Rejected 9 and under rooms

[Neodith]

I sometimes see cursing and there are kids that play PS! and I just think that maybe there should be a room strictly monitored for bad language, slurs, and bullying. I also know that some parents don't want their kids to see this kind of stuff as well, I know that there is a no bullying policy in the lobby, but there's still cursing. It's just a suggestion for a 100% clean, safe environment. Thank you for your time, Neodith.

 

[Isaiah]

Frankly, a room that's explicitly advertised as being for the youngest range of users is the most dangerous environment conceivable. Sure, bad language and slurs might be moderated very strictly (although I'd still make the argument that we do this in general on PS anyway), but those users are still very vulnerable to much more damaging offenses like grooming, which isn't limited to what happens in a single room. The task of protecting as many users as possible from those that would do them harm is already difficult in a self-report based system, and I will personally always do everything in my limited power to prevent something like this (which breeds vulnerability) from ever happening. I sympathize with wanting to reduce the amount of harmful chat messages these users see, but the reality is that if they're that young to begin with...a massive online community with a series of chatrooms is probably not the best place for them to spend their time. It's not my choice to reject this since it's specifically about making a PS room, but it's still something I find it absolutely necessary to comment on.

 

[Adeleine]

personally, as a former global staff, i strongly believe children under 10 should not be chatting on ps in any capacity. even the idea of them using the site at all, even just to battle, worries me. besides the extremely salient safety concern isaiah noted for such a room, the sim is just too old of an environment. it is physically impossible for us to prevent all pm harassment (and other non-clean activity) without drastically cutting chat options, and in rooms, it's a matter of time before they give a bad opinion in competitive/otherwise discussion and get their heart crushed by a teenager/adult that assumes they're talking to another teenager/adult. i would conduct myself dramatically different on this site (and maybe not use it at all, honestly) if i believed i was talking to elementary school children.

 

[BP]

I probably won't be saying anything that hasn't already been said but this is a really dangerous idea that invites uneccesary risk to those in that age range. While I'm sure OP had good intentions, chatrooms online should not be accessed by anyone who is this young. I believe Smogon and PS already has a system in place of banning / locking anyone under the age of 13 due to certain internet laws. If bullying and swearing is an issue then different chatrooms can decide to implement swearing filters. This already exists in battles on ladder iirc. These filters would be left up to the room staff so you may want to try communicating with them if this is an issue you feel strongly about.

 

[HoeenHero]

We are not doing this for reasons stated above and for legal reasons.