My eldest D.E.S.K.Kid is 13. She ISN’T your average 13 year old; she’s never been average for her age. She’s always been in the Advanced classes in her schools. She’s more interested in Japanese culture then the mall. Her tastes run more to Emilie Autumn then Justin Beiber. For her age, she is a master in the art of sarcasm and dry humour.
She’s read many threads on the SDMB and usually has either a pithy comment or wise word.
So, for the TL;DR crowd, should I let her get an account if she wishes?
I would have to say no. There are people on this site who may influence her in such a manner as to cause her to cause harm to people, animals or plants. I worry not so much about the people or the animals, but the plants would not deserve such treatment.
No seriously, let her join. I am learning a lot here even though I am usually criticized (tips hat to pancakes, who is probably the best at giving constructive criticism.) I am also learning a lot of new vocabulary.
My kid is about to turn 13, and hell no. She hears enough things I don’t really want her to hear from other kids. I’m not going to encourage her to hear it from adults too.
My 14 year old has had a Straight Dope account since his 13th birthday, but he doesn’t post much. It’s his own decision. We’d be happy for him to post here if he wanted. If there were more teens posting, he might post more. I don’t know.
I generally let my kid be exposed to more stuff than a lot of parents (explicit music, some books for adults, my pothead friends, etc) and I seriously can’t figure out why anyone would want their 13 or 14 year old on here.
Only if she has a really thick skin. While I love the Dope and there’s lots of great people with tons to share, there is also plenty of assholes who can make someone’s life a living hell if they don’t meet up to some nebulous standard. So, if you think she can hang with that being a possibility and her basically growing up here with her postings being constant future fodder, then I’d say let her. She could learn a lot.
If she’s already reading the threads then she’s being exposed to most of the ‘worst’ that the Dope has to offer.
If you feel like she can handle the inevitable too-blunt corrections and so on that might bother any young adult regardless of the thickness of her skin, then go for it.
I lurked on the Dope for a couple years around 13ish, or at least, before it became a paysite. I didn’t post here but I did on other fora and whenever I look back I realize I said some stupid shit. But on the whole I’m glad I did it. I think it did wonders for my typing and arguing skills.
Timid “yes.” One thing I did avoid was boards specifically for teens or young adults. I was already around teenagers 8+ hours a day in school. The last thing I wanted was to go home and hear the opinions of more teenagers. YMMV.