OT: Question for the Mods **Answered** - Page 2

OffJumpsJack · 06-23-2009, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by knitgal

Not that this has anything to do with the situation, but I don't like the way that the teacher worded the message either. Like Jan said, it sounds intolerant which puts me off the whole situation.

Why does someone's sexuality have to play into this at all? Are gay men not allowed to be mentors to little boys? What is she afraid will happen? So strange to me.

I not sure but I seem to remember a teacher (an American citizen?) being imprisoned for violating Muslim law. There's another item to Google (or Bing).

My mistake, it was a British citizen, here is a clipping from Fox New (more : www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314401,00.html)

Quote:

British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons, an unimposing woman of 54, was found guilty of "inciting religious hatred" and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation by a court in Sudan’s Khartoum after allowing her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

The only point is there could be legal issues for the teacher if she doesn't screen the contacts.

Jan in CA · 06-23-2009, 06:08 PM

I am certainly glad that I'm not the only one who sees this as a problem for various reasons.

Jack, did you find Casey's username so you can forward that? If not I can find it and send it to you. I'm not putting here in a public forum.

AngieLanigan · 06-23-2009, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by OffJumpsJack

Being still new on rav, I';m having a hard time finding where or how to get this to the right people over there. Now that I know Casey and Jess are the founders I know how to proceed.. If they have a forward button or icon?...

Also from the TOS at Ravelry:

Quote:

If you become aware of any unauthorized use of your password or of your account, or of any other breach of security you agree to notify Ravelry immediately at abuse@ravelry.com.

I would think that shouls be a good address to contact Casey and share your concerns. I think he'll be glad to know they've got a large influx of minors accessing the site.

OffJumpsJack · 06-23-2009, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by Jan in CA

I am certainly glad that I'm not the only one who sees this as a problem for various reasons.

Jack, did you find Casey's username so you can forward that? If not I can find it and send it to you. I'm not putting here in a public forum.

Originally Posted by AngieLanigan

Also from the TOS at Ravelry:

I would think that shouls be a good address to contact Casey and share your concerns. I think he'll be glad to know they've got a large influx of minors accessing the site.

There is a "contact us" link at the bottom of each Rav page!

I used that form (after having sent a message through the Rav message box to Casey which sounds like it is equivalent to a KH private message.)

Now what I was really wanting to ask here was ...

Would young member be welcomed here?

Would KH be a better alternative for supervised students?

suzeeq · 06-23-2009, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Would young member be welcomed here?
Would KH be a better alternative for supervised students?

Ummm, not that young. We have had a few about 11 or 12 and that's about the youngest age I think we allow. If they're under 16 or 18, I think they have to provide a parent/guardian contact and we get permission from them.

knitasha · 06-24-2009, 12:39 AM

The American Library Association publishes a huge list of websites directly targeted to children.
http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?s...ws/default.cfm

KH is a nice site -- no bad language, little or no snark, good mods. That still doesn't make it appropriate for 8-year-olds, even if they do knit or crochet.

Mike · 06-24-2009, 05:12 AM

For those worried about intolerance, hang out on the "Men Who Knit" forum for a while and you would see it's justified.
Some of those guys can't seem to take a thread over 5 posts without turning the talk to gay sex. I suspect those types are the whole reason "Straight Men Also Crochet and Knit" was started. It wasn't about intolerance because many of the gay men from MWK also go there.
For some reason MWK seems to get more women asking about teaching young boys than SMACK does.
I imagine that's where this one went and she had a rude awakening and Jack was a welcome sight.

As far as gay men mentoring little boys, it's not really going to convince the boys that it's OK for them to be doing a "girl's hobby" when the men you provide them for roll models are gay.
That would have the opposite effect.

OffJumpsJack · 06-24-2009, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by knitasha

The American Library Association publishes a huge list of websites directly targeted to children.
http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?s...ws/default.cfm

KH is a nice site -- no bad language, little or no snark, good mods. That still doesn't make it appropriate for 8-year-olds, even if they do knit or crochet.

Thank you Knitasha, that is a good link to bookmark but their own search for keyword "crochet" or "knit" found nothing. I struck out.

Mike, Thanks for the 'scout' report on MWK. I think I'll stay at SMACK then.

I have to admit the only other forum in which I participate is a Harry Potter forum associated with the Harry Potter Lexicon. They are a child friendly operations.

There is very little out there for children learning to crochet or knit. I haven't found anything yet.

Mike · 06-25-2009, 05:04 AM

MWK isn't bad, it's more active than SMACK. I've just learned to lose interest in topics before they drag on too long.

Knitting_Guy · 07-01-2009, 03:06 AM

Strikes me as a bit....odd. The "STRAIGHT" thing seems a bit offensive if nothing else. Being a straight guy, I would take this as an insult suggesting that if you knit you are probably gay, but if I were a gay person I would take this especially insulting.

Why would this person bring up the gay/straight thing at all? What does it have to do with knitting?