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Message |
    
davidbuckley
Citizen
Username: Davidbuckley
Post Number: 480
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 12, 2006 - 10:43 pm: | 
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Many of you have noticed that the entire Education category is gone. You could possibly also have noticed that in the New Member Check-in and Welcome Area under "Announcements", Dave, who provides the enormously valuable resource that is MOL to our communities has said:
"Education section offline until March 1, 2006 due to inappropriate posts regarding a student and disciplinary actions for alleged misconduct.
Please do not post more about it. Further posts will result in deletion of posts, permanent bans on username and block of posting IP address."
As many of you know, I am a longtime participant on and believer in this board, in Dave and his brother Jamie as active, giving citizens and in the general excellence of MOL as a resource for our towns.
Along with my respect, I must express, however, my strong belief that removal of the entire Education category is harmful to our communities, both virtual and real, and is an unnecessary overreaction.
While I respect and fully appreciate the need and responsibility to be very careful when there are inappropriate posts that could be harmful to people involved in specific situations and also the need to be cognizant about what is best for the business that is MOL, these goals could be well achieved by, to quote Dave, "deletion of posts, permanent bans on username and block of posting IP address".
These things Dave mentions along with such procedures as specific warnings, guidelines for posting behavior and even a "3 strikes and you're out" policy would amply achieve both protection for the community and for MOL.
A possible implementation could be 1st strike: post deletion, 2nd strike: 1 month user name ban, 3rd strike: permanent ban and block of posting ip address.
Wholesale removal of any category, particularly one that has become so vital to the community, should be a last resort. I respectfully ask Dave, who obviously cares so much about and gives so much to our towns, to please reconsider the Education category removal and to implement policies to achieve the most reasonable goals of protecting the citizenry and MOL without this harmful step.
Be well, all.
David Buckley |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 12469
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 7:54 am: |
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Those policies could take a lot of time to administer, but I agree that the removal is a painful and unnecessary overreaction (unless there's more than we know).
Blocking IP addresses could be unfair, since those addresses change. I could be a bad person at an IP address and someone else could get my address later. DSL IP addresses can change more than once a day.
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sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3147
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 8:10 am: |
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I guess I don't understand why removing the whole Education topic solves the problem, versus removing the offending discussion threads. After all, a poster could just go to another topic, such as the soapbox.
However, as many have mentioned, this is Dave and Jamie's prerogative and we have to respect that. |
davidbuckley
Citizen
Username: Davidbuckley
Post Number: 481
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 9:56 am: |
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Sac: Nail on the head: removal of the entire Education category creates a bigger problem than it solves. "The whole class" gets punished instead of just the people making the offensive posts.
Tom: I do see the potential for difficulty with ip address blocking, though I am ignorant re differences between static and variable ip's and time to administer is clearly a decision Dave would have to make.
Dave and Jamie: As Sac says, this is your prerogative and I agree. Is there any reason why the removal of offensive posts and/or threads would not accomplish the goals you had in mind when you removed the entire Education category?
With my best snow day wishes for all,
Be well.
David Buckley |
J. Crohn
Supporter
Username: Jcrohn
Post Number: 2371
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 11:16 pm: |
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"I guess I don't understand why removing the whole Education topic solves the problem..."
I agree. Moreover, this is the second time this has happened, which suggests that removing the topic instead of removing the poster is not doing much to prevent repeat offenses.
Not that I can keep up with what is considered offensive around here. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 8634
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 11:20 pm: |
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These are good points. |
snowmom
Citizen
Username: Snowmom
Post Number: 345
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 8:39 pm: |
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Now I really feel out of it - just what did I miss on the Ed section that was do downright offensive?!? |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 12531
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 8:48 pm: |
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We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you. Seriously, it was stuff that got too personal about child and teacher.
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Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 5720
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 8:52 pm: |
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Quote:I agree. Moreover, this is the second time this has happened, which suggests that removing the topic instead of removing the poster is not doing much to prevent repeat offenses.
This same line of thinking can be seen as to read..that nothing will prevent people from engaging in what is clearly inappropriate postings.
I don't know the answer, but I do know that having had to deal with a law suit that was a result of an "education" related issue, I completely understand the trigger shy attitude taken toward stuff in that section. At times it is more vitriolic than the political soapbox. |
davidbuckley
Citizen
Username: Davidbuckley
Post Number: 482
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - 12:10 am: |
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Dave:
Thanks for bringing back the Education category.
I really believe that a defined policy would help you with people who persist in posting inappropriately; you could do a "Guidelines" section right up at the top of Topics and say "Please read this before posting".
One could even have it be a requirement to read the "Guidelines for posting" when registering in order to get a screen name and perhaps a reiteration before ones' first post.
Be well, all.
David |
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