I just had a 12 year old sign up for one of my forums. To my knowledge this is the first person under 13 who's signed up since I took over that board, and I'm wondering what/how much I should do to make sure she remains safe. (Not that I think any of the members are child molesters, but these days you can't be too careful, both from a safety and a legal standpoint.)

Of course I'm having her send in the COPPA permission thing, and I'm thinking of creating a usergroup for the under-13 crowd with no email permissions, possibly restrict PMs to a buddylist. Anything else I should think about?

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disabledNYC | The Chic Petite | Ice Cream Forum

Personally, dealing with kids is a risk I'm not willing to take, so I deny registrations to people 13 or younger.

Which board is this on? I'd hide any forums that might possibly contain adult content, restrict her PM's, make sure she knows to keep her personal information safe and to herself, make sure you get the COPPA paper... Honestly, it sounds like you've got a good handle on the situation.

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I allow kids to sign up on my site, but only on a special form and one parent must be an active member in good standing before I add them. Once I add them (in a special usergroup) they only have access to certain sections of the site. This way they don't see things that are inappropriate. They also have a different colored username so I can keep track of them

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Make sure to keep the COPPA papers (a hard copy).

I keep it safe and easy and just deny registration to any members under 13.

If you're going to allow members under 13 to register, then you must be sure that you get the proper documentation to meet COPPA.

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What exactly is the PROPER documentation for COPPA. I'm sure some forum software comes with COPPA forms....

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I think that's pretty much it, keep a hard copy of the COPPA form. I thought COPPA was repealed or something? There's nothing stopping people from saying they were born in 1982 or something (I've done it , on my birthday I was like 'woah now I don't have to lie')

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I avoid the risk to, 13 and under is denied.

They can lie all they want about their age, it doesn't matter. Your ass is always covered, because it's them who entered a false age.

Besides, they should still be able to run around and play outside at that age anyways

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So I am actually confused now.. sorry to hijack this thread..

I don't allow children to register on their own at my site, I still have it so they have to be 18 and over. If the parents on my site want their kids to be in our KidZone section, they have to fill out a special form and I personally add them to the appropriate usergroup and adjust their permissions accordingly.

With that said, do I still need to worry about COPPA and all the paperwork?

The kids and teens on my site have access to about 6 regular boards(like a celebration,announcement and pet board, etc) and then depending on their age will have access to either the kidzone or teenzone which have special boards for their age group.

I just want to make sure I am doing things the right way...

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You said that parents are members of your forums? It should be okay then. Regular members aren't allowed inside the kid/teenzone are they? If they aren't - can the parents see?

I think it'd be good to cover your a** just to get it in writing, especially under 13.

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