’m 14.
liek doodz should he be taklin; about that stuf hear?
that was meant to be a 
Also, most 12-year-olds don’t have unrestricted access to a family doctor. My kids get taken to the pediatrician only when they’re sick, or when they need the next school or sports physical, which involves Mom making a phone call and an appointment–my now 15-year-old son, when he was 12, wouldn’t have had any way to ask Dr. R. privately what was a normal size for a penis, without making a Really Big Deal of it in front of Mom. “Mom, could you go out for a minute? I want to talk to Dr. R. about something…”
"What’s your problem with the question, anyway? "
I don’t mind the question. My point is if I talked to some strange child under 18 on the street about their penis, the local cops would be on it in a flash. Maybe not in your area, but in mine.
If they want to know about things like this they can read at their local library or ask their folks. After all, isn’t penis size genetic?
We have temporarily suspended D_Master’s posting privileges. He can reapply for admission when he’s 13.
The only only thing D_Master did wrong was sign up when he was under the posting age. The Dope is a perfect place to ask a question like that anonomously and get correct cited information regarding it. Its obvious that D_Master was concerned about it so he had every right to ask. As for the appropriateness of it, we can’t go around locking and deleting threads for fear of spoiling the innocence of some child that may stumble upon the SDMB.
<< The only only thing D_Master did wrong was sign up when he was under the posting age. >>
Agreed.
I’m wondering why the admin of this place is having trouble quoting and excising from that quote that he wants to reply to.
Most posters use either the “quote” function button or the coding that it automates, but there are a number of “traditions” dating from the early days of Internet boards on how one quotes. You’ll note that Apos uses a quite different technique, several posters simply bold the quoted text and then respond to it in normal type, the ancient “>>quoted text” shows up occasionally, and some posters simply pull down the text they want to quote and then respond to it, trusting to the reader to figure out who said what. All these but the last I can read and accept as personal preference, though I personally prefer the indented-between-lines coded quote I used here.
And Dex is not the administrator, but one of seven or so with Admin. privileges (others include jdavis, Ed Zotti, Tubadiva, Lynn Bodoni, Arnold Winkelried, and Gaudere, as well as, of course, Cecil himself – and I think I missed somebody.)
The double carets, or whatever one calls horizontal carets, is the method most of the staff uses in our e-mails, too. Dex probably did it simply out habit.
I still wonder why people cant use **'s and *'s correctly.
I mean press a button there , type it in. there, you have bolding. hell i could type it out. Why do people still struggle with this concept?
Ironically I coded that wrong.
Brighteyes:
I didn’t have trouble, I just like the other quoting method, which I use in email as well, so I guess it is mostly habit.
And, of course, Gaudere’s Rule is that people who comment about someone else’s grammar or spelling, always have a grammar or spelling error in their own post. Apparently Gaudere’s Rule also applies to people who make comments about bold, or italic or “quotes”…
“…we can’t go around locking and deleting threads for fear of spoiling the innocence of some child that may stumble upon the SDMB”
I see your point. I was asking if the SD was the right forum for this sort of thing. It’s not something I would want to do, but it’s important for me to ask about policy first.
On the other hand, handy, in these days of paranoia and suspicion, do you really think it’s a good idea to start a thread titled “Penises and underage posters”?
Czarcasm, that depends what you consider ‘underage’ in your state…