I'd just like to chime in and say that I totally agree with the other parents who've said they are grateful for the high standards of this site. My daughter can read the forums here without running into explicit conversations and language not suited for a child her age. I monitor which forums she visits very carefully.

Like ClaraSue, I visit other forums on occasion and I've found that I can't take more than a few minutes on each. I can't speak for anyone else, but there's nothing more annoying than reading page after page of profanity and insulting comments.

If I want that sort of language and abuse, I know where to find it. I also know that those sites won't last as long and the people are not nearly as welcoming as they are here.

There are a few forums otherwise which hold similar standards to FunTrivia. One such forum is on the Discovery Channel's website. Other than those two, I don't frequent other forums due to the brusque language used.

Thank you FunTrivia for being a family-friendly website!

Another thing that I have noticed when visiting other sites is that many of the posts don't say anything. Yes we sometimes post one or two word replies or even just a smiley face but mostly our posts do continue with a real conversation. I find it irritating to see a post which is more images/graphics than words.

That reminds me, Sue. I was viewing another forum several days ago and while scrolling through a conversation, I came upon several pictures which were quite vivid. There was no warning that the post contained adult material nor was the site one where I would expect such things. My boss doesn't care if I read forums on my lunch break, but he would certainly care if he saw those pictures. I had visions of him strolling into my office before I exit out of the page. Lucky for me, he didn't.

I'd much rather stay here where every thread is work safe.

"Again, this site is family-friendly, not geared towards children. We have a For Children category so all the quizzes that are easy for kids can be found easily. It's not intended to be a babysitting category for kids under 13."

Who said it was geared toward children? To try to be clearer for you, it is a bad idea for a site to claim suitability for young children as a measuring stick unless it's actually for kids and prepared to comply with the law.

"If you say kids shouldn't be on the site anyway due to COPPA, kids shouldn't be on the net at all, actually."

That's a bit of a leap, don't you think? I disagree, because plenty of sites manage to comply because they have reason. This one doesn't as it doesn't have inherent appeal, nor, judging from forum policy specifically discouraging child participation, does it wish to.

"...and how many truly strive to be family-friendly? Maybe 1%? So therefore my use of the word few is fine."

I can think of plenty, actually. There are thousands of unobjectionable sites and I've never accidentally found porn on the internet. I suppose if I was completely stupid and blindly clicked on spam links found in my inbox I would.

"'Kids might see it' argument is still valid as this is a FAMILY-FRIENDLY site. There is a huge difference bwteen catering to children and being family-friendly. Catering to children would mean we'd have bouncing animals that talk to the kids in flashy colors. Grouping some quizzes so parents don't have to wade through a ton to find one their kid can play with them is different."

Again, what I'm trying to get across is pretty simple.

1. You're claiming young children are using the site in order to justify rejecting something or other.
2. Sites used by young children that offer services like email and have advertisements may have to comply with COPPA.
3. Therefore, you may messing up because the site is not in compliance with COPPA.

Neither of us are lawyers. I do know, though, that sites that actually do appeal to kids and that expect children to use them have questions about age when signing up. This one doesn't. I submit that the reason why is that this site actually has very little appeal to children, actually makes them unwelcome, and that therefore the "kids might see it" excuse for censorship is quite lame.

Since this isn't a kid's site, AS EVIDENCED BY ADMITTED FORUM POLICY RIGHT IN THIS THREAD, any reasonable adult would not expect quizzes NOT in the for children area to be completely unobjectionable for children. As indeed they are not. There are quizzes about murder, suicide, tragedies, reproduction, serial killers, racism, and the collected works of Barry Manilow, any of which some parents might not want their children to see. There's a reason why they don't have that subject matter over at Legoland.com. That reason is because that site actually is for kids. Notice that NOT ONE person came in here and said, "yeah, I'm a kid and thanks a heap." That's because there aren't any kids reading this.

I don't know if you've actually made quizzes yet, but honestly, it's more a matter of common sense than anything else. I'm not familiar with your work in any case, so I apologize in advance for assuming you haven't. I suppose pitching into the discussion here in the forums is a bit different than actually having had a difference of opinion on what was considered appropriate etc for kids or mixed audiences.

Common sense is really our guide here. Editors have to make judgement calls and when we are not sure of something we ask our colleagues to have a look, and that's about it.
If I see a word which is innappropriate in the areas of the English speaking world I've lived in, and I'm not sure, I'll ask someone else.

As we don't actually have to put everyone's quiz online, we try very hard to give everyone a fair shake, and then, when in our estimation a quiz is beyond the bounds of taste in that context, we advise changes. The bottom line is that, we don't actually have an obligation to put anyone's work online. TErry's philosophy is to give everyone who wishes a chance, they get one, but if their work isn't up to par, or they don't really want to work with us, then, the ultimate decision is ours whether to put it online or not.
That's sounding a bit too authoritarian for some tastes, yet, I'd wager we've given some folks a major chance to get their work online.

I honestly haven't seen anyone treated unjustly in terms of their quiz submissions in my four long years as an editor in several categories.

We have several quiz writers who are kids, trust me on that one, and yet, they have no wish to identify themselves as such nor even do we want them to. They are excellent writers and age makes very little difference in our treatment of them. We occasionally step in for them when they get innappropriate comments from people, but, we do that for everyone.


Now, as this is an international site, we do occasionally have differences of what's considered innappropriate in one country and what isn't in another. We always iron those out.

We have so many quizwriters submitting work, yet, very few real problems with the appropriate or innappropriate material that's accepted.

I know the original question was motivated by the desire to learn how to craft quizzes. I just don't understand why the kid thing is a big issue. It's not just appropriate writing style for kids but for a large audience that's at stake.
No one is using the kid thing as a major excuse to deny someone their freedom of expression as far as I know.

If memory serves me right, Bruyere, you edited one of my quizzes and were helpful, courteous, and quick.

My focus on the "think of the children" line stems from the second post in this thread, where ladymacb29 judged that the word nuts, used by Ronald Reagan in reference to Khadafi's testicles, should not be allowed because it could eventually turn up in a daily or hourly quiz and then kids will (as she stated with great certainty) see it.

Ok, I'll speak up and say I have gotten messages from kids saying "I'm a kid and thanks a heap." The kids on the CBs know that we don't tolerate foul language, adult content or solicitation among members. Many of them have said thanks for keeping us safe. They've also thanked the moderators for taking care of the more unsavory characters. So, the kids do say thanks as do the parents.

I would like to stress that the viewpoint which I am about to express is my own personal opinion which I offer as a FunTrivia member, not as a FunTrivia editor.

This is a private website and the owner is perfectly within his rights to decide what is considered acceptable or unacceptable. These decisions do not have to be justified to anyone. Having your quizzes accepted here is a privilege, not a right - the FunTrivia administration does not "owe" it to anyone to put their quiz on-line. Personally, I am getting weary of seeing people post complaints because the site isn't run the way they think it should be.



Re: "I've never accidentally found porn on the internet. I suppose if I was completely stupid and blindly clicked on spam links found in my inbox I would."

Well, you've been lucky. Please don't imply that people who have accidentally found porn are stupid. I innocently googled the name of a famous magician and got the filthiest pornographic images as a result.

"This is a private website and the owner is perfectly within his rights to decide what is considered acceptable or unacceptable."

Since I'm the one doing the complaining here, I'll assume you're talking to me, even though I said the exact same thing already.

"These decisions do not have to be justified to anyone."

They don't have to be, no. I'd prefer that they were, myself. And since a justification was given, I've decided to discuss it. Hope that's OK.

"Having your quizzes accepted here is a privilege, not a right - the FunTrivia administration does not "owe" it to anyone to put their quiz on-line."

Who said it was not a privilege and was a right? Wasn't me. Actually, I'd tend to think of the people who give free content to this site as doing it a favor, though.

"Personally, I am getting weary of seeing people post complaints because the site isn't run the way they think it should be."

Why else would people post complaints? Do you expect a lot of complaints running something like "I am complaining because the site is A-number-one supergreat!"? Maybe complaints should be censored.

"I innocently googled the name of a famous magician and got the filthiest pornographic images as a result."

How did you know they were the filthiest? There's some pretty filthy stuff out there, if you know where to look. I seriously doubt you could find "the filthiest" by accident.

mate, knock it off; that's enough.

If you wish to discuss anything further and/or or go over trodden ground, contact the webmaster direct; and continue the debate with the Head Honcho himself. He may or may not take you up on the offer.