r2i forum

When I first saw the post and its structuring as well as language. I had my doubts, but I thought that the parent has probably refined the child's writing.
I was scared of writing about it because if I am wrong, a child's psyche may get affected. Perhaps is is time admin checked it out. I am envious of this 5th grader with a huge average of thanks/post (including mine.) I am certainly not better than a 5th grader.

modus_vivendi;269542Heh heh... I thanked the posts this morning, and was busy in the day. Thought some more, and the pennies began to drop - The sentence "I go to the new campus started this year in Hyderabad near Bachupally. Admissions are open in the school." Sentence structure, voice and understanding of member's query sounds like an adult. Kid who has lived in U.S. will most likely not call it "America". She will mention city of U.S. residence explicitly, not call it "place I used to live in America". Knows difference between "post" and "thread"...

Hilarious : )50 thanks : )

Idea for new thread: Are we smarter than a 5th grader : )

I am not (smarter than a 5th grader). I thanked those posts too. Let's see and wait for a few more posts.

Hah! So, this is where all the Aunties and the Uncles meet for that round table conference!!! :))

sandeepskar;269541Even if I am wrong, I feel a bit uncomfortable for having such a young person browsing and posting personal info on the internet (probably unsupervised). Already the name, grade, school, city has been revealed...there are too many bad people out there who can use such info. I may be being paranoid here but who knows after receiving encouragement in this forum, may be the kid will be tempted to browse other internet sites/chat rooms/forums?? .

I agree with the above. In this day and age where cyber-predators are a dime a dozen, it's just not safe for a kid to have unsupervised access to public forums. If not anything, this may only increase the curiosity of the kid and prompt him/her to venture furthermore into unchartered territory!

Just my 2 pence. Again, I may sound a bit paranoid, but it's always better safe than sorry!

farfromhome;269592I am not (smarter than a 5th grader). I thanked those posts too. Let's see and wait for a few more posts.

OotyGuy;269603Hah! So, this is where all the Aunties and the Uncles meet for that round table conference!!! :))

I only wish resident aunties & uncles don't turn that 5th grader thread into a massive genuine or not discussion, like Jai Vinayak's case.

A kid is writing diary.. so what? I knew in real life youngsters as young as 10 keeping a book to jot down that day's happenings. Let the kid write. No need to overwhelm with too many appreciations or criticisms. Personally, I don't see any need for special corners/restrictions/treatments. It's just ONE kid aunties & uncles :)

If the outcome of scrutiny does turn out not to be in the kid's favor, maybe we should direct her to http://fbfkids.com/

Somehow I am not comfortable Kids browsing this forum. We should not encourage( I did by thanking him) 5th Grader to exchange his/her idea in Virtual world. He should be in Cricket Ground or with his/her friends. I do not agree this forum is G rated. Yesterday at one point Nityaanand thread was only 2 line below to 5th Grade kid thread. Also our caption the picture thread is G rated? I will be not comfortable posting anything when I know kids is browsing this forum.

Getting kids on computer in early age may sound smart thing to do for some parents and few others, but in my view we are making them adult little soon. We do not have choice that's why we are socializing on internet. Why should we encourage kids to do the same? Indian kids are smarter(?) than what we think, opening forum for them is nothing but we are inviting more trouble.

In the case of this particular kid blogging, I hope Sandeepskar's post is considered:

sandeepskar;269541
Even if I am wrong, I feel a bit uncomfortable for having such a young person browsing and posting personal info on the internet (probably unsupervised). Already the name, grade, school, city has been revealed...there are too many bad people out there who can use such info. I may be being paranoid here but who knows after receiving encouragement in this forum, may be the kid will be tempted to browse other internet sites/chat rooms/forums?? [/quote]
I would err on the side of being paranoid and closing the thread till a formal policy on kids in forum is worked out, but at the same time, that cannot be done so easily because the kid could indeed be a 10 year old wanting to share experience, and doing so under parental supervision.

Coming to the general topic of kids in forum or a section for them in forum:

RRK;269357A member after registration need to confirm the email id. I hope this kid is posting under adult supervision.

Some time back, Suri was asking if we should open a section for kids only. Probably we can do that and make that section available to only kids and have a different color to identify these ids.

If r2i adults can link up, why not kids. They can post their school experiences and even we can allow them to network even before the move.

Let us discuss this. I want feedback from this community for such idea.

If we open a section for kid, how many of you ( question for parents) will be willing to let your kids join this forum ? [ Parental supervision will be still needed. When they are on internet, this is not the only site they could access.. ]

No parent has actually replied to the query on "will you let your kids join this forum" : )

After I shared my kid's writings, I showed her the many fine compliments from members in my blog thread. She asked who are these people (MoneyIsNot_Funny, Going_Nowhere... and so on : ). I told her they are Uncles and Aunties (well, that is what she calls desi adults!). I thought she would be mad at me for sharing, instead she asked "If you want, I have more journal entries or I can write some more." Ah, the vanity of the very young. Anyway, so once in a while, she reads those compliments again or reads the "Share what your kid did/said/wrote" threads, and sometimes my blogs.

She's been asking me for an id for long, as navigation is not easy in guest mode. (She can't use mine, period). Finally, I said, if she will browse in invisible mode, only read or search, never post, thank or visit member profiles, I will set password, then I will ask admins if it is possible to get her a member_id. Am waiting for her to pester me a bit more.

Would I allow her to join forum to network with other kids? The question is moot since we are not R2I candidates. If we were, I wouldn't, because the forum membership is largely adult. Social groups or separate sub-forum/section would not meet my safety requirements. What would be ideal for R2I kids to network would be something like a Yahoo! group, moderated by a long time member. Kids joining that group would be subject to serious checking/verification - how this can be done is debatable. Perhaps, membership is open by invitation only, or parent share real name etc with an admin, and perhaps meet a fairly frequent poster forum member in their city.

If I were R2I'ing and wanted my kid to network with other R2I'ing or R2I'ed kids, I would post a request in forum for that - asking for members who wouldn't mind their kid communicating with mine via email (parents having access to kids' email). Another option could be some setup like ClubPenguin, though not sure if they would allow "groups" concept.

Well, that is a pretty jumbled set of thoughts, but sharing nonetheless. Asked to explain further, I might use every mommy's Plan B: "Because I'm the mom, and because I say so" : )

modus_vivendi;269689
No parent has actually replied to the query on "will you let your kids join this forum" : )

I did reply, I am not ready either here or any other social networking sites at least for some more time.
My decision is nothing to do with whether this site is related to R2I, whether we are R2I candidate not. I do not like kids of young age to be hooked up to some website in search of a friend /socialize. I encourage her to go out, play and make friends,period.

My Roots;269396
Ps: Also, exposing kids to social networking sites at young age... don't know at least I am not ready for it yet knowing how other popular social networking sites like face book and others are creating social issues.

My Roots;269693I did reply, I am not ready either here or any other social networking sites at least for some more time.

I wouldn't mind my kid networking with some members' kids here to discuss why their amma's insist on camisoles and undershirts :17:

I wouldn't mind my kid socializing here on the forum once she reaches 10. Most of the kids I know over 10 years have facebook accounts, etc and some kids in their teens carry iphones. I don't think it is possible to shield them completely. Atleast this way, I feel I can supervise her and and show her how she can socialize with strangers without giving out many personal details.
What better way to teach them about electronic media, than under supervision of so many uncles and aunts and a big big brother.:-) I am sure they will be exposed to all the adult talk from their friends but what may come as a shock to them is, all these (*shareef)indian uncles and aunts who are so similar to their parents can also indulge in such talk.:p

*shareef - dignified looking

My Roots;269693I did reply, I am not ready either here or any other social networking sites at least for some more time.
My decision is nothing to do with whether this site is related to R2I, whether we are R2I candidate not. I do not like kids of young age to be hooked up to some website in search of a friend /socialize. I encourage her to go out, play and make friends,period.

MR, I think not wanting kids to be overly hooked to a website to socialize echoes the feelings of a majority of parents.

From my reading of his post and from the kid's diary that started this discussion,I thought RRK's query to members was not about the forum being a networking site like any other, but about it being used as a means for kids to network with other kids who have R2I'ed or are going to R2I. This website's main purpose being R2I is very much a factor IMO. Perhaps RRK can confirm.

RRK;269357A member after registration need to confirm the email id. I hope this kid is posting under adult supervision.

Some time back, Suri was asking if we should open a section for kids only. Probably we can do that and make that section available to only kids and have a different color to identify these ids.

If r2i adults can link up, why not kids. They can post their school experiences and even we can allow them to network even before the move.

Let us discuss this. I want feedback from this community for such idea.

If we open a section for kid, how many of you ( question for parents) will be willing to let your kids join this forum ? [ Parental supervision will be still needed. When they are on internet, this is not the only site they could access.. ]

As a general networking site, this site cannot hold kids interest like other established kids networking sites. As an R2I-networking site, there is none like it for adults, and a suitably secure form of it for kids would be a nice to have.