"Underage Staff"

[adb22791]

What is your policy (if you have one) on "underage (people below the age of, say, 18 or 16), staff on your boards? Do you allow them, do you not allow them, do you allow them but give them very limited powers?

Because I am "underage", I of course allow other people who are "underage" to be staff, provided they show maturity and the willingness to help. I have had to remove people from my staff before, but the team I have right now is amazing (always helping, always friendly to end users, and I trust them with my boards).

[namkrowa]

I allow them. I think that anybody has the power to maintain a community, whether it be a large one or a small one, with good judgement. Of course, not all people are the same, and your trust in some younger people can be misplaced.

I am 14, and considered underage myself. I don't see if fair that I, being my age, only allow adults to help maintain my forum. It just doesn't seem fair.

[Scott]

I would allow any over 13 (coppa) to moderate any board I owned if I had reason to believe they could do it. Many 13yr olds know more about certain topics than others...I don't think they should be discriminated upon because of their age.

The only time I would be hesitant towards something like this is was if money was involved. But that is a whole different can of worms. :D

[Jan]

This is where observation comes in before considering anyone to moderate your board.

[namkrowa]

Of course. With the past couple of forums I have run, I have put certain people under observation, and they turned out to become much better staff members then those I hired on the spot.

It's best to get to know your future staff members a little bit before you actually start have them moderating. Get to know their name, a little bit of information (that they're willing to give) about themselves. Their interests, etc. It's a great way to find good future staff.

[SoftWareRevue]

. . . provided they show maturity and the willingness to help. . . When we recruit for WHT, we don't ask age. But we do look into how the kind of member they've been. ;)

[cyberturk]

i didnt ask any of my moderators theri age but i will ask them this night :)

[Michelle]

I have one underage mod, age sixteen and also the other admin of my site (which is my boyfriend as well :p) is sixteen. They are much more mature and well-mannered than most members, and even other members of the staff...
I never judge a person primarily by their age. I don't think however that I would easily hire somebody that is less than 14 years old... :/

[dojo]

I have some 14-17 year olds as staff. They are excellent people, well spoken, very mature, dedicated, good programmers and so on. I "hired" them even if I knew they were not adults. They do act like mature people so this is yet another proof for me that age is not always related to maturity

[Doug]

If the person is mature, a good member, and over 13 (or has parent's permission for COPPA reasons), I say let him or her be a moderator. The only thing with "underage" staff is they generally have school and other activities that take up a lot of their time.

[Lurker]

You would also need to consider the content of your site as to who to add as staff. Hopefully if it was adult content, there wouldn't be any youngins there anyway ;)

[UKJosh]

i agree with scott, over 13...

[TheDPQ]

I never put age directly into consideration. I will say i'd have trouble adding one someone who only did horrible netspeak. ;) it all comes down to how they present themselves and if they have a solid thought process.

[UKJosh]

what do you think of my solid though process ?
and how old would you say i am ?
class me :P

[TheDPQ]

No Clue i haven't really read some of your posts.

A lot of my users think i'm like 48. (I love my staff image. I look like a crazy cat lady)
Every now and then some of them still think i'm a guy.

[UKJosh]

i think your 25
crazy sense of homour! ;)

[TheDPQ]

24, close enough!

[xd3vilx]

i don't consider age as a important stuff in getting staff, it is how can he offer to the community that is the most important factor.