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Should there be a minimum age requirement to post a cache


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Unless I am misinterpreting things, GS is teetering on the edge of being in violation of the Federal Trade Commission's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Geocaching.com does involve commerce.

It does collect information that can be used for identification.

It does provide a means of communication.

I understand that children can easily click claiming that they are over 13, but if you make it clear that they will not get penalized for it (limitations on features) then most would be honest.

Then a small unobtrusive symbol could be placed on their profiles, cache pages and forum posts.

This would give the people that don't understand that stupid, lazy, unimaginative, incompetent, etc, etc doesn't have an age, the ability to ignorantly ignore them.

Adults that don't care for their caches are a bigger problem than kids.

And at least the kids have a legit excuse just by being one.

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Or do most feel it's OK for a minor to register on this site and post a cache autonomously?

 

Yes, I think most high-school age (14 to 18) would be fully capable of maintaining a cache on their own. I'm sure there are plenty of junior-high/pre-teens that could manage as well.

 

Younger, maybe they need a parent's assistance and guidance, but I don't see any need for a hard cut-off age.

 

Bad caches get archived soon enough and neither age nor number of finds guarantees a good, well maintained cache.

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if you are going to place an 18+ age limiit..

 

i would like the rule refined...

 

Rule 13b: Those wishing to hide a cache must be older than 18, but no older than 50.

 

both ends of the age spectrum have ruined the prestige and dignity of this sport.

 

 

how about GC.com just make a new attribute ... something that denotes the age of the hider so that you can skim through those and avoid those in the age range you wish to avoid. :)

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So what I'm hearing from some of you is, it's OK for a kid (under the age of majority) to have a cache but a parent/guardian is actually the one supervising and in control. The parent sets up the email account and reads the emails/logs that come in, the parent uses the posting as a teaching experience for the child, and one of those responsibilities being cache maintenance. The parent is actually the one in charge and ultimately responsible.
For a very young cacher (3-7ish), yes. As a cacher becomes a bit older (7ish-10ish) they can read logs and make decisions themselves, they can do more of the maintenace but they will most likely need to be accompanied by a parent of guardian. Once the cacher reaches the age of adolescence/pre-adolescence (11ish+) they can probably go out and maintain the cache by themselves, traveling to it on foot, bicycle, skateboard, rollerblades, Segway Human Personal Transporter, or public transportation.

 

Age is never a good way to determine someone's capability to perform any task.

Edited by BCProspectors
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and narcissas...BTW, very appropriate name...

 

Huh? What does posting facetious comments have to do with daffodils?

I believe drfred was referring to narcissists, who are essentially huge egomaniacs... They think only of themselves.

 

That still doesn't make any sense. I was making facetious comments about setting arbitrary restrictions on who can geocache. How does that have anything to do with a serious personality disorder? Even if he thought I was serious (which would be very, very sad), his comment makes no sense.

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if you are going to place an 18+ age limiit..

 

i would like the rule refined...

 

Rule 13b: Those wishing to hide a cache must be older than 18, but no older than 50.

 

both ends of the age spectrum have ruined the prestige and dignity of this sport.

 

 

how about GC.com just make a new attribute ... something that denotes the age of the hider so that you can skim through those and avoid those in the age range you wish to avoid. :)

 

I don't see data to back that up. For either age group.

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drfred shouldn't be allowed to post until he reads all the posts and then waits and reads them again. :)

 

Alright, I confess. My bad. I didn't do a search for Apartheid and missed the reference. I apologize for making a point of it. Still...

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I say no! I placed my first letter box YEARS ago... I was 14 at the time. I hid it in the nearby park about two to three miles away and WALKED to repair it. Any age younger then 12 and obviously the parent is playing a bigger role then the child in hiding it. I don't see why not, if the parent is a huge geocacher and there child wants to hide one..

 

Funny thing, letterboxing is what got my into geocaching! I've been letterboxing for over a decade... For the first time I found one at it said on the lid, "not a geocache do not take anything or leave anything." I looked up what a geocache is and was astonished when I noticed how many more there were...

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No. My little girl was three when she hid her first one. She picked the site. And asks to check on it all the time. She has maintained it. All she has to do is ask to go and we do. BTW, it's a cache that you have to get to by boat so maybe she just wants to hit the water. But when we get there she goes to the GZ and checks her cache.

 

Age doesn't matter. She is five now and tells me how dangerous she thinks some caches are due to there proximity to the road or a parking area. She has more common sense than a lot of people I know, cachers or not.

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... setting arbitrary restrictions on who can geocache.

 

I wasn't thinking so much along the lines of an arbitrary restriction based on age, as much as the legalities and how wise it is to have kids use this site without some kind of disclaimer or written guardian permission. Should a child be an autonomous cache owner?

 

In part, it's about what we can expect in terms of responsibility of the child and of the gc site, legalities and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. If the child/minor has their own account does a parent legally have to provide written consent.

 

So far, opinions appear to focus on the age of the child, in terms of whether parental supervision is necessary. In the eyes of the law, as far as I can surmise, a child is defined as a minor under the age of 18.

 

Not a big deal really, just got to thinking and wondering why children/minors under 18 years of age (age of consent) have no restrictions on the gc site.

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and narcissas...BTW, very appropriate name...

 

Huh? What does posting facetious comments have to do with daffodils?

I believe drfred was referring to narcissists, who are essentially huge egomaniacs... They think only of themselves.

 

That still doesn't make any sense. I was making facetious comments about setting arbitrary restrictions on who can geocache. How does that have anything to do with a serious personality disorder? Even if he thought I was serious (which would be very, very sad), his comment makes no sense.

I was only saying that this is a controversial enough thread that he was more likely to be calling names than saying you're like a daffodil... Honestly narcissism was the first thing I thought of when I saw your name, and so for the first few of your posts I saw my subconscious was more or less trying to find egotism in what you said, even though that was unfair. I shall now assume you named your name after daffodils or something, though maybe you should put that in your signature or title so that people don't see the worst in you because of your name.

 

... setting arbitrary restrictions on who can geocache.

 

I wasn't thinking so much along the lines of an arbitrary restriction based on age, as much as the legalities and how wise it is to have kids use this site without some kind of disclaimer or written guardian permission. Should a child be an autonomous cache owner?

 

autonomous... does that mean that as a child you are actually a robot that thinks for itself? :)

 

In part, it's about what we can expect in terms of responsibility of the child and of the gc site, legalities and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. If the child/minor has their own account does a parent legally have to provide written consent.

 

OK, so I'm fine with a child needing parental consent, but:

1. some people have already gone to university at 16, so just because they're smart, they can't have an account without E-mailing their parents a waiver for them to sign?

2. MOST people are mature enough as teens to be able to create an account for geocaching without needing their parent's consent.

3. still one of the same problems, is it that hard to send the validation to your spare e-mail account and sign off there?

4. you're expecting GS to block certain members that could possibly become *cough* paying members *cough*?

So far, opinions appear to focus on the age of the child, in terms of whether parental supervision is necessary. In the eyes of the law, as far as I can surmise, a child is defined as a minor under the age of 18.

 

Not a big deal really, just got to thinking and wondering why children/minors under 18 years of age (age of consent) have no restrictions on the gc site.

 

because this is a FAMILY ORIENTED game

 

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...just got to thinking and wondering why children/minors under 18 years of age (age of consent) have no restrictions on the gc site.

So what are we actually discussing here? You started this topic suggesting a minimum age limit for cache hiders because minors (like myself) are incapable of maintaining a cache and now you are saying they should not have an account at all because of the COPPA.

Edited by BCProspectors
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Most children cache because their parents do. (I'm not referring to teenagers with their own technology)

A lot of families treat caching as an outing with emphasis on the kids, so they seek family-friendly finds, swaps, etc. Some families even use "kids" in their moniker, eg Simpson_Kids.

Any cache place by these kids will be backed up by their parents.

 

Good on 'em, I say.

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and narcissas...BTW, very appropriate name...

 

Huh? What does posting facetious comments have to do with daffodils?

I believe drfred was referring to narcissists, who are essentially huge egomaniacs... They think only of themselves.

 

That still doesn't make any sense. I was making facetious comments about setting arbitrary restrictions on who can geocache. How does that have anything to do with a serious personality disorder? Even if he thought I was serious (which would be very, very sad), his comment makes no sense.

 

Nothing, maybe, no, yes, and perhaps. :(

 

I really didn't think you were serious. I hope you didn't think I was serious either. ;)

 

To sum up my position regarding hides: Kids: sure, with supervision. Adults: the jury is still out, and it depends on the hider. Maybe we should have a "hider quality" vote in the system and kick out people who just don't make the grade! :)

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People who think 16 year olds can't maintain a cache must have been pretty sad children.

 

There has been so much mangling of legal terms in this thread (mosly by the OP) that it's just hilarious. 18 is not the age of consent, it is the age of majority in many countries. The age of consent is a loose concept, not even really a legal term at all.

 

COPPA has nothing to do with the age of 18. The cut off when it comes to COPPA is 13.

 

When it comes to COPPA, I assume GS knows what it's doing and I don't know why you care, because it doesn't affect your life.

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Oh sure, because it's so hard for a 12 year old to click the check box that says they're 18, do you have any idea how many people do that to play online games and such. Besides, how would they know that it was a young person unless they didn't check the box? Yes somebody could meet them as they go to check on their cache, but where's your proof that it wasn't the adult who hid the cache sending their kid off to check on it?

 

I am planning on placing a cache within walking distance of my house. I am under 18, but I have a lot of time just sitting around doing nothing (look at my number of posts vs. how long I've been in this game) and would probably be checking on it a couple times a week. This is really no different than wanting people to not be able to hide a cache until they've found 100. Just because you're 18 doesn't mean that you're suddenly responsible, and it doesn't mean you're never responsible earlier. Just because you've found 100 LPCs doesn't mean you're any better than the person who's found 20 caches, each with their own unique style.

 

This is really true. And some of the best caches I've found have been placed by children. ;)

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By the way. The Boy Scout Merit Badge in Geocaching requires a cache placement. I'm just sayin'. ;)

 

No, it does not.

 

It has become an optional item (http://scoutingmag.typepad.com/files/geocaching_mb.pdf):

 

Do ONE of the following:

8. c. Set up and hide a public geocache, following the guidelines in the Geocaching merit badge pamphlet. Before doing so, share with your counselor a six-month maintenance plan for the geocache where you are personally responsible for the first three months. After setting up the geocache, with your parent’s permission, follow the logs online for 30 days and share them with your counselor.

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The age of consent is a loose concept, not even really a legal term at all.

 

"Age of consent" is defined by the law in Canada, but it has nothing to do with geocaching or using the internet!

 

Fair enough, I shouldn't speak so broadly. It's different in every jurisdiction, of course. In Michigan it's much more complex with varying ages and all that.

Anyways, this is getting more and more off topic. ;)

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My daughter is 5. I've been considering getting her a GS ID so that she can log her finds. My thinking is that she'll be caching with other people when she gets older (friends, or other relatives) and she'll need an ID at that point, but what about all of those caches we found together up to that point? She'll need to go back to every single one and write her name in the log so she can come back here and log it and get a smiley for her account. If we get her the account now, she'll have a wonderful record of all of our finds and memories to take with her as she grows.

 

A couple of weeks ago, we went out to retrieve a cache that was in horrible condition, the CO hadn't responded to my e-mails and hadn't logged in since last year. The plan was to replace it with a new container and log book and save the old one for if/when the CO contacted me. Well it was so bad there was nothing to save. Anyway ~ my daughter took so much pride in picking out the container, the log book, the new swag...it was really interesting to watch. She felt tremendous responsibility for the cache and THAT is something I want to encourage and something I think we all need to encourage in children.

 

She has a library card with her own signature on it. Yes, if she lost a book, I'd ultimately be responsible, but I don't think that means she shouldn't have a library card or be stopped from checking out books until she's 18 ;)

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