No More "Age Limit"

As any long-time member knows, the YWS "age limit" has always been a soft limit. Just like we have plenty of members below the age of 13, we also have plenty of members above the age of 25.

Since this has caused some confusion, I've decided to just remove the age limit altogether. It never made much sense.

But doesn't that kind of remove the idea of the "young" part of Young Writer's Society?

I mean, I don't have a problem with it, I'm just mentioning it.

lilymoore wrote:But doesn't that kind of remove the idea of the "young" part of Young Writer's Society?

I mean, I don't have a problem with it, I'm just mentioning it.

This is the description now from the front page (when you're not logged in):
We are an online writing community for young writers, with our average age around 18.

Yay. =D As a member who wanted to join when she was twelve, and had to mail in a signed permission slip, this makes me happy.

You could say that it's for anyone who's young compared to a mature bristlecone pine. Considering those things are thousands of years old, that means everyone.

Evi, you had to send a signed permission slip? Wow. I just lied. :p Not really, I joined about a month before my birthday so maybe technically I was 12 but in maturity I was 13.

Plus, age is but a number

Well maybe I should rephrase...

The "13" age limit is still in effect. One reason is simply because I think most kids who are below 13 (but not all) wouldn't do well on YWS. But another reason is legal. Due to the nature of YWS, the site falls under COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), which is a United States law. As YWS exists in the United States, I need to follow the requirements of COPPA. One of those requirements for a site like YWS is a signed permission slip from the parents.

So, getting rid of the age range isn't meant to benefit younger people. You still got to be 13 to join YWS or have a permission slip. If you lie about being 13, you're just putting YWS (and hence me) in jeopardy.

Oh, right; I forgot about COPPA. Still, though, I think removing the age limit is a good idea.

And, yes, I mailed in a signed permission slip. My birthday wasn't for another half a year.

By the way, I do think COPPA stinks. It's a law based on the concept of hiding the personal information of those younger than 13. So the only way to be allowed on a forum is to give all your personal information away to the administrator. It's absurd and unfortunately the law.

Nate wrote:This is the description now from the front page (when you're not logged in):
We are an online writing community for young writers, with our average age around 18.

I signed in this morning and noticed that the "Welcome Guest" box, where your menu normally is, still has the old description of YWS.

Good on you Nate. Just never... *ever* change the title. It works man. Plus I tihnk the whole, "YOUNG" thing keeps Internet prowlers away so.. yeah.

We're all young at heart, right?

I think this is a good idea because those who are older generally have more experience, and yet (as I've found personally!) can always learn something new from those who are younger, even much younger. We have amazing members on here and I can't believe their age. Maybe spreading out the age range will, at least in our community, help young ones, teens, and adults to form writing bonds together, instead of teens who write being a "strange" thing (that's how I saw it was, when I was younger, anyway).

If there's gonna be an age limit then don't you think the name young should be removed from the site's name.

I'm sorry but, I rather like the name. It's like a brand. Just because CheapestInTown isn't actually the cheapest in town, doesn't mean it has to change it's name. And yeah it's for advertisements sake, but I rather like knowing that when a teen that thinks they could write, but don't want flaming reviews from experienced publishers, editors etc. and want to meet others like them, could google: Young Writers and find the site Plus it has a cool abbreviation!

Not to mention, we're still young! The average age is 18— when a lot of sites are for 25+ or even 35+. The "young" fits just fine.