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To everyone who joined these forums at some point, and got discouraged by the negativity and left after a while (or even got literally scared off): I'm sorry.

I wasn't good enough at encouraging people to be kinder, and removing people who refuse to be kind. Encouraging people is hard, and removing people creates conflict, and I hate conflict... so that's why I wasn't better at it.

I was a very, very sensitive teen. The atmosphere of this forum as it is now, if it had existed in 1996, would probably have upset me far more than it would have helped.

I can handle quite a lot of negativity and even abuse now, but that isn't the point. I want to help people. I want to help the people who need it the most, and I want to help people like the 1996 version of me.

I'm still figuring out the best way to do that, but as it is now, these forums are doing more harm than good, and I can't keep running them.

Thank you to the few people who have tried to understand my point of view so far. I really, really appreciate you guys. You are beautiful people.

Everyone else: If after everything I've said so far, you still don't understand my motivations, I think it's unlikely that you will. We're just too different. Maybe someday in the future it might make sense, but until then, there's no point in arguing about it. I don't have the time or the energy for arguing anymore. I will focus my time and energy on people who support me, and those who need help.

-SoulRiser

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Common Sense Media and Others
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Subb Offline
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Post: #1
Common Sense Media and Others

http://www.commonsensemedia.org

What do you guys think of this? I just made a long rant about it, but I accidently deleted it. So discuss, and then I'll join in later.

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Fulltime Member, 2013-2014

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12-20-2013 03:12 PM
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brainiac3397 Offline
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Post: #2
Common Sense Media and Others

Quote:-We believe in media sanity, not censorship.
-We believe that media has truly become "the other parent" in our kids' lives, powerfully affecting their mental, physical, and social development.
-We believe in teaching our kids to be savvy, respectful and responsible media interpreters, creators, and communicators. We can’t cover their eyes but we can teach them to see.
-We believe parents should have a choice and a voice about the media our kids consume and create. Every family is different but all need information.
-We believe that the price for free and open media is a bit of extra homework for families. Parents need to know about the media their kids use and need to teach responsible, ethical behavior as well as manage overall media use.
-We believe that through informed decision making, we can improve the media landscape one decision at a time.
-We believe appropriate regulations about right time, right place, and right manner exist. They need to be upheld by our elected and appointed leaders.
-We believe in age-appropriate media and that the media industry needs to act responsibly as it creates and markets content for each audience.
-We believe ratings systems should be independent and transparent for all media.
-We believe in diversity of programming and media ownership.

So...what exactly do they do? Give free media advice or something?

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(06-14-2013 08:02 AM)Potato Wrote:  watch the fuq out, we've got an "intellectual" over here.

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12-20-2013 03:16 PM
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Subb Offline
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Post: #3
RE: Common Sense Media and Others

They tell you what is and isn't approptiate for your kid. Look at the reviews. That's where the crap is.

My main problems with it are that they're too uptight (they're age recomendations are always 1-2 years older than what I would say. Sure, that's a matter of opinion, but there needs to be multiple viewpoints.) And that it encourages parents to look on a site and your child's age, rather than the content itself and your kid's maturity.

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(This post was last modified: 12-20-2013 03:26 PM by Subb.)
12-20-2013 03:19 PM
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brainiac3397 Offline
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RE: Common Sense Media and Others

Interesting. They literally mean all media. Even music and books o_O.

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(06-14-2013 08:02 AM)Potato Wrote:  watch the fuq out, we've got an "intellectual" over here.

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12-20-2013 03:42 PM
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James Comey Away
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Post: #5
Common Sense Media and Others

I'm familiar with Common Sense Media. From the sound of it they're not nearly as bad as, say, the Parents TV Council or the American Family Association.

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Stop jerking off to porn and whining and do something about it

Make School Survival Great Again - MSSGA

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12-20-2013 03:54 PM
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brainiac3397 Offline
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RE: Common Sense Media and Others

I agree. Though I generally dont like people going for the simple one-size-fits-all belief by just adhering to the guidelines set by these third-party organizations, these guys at least give closer to a neutral view than the above mentioned groups which generally evoke the image of parents totally disconnected from their children and think everything they think and do is for the best of their children, regardless of whether it is actually the best.

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(06-14-2013 08:02 AM)Potato Wrote:  watch the fuq out, we've got an "intellectual" over here.

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12-20-2013 04:00 PM
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Subb Offline
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Post: #7
RE: Common Sense Media and Others

Holy shit. Looking at the Parents TV Council. Now THAT'S just scary. I haven't seen anything yet.

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12-20-2013 04:26 PM
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James Comey Away
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Post: #8
Common Sense Media and Others

American Family Association is really fucked up though, in my opinion far more worse, probably because they're crazy Christian fundamentalists, and those kinds of people really piss me off. They're hell bent on making people say "Merry Christmas" and I think they told people to boycott McDonald's because they were hiring gay people. They're also hellbent on banning any non-Christian religion, as well.

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Stop jerking off to porn and whining and do something about it

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12-20-2013 04:29 PM
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Trar Away
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Post: #9
Common Sense Media and Others

I remember finding this place a while back and looking at some of the reviews. While I definitely agree that showing a 5-year-old Seagal action flicks isn't a good idea (I should know because my parents let me watch Under Siege when I was around that age), do you really think a 17-year-old shouldn't play BioShock 2? Or that 12-year-olds can't play Tropico 4, or at least play it with a bit of parental guidance initially?

I do like the learning potential and parental-need-to-know sections, at least. I like how they also provide topics for discussion. I hope somewhere in this fine country there's a kid who's talking about Tropico at the dinner table. (We don't even have a dinner table.) I am a bit disappointed that they don't have the first two Tropico games.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is still suitable for teenagers(and younger), I should think, with or without parental advisory (even if understanding and knowledgeable parents may be useful for younger players). They just need the wherewithal to not actually do any of it in real life. Which they pretty much do have. There's not much good in shielding them from the uglier aspects of the world, not at that age. I've even heard tell of a father letting his 3-year-old daughter watch him drive around in the game. She yells at him every time he violates traffic laws.

This review says it all:

Quote:Fine for anyone who comprehends real-life "right" from "wrong"

The Grand Theft auto series does not MAKE people "go bad". This game does have gratuitous amounts of violence, sex, drugs, etc. but it is FICTIONAL. I let me 9 year old play this while I'm in the roo [sic] because he understands its not real. He knows that violence and crime in real life has [major] censequences [sic]. Since playing this game, he has had NO negative life changes whatsoever. A game is NOT real life, get over it people and take some darn responsibility for what you do and stop blaming things that have NO effect on the utmost VAST majority of people who experience it.


Overall, at least it's not fundamentalist bullshit.
(This post was last modified: 12-21-2013 03:48 AM by Trar.)
12-21-2013 03:36 AM
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James Comey Away
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Common Sense Media and Others

Yeah, the whole "there's already crime anyway" and the lack of any strong statistics really blows the "GTA makes people violent" theory out of the water. Plus, any stories that always pop up are yet another great example of a logical fallacy, this time being the "anecdotal evidence" fallacy.

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Stop jerking off to porn and whining and do something about it

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12-21-2013 09:44 AM
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Trar Away
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Common Sense Media and Others

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12-21-2013 11:37 AM
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Missile Offline
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Post: #12
Common Sense Media and Others

Common sense media actually has a feature where other parents can other kids can put in their own reviews of the book/movie/video game etc. It tends to be more actually more acuaratte

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02-20-2014 09:00 AM
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KFC Nyan Cat Away
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Post: #13
Common Sense Media and Others

At least it's not One Million Moms.

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For anyone who remembers me going on an archive binge: Thank you all. I know I ended it being a drama queen, I don't really agree with the ideology anymore, and I'm really not the same person I was (I went through a neopagan phase!) but still this site was the first online community I was in. I graduated from school and turned 18. Time flies. KFC Nyan Cat, June 20, 2019.
02-20-2014 11:29 AM
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McGee! Offline
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RE: Common Sense Media and Others

(12-20-2013 04:26 PM)SubCulture Wrote:  Holy shit. Looking at the Parents TV Council. Now THAT'S just scary. I haven't seen anything yet.

Looked at their guide, they're not even all that good at fitting things into their three narrow categories. Although when further examined, it's obviously a thinly-veiled ethics check, as NCIS, Glee, and Once Upon a Time are all considered less child-appropriate than Grimm.

Nothing on the guide for network primetime TV is labled "child appropriate", although most of the programming which has a possibility of falling into the category (Resurrection for example) are "unrated". In fact, just about the only "safe" shows are 7th Heaven and some gameshows and cartoons, and probably more related to nostalgia than anything, (I'm suppposing the rating is on the "new new" ie 2003 version)The Twilight Zone.


...People actually use this?

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hewhodestroysall Wrote:Honestly I never figured the point of the esrb.
Point is you can't censor reality.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) Wrote:In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are "persons" under our Constitution."
Rebelnerd Wrote:Human rights are being violated by US law enforcement. This is what the media is here for, you're supposed to be the watchdogs! You're supposed to stand up for the downtrodden, not belittle them as though all their problems amount to nothing more than some angry glares toward parents and sabotaging their computers.
I've seen so much shit done to youth and for some reason, this has made me angrier than I've felt in years. Abuse and oppression happens all over the world. It's a terrible reality of modern society, but we've all accepted that it happens and we're doing what we can to fight it and build a better world.
But this...this mindless, condescending disrespect toward people who have no legal voice with which to defend themselves, this reduction of parents' betrayal into a cheap crack about kids being computer-savvy...it's like watching a surgeon joke about life insurance while his patient bleeds to death on the operating table. The media's job is to protect society from oppression and they've drawn a clear line between the people worth protecting and the people that don't matter. How can they people sleep at night?

You're a journalist. DO. YOUR. FUCKING. JOB.

(04-28-2010 08:17 AM)Liquid Wrote:  Laws never seem to help people fight School. Laws only matter if the students are braking them...

(12-03-2011 07:40 AM)SoulRiser Wrote:  Solution to all these problems: don't fuck people you can't negotiate with in a civilized manner.
(02-09-2012 02:14 PM)Absentinsomniac Wrote:  The only solution is democratic self-paced education where students can excel in what they are good at and work on what their not if necessary, AT THEIR OWN DAMN PACE IN THEIR OWN DAMN WAY.



Don't Board the Censor Ship
03-28-2014 04:04 AM
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