Controversial topic!

The same community guidelines apply to all parts of the community, nothing has changed in that respect. Illegal/illicit activities and discussion thereof are still prohibited.

Unless a room or forum is private and access-controlled, there are no restrictions on who goes where. Obviously we've set aside topics or areas on the site that are meant for specific concerns or people with specific concerns. The Social Chat room is where folks should go to just chit chat about the news, chat with friends, etc. The Teen Chat room is meant as a place for teens to gather.

All resources and services offered by Psych Central make a general assumption about a person's reasons for being here -- to give or to get emotional support for a serious issue in their lives. This is no different for teens. If you're not here to give or get help, then this may not be the right place for you. (You can actually 'get help' with never posting or participating in a chat -- for many, simply reading the posts is sufficient to gain something of benefit in their lives.)

Thank you for your continued support of Psych Central!
DocJohn

PS - I would expect adults *not* to hang out in the Teen Chat room, as that kind of defeats the purpose. You can certainly check it out, but I would encourage you to allow teens to have their space here and not crowd it.

PPS - Teens continue to be welcomed throughout the site, including in other chat rooms.

a question was asked of me that I don't have an answer and I would very much like to be able to answer this one. Can the teens still go into the main chat room? I know some of the teens are really hear to learn from us oldies and with that I have no problem whatsoever. I am more than happy to help with the teens that are in need.

From the above post by Doc John:

PPS - Teens continue to be welcomed throughout the site, including in other chat rooms.

I would think this mean that teens can still go into Main chat.

Sujin

bump

I see no notice of any other chat rule change.

DocJohn's quote
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PPS - Teens continue to be welcomed throughout the site, including in other chat rooms.

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I think that's fine with me. I also read we are not to go into teen chat

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radio_flyer said:

DocJohn's quote
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PPS - Teens continue to be welcomed throughout the site, including in other chat rooms.

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He said he didn't want adults hanging out in the teen chat... but I never saw anything about now there will be no talk about sex in the main chat room... guess the guidelines were changed and I failed to receive that email my bad.

Sky I don't know, but I think they did post something to the effect that sex talk was not allowed by the rules anyhow. I am referring to sensational sex talk not asking for help on sex issues or sa

THen that's new. Only religion and politics was cautioned to my knowledge.

This post/thread was originally started in view of the safety of children/teens on-line.

It is a fact in this day and age that children/teens will go on-line.

I feel that DocJohn has now addressed this problem as best he can.

I am a bit concerned that the thread has turned into some sort of them-and-us fight.

I am now RESPECTFULLY asking for this thread to be closed down, or locked.

If anyone wishes to discuss this further, they can start their own thread.

Thank you.

If I had this site accessible to me when I was a teen it's very possible that my life could have turned out differently, and I mean for the better.
Teenagers aren't as green and as nieve as you may think. They have a lot of information online that they have access to. I don't think they're going to read anything here that they won't be able to read elsewhere. I'm not concerned about that. I am concerned about the power of suggesting. Like the SI threads. Nothing wrong with the SI thread but it may give a struggling teen some ideas. But then again-there are sites out there about SI without the support and encouragement NOT to do and try it as it is here. I SI when I was 14 and I didn't learn it from anybody-I just did it and was so confused as to why I was doing it and thought I was the only moron in the world cutting myself. I felt isolated and scared. I had no support system.
I think this is a great site for teens. I think it's a very supportive place for them to talk about their stresses with parents, school and feelings of inadaquacies. I think we can nurture them and help to guide them as we do for one another.
I don't think we talk about anything so inappropriate on this site that a teen should not be able to read it. Even when we skim around something like that-I guarantee what they're hearing in high school from other kids their age is a hundred times worst. If anything we can help clear up any misconceptions about a subject or give them advice when they have nobody else to talk to about the subject.
JMO
I say "Welcome TEENS!!!!"
HUGS

To no one in particular --

The guidelines have not changed. This is not a place to have frank sexual discussions in the general Psych Central chat room (nor has it ever been). We have a "Social Chat" room if you'd like to discuss things outside of mental health or relationship issues. And while I realize and know that people often don't bother with moving over to the Social Chat room to engage in social chat, that is the proper place it has always belonged and where I'd prefer people to engage in it.

I just want to re-emphasize --

Teens are more than welcomed at this site and I will do everything I can to ensure they have a safe place to hang out in.

DocJohn