Should my 12 year old son get his own account?

[+tweetiepy]

My 12 year old son and I cache together (in the summer we may be able to wrangle my husband to come with us if we go on nature walks as he doesn't want to be seen looking for something.) Our daughter might come if her boyfriend decides he's interested in the cause or if he just wants brownie points

 

The user name is mine - my son would like to go by Sylvester (so we can be a team & match) but he has no account. Should I change my name to include his. What happens when he gets older and wants to log caches on his own, should he register a username now. I asked him and he said he was okay with going under my name but still wants to go by "Sylvester" even if it's not official.

 

Should I sign him up for an account? - he won't get a premium membership so I doubt he'll be logging in anytime soon

[+MartyBartfast]

 

Should I sign him up for an account? - he won't get a premium membership so I doubt he'll be logging in anytime soon

 

I would say yes, sign him up now, and he can start tracking & logging all his own finds. Just get him a free basic account and even if you find a Premium member only cache he will still be able to log it (there are several accepted ways to do that).

[+Walts Hunting]

Get his own. Several times here their have been questions about how to split up an account at a later time. While GSAK offers a macro that helps it can be a pain. Later when he wants to go off on his own he will appreciate the foresight.

[+Straight-Cache-Homey]

Yup, do it now to avoid hundreds of backdated logs in the future.

[+Lieblweb]

It's a good time for him to learn some 'responsibility' and take charge of his own account. Allow him to do everything himself (with some teaching from Dad to show him the ropes). And someday....he can buy his own Premium Membership or get one as a gift. Ultimately....he'll discover if this hobby (and the responsibility within) is what he wants to continue with.

 

Good Luck!

[+Panther&Pine]

Sure, you should have oversight and help out making sure it all goes well. I believe 13 is the age Groundspeak looks for.

[+K13]

I allowed my son to start his account last year. He was 14 at the time. My rule for him is to NEVER post in the forums. I would advise this for any parent. Allow the child an account, but NO FORUM USE. (It can get uncomfortable for youngsters sometimes)

[Andronicus]

All of my kids have an account, just so that they can each own a travel bug that I use to track their finds. I keep all their bugs in my inventory, and have the bugs "Visit" each cache that they find with me. That seems to work well.

[+Rustynails]

If he wants to use " Sylvester" and it's taken, just use a period like this (Sylvester.) Or any other point or number.

Edited January 17, 2013 by rustynails.

[+niraD]

But Thylvethter is currently available...

[+NeverSummer]

I know there is a guideline for the forums about supervision of minor children under the age of 18, but I can't remember if there is currently one for the geocaching.com site.

 

At any rate, supervision is still key.

 

From what you have said in other threads in the forums, you have a child who is very interested in the game of geocaching. First, that is great! Second, this should engage you as a parent. There are aspects of the game that you have yet to learn, and the same goes for your kid. As you become more aware of the guidelines, the "vernacular" of geocaching, the common placements, and more, your child is going to be learning too. This means that you will need to be on top of your game so that you can provide clear, honest boundaries to their game play, as well as clear and deliberate guidance if it ever comes to placement of caches or going out on their bike to find one on their own.

 

Set rules of your own that fit under the guidelines of geocaching.com's version of the game. Actively supervise their interactions with the site, and the aspects of hunting, finding, signing a logbook, trading up or equal with swag, and logging the finds online.

 

We in the forums have many examples of unsupervised minors being both well behaved and poorly behaved. The same goes for the game of geocaching--I've seen and met some very "good" young cachers, and witnessed some that are far from.

 

Glad to see your kiddo is excited about the game. Just remember that, at this point in your geocaching career, you are both learning the game together. Keep coming back for questions, and certainly spend a lot of time doing your homework: The Knowledge Books.

 

Edit:

I just re-read your post to make sure I had my own story straight here.

 

It would be a great idea to start an account for him. You or he can log his finds as you go, instead of having to come back and remember all of the finds to log at a later date. User names can be changed later, so if it is just a matter of tracking, you can create a username close to what he wants now, but might want to change later. (e.g. I loved "Taz", the Looney Toons Tasmanian devil when I was his age. Now, not such a rabid fan...)

 

Remembering all of the cool places geocaching has taken both of you, and the cool containers or hides you have found is what having an account is all about. You'll both be very happy to have those already recorded now if he continues to play and strikes out on his own.

Edited January 17, 2013 by NeverSummer

[+whh0]

Yep, my 12 year old has her own account and the one condition was she was not allowed to put on the log TFTC and nothing else!!!

[+ThomasFamilyZA]

My son is 12 and has had his own account since he was 10. We backlogged the caches he found whilst he was part of our family account, and he logs all his own caches now.

[+Legochugglers]

Well, my account was originally set up for my kids and Im afraid I sort of took over. I think seperate accounts at the outset is a great idea as it would have meant I would have been known as something a lot more manly than Legochugglers. I know I could change it but I'm just not sure it would feel right now.

[+BaseOverApex]

My 12 y/o has had his own account since he was 10. For the first few months we cached, all the logging was done under my acc. Going through logging his finds later when he had his own account was a right pain. I would get it started now. One tip is that his account can look at your finds, so you just go down that list and click "visit log". As well as the link to the cache listing, then, that also gives you the date you visited.

[+Manville Possum]

I allowed my son to start his account last year. He was 14 at the time. My rule for him is to NEVER post in the forums. I would advise this for any parent. Allow the child an account, but NO FORUM USE. (It can get uncomfortable for youngsters sometimes)

I have to agree with you.

[+Bushwalker53]

I'm 13 and I love geocaching after accidentally coming across a geocache on a walk, I left it there! I have been caching for about a year and am 10 away from reaching 200 finds! I was 12 when I started and spent quite a few months geocaching with my own account until I turned 13. My geodad drives me around everywhere from cache to cache, (Sometimes he is complaining) But he still takes me there! We've been to events too and everyone is proud of me being young and having a passion for the outdoors and for geocaching! It was fine for me in Australia but I don't know how other geocaching communities might take it. But I was certainly welcome. Hope this helps,

Bushwalker53.

[+dakboy]

My 6 year old has is own account and has for about 2 years now.

 

He just doesn't know it yet. I log everything there for him. When he's old enough, I'll give him the reins, but supervise.

[+redants]

My dad and I go caching separately, and it does sometimes make logging harder, but it paid off on the long run- good idea.

[+popokiiti]

Geocaching acquaintances had accounts for their children when they were small...and logged for them, as they weren't even walking at the time they were signed up!

[+tweetiepy]

But Thylvethter is currently available...

 

WOW great minds think alike - Sylvester was taken and I suggested Thylvethter - he really liked it - he wasn't thure how to thpell it but I gave him a potht-it (hehe)

 

I told him he couldn't post in the forums either just log his finds. I think it's okay if he puts in a comment on the online log - English is his second language but he's pretty good.

 

Should he log our previous finds, or could he start logging them from now on (we only have 9 so far) He didn't sign the logs when we went and I doubt we'll return to them (although we could if we needed to)

[+Panther&Pine]

 

Should he log our previous finds, or could he start logging them from now on (we only have 9 so far) He didn't sign the logs when we went and I doubt we'll return to them (although we could if we needed to)

No need to go back, but it may be a good idea to have him make a note in his log that he found it with you.

[+MartyBartfast]

But Thylvethter is currently available...

 

Should he log our previous finds, or could he start logging them from now on (we only have 9 so far) He didn't sign the logs when we went and I doubt we'll return to them (although we could if we needed to)

I would say yes, he can log the finds with the date he found the cache with you, just add a comment something like "I found this with my mum Tweetiepy and logging this myself now I have my own account" This is what I did when my wife got her own account and I went back and logged over 100 previous finds for her.

[+OZ2CPU]

>I'm 13 and I love geocaching after accidentally coming across a geocache on a walk, I left it there!

 

HAHA, this is soooo cool..

Dont you just love when a youngster pop up the the forum,

in perfect English, nice and friendly and polite :-)

to young lady bushwacker you are allready way ahead

of many of the oldies who use this forum. (you know what I mean),

be welcome to use the forum as much as you want,

just compleetly ignore any negative and foolish reply, and newer reply back to anyone in private,

and if anyone ever write to you in private, no matter what and who, always show it to your parents,

and NEWER EVER EVER meet up alone with anyone at all for a nice time geocaching !!!

only together with your parents !! and THEY handle the arrangements,

this go for ANY online service or forum or email or facebook or sms.

our oldes daughter is 14, she is online all the time and have alot of fun with it,

but we do monitor it a little bit, and she is perfectly ok with that.

[+Oxford Stone]

After he'd been to about 15 I retrospectively logged caches for Oxford Stone Junior who's 4 in May. He's now past 50 and has found 3 before us in a variety of settings and is very proud of his moniker. I put something in the log that he may be interested to read later. Will he still be into this when he's older? Who knows. Definitely worth setting up a basic membership though.

[Andronicus]

My 6 year old has is own account and has for about 2 years now.

 

He just doesn't know it yet. I log everything there for him. When he's old enough, I'll give him the reins, but supervise.

I tried that, but with three kids it was way too much work. That is why I do the travel bug tracking meathod. then when they are oldenough to care (if they ever care), they can go back and log all the finds that the travel bug has visited. If they never care enough to do the back logging, then I will be glad I didn't wast my time doing it. I see it as a self regulating system.

[+Panther&Pine]

This is one of the reasons I wish we could set up parent-child relationships for accounts. (Parent-Child relationship in the programming meaning)

If the parent account logged the cache then the child account should do it as well.

It could make those huge team trips easier to log.

Just the log from the parent account shows up with a list of all the child accounts and the regular log entry.

Ah, an ideal world in which I control the dev team at Groundspeak.

[+farrtom]

My son has been wanting his own account for awhile but we set our own family rules that the kids had to be 12 to sign up for their own accounts on Geocaching.com and other web sites.

[+Bear and Ragged]

But Thylvethter is currently available...

 

Should he log our previous finds, or could he start logging them from now on (we only have 9 so far) He didn't sign the logs when we went and I doubt we'll return to them (although we could if we needed to)

I would say yes, he can log the finds with the date he found the cache with you, just add a comment something like "I found this with my mum Tweetiepy and logging this myself now I have my own account" This is what I did when my wife got her own account and I went back and logged over 100 previous finds for her.

 

Yes, as said, edit the date to the date you found the cache.

[FaithCacher22]

I have 4 kids, but only the older 2 really go with me (they are 4), and I set them up each an account, and log for them. I will do so for the little 2, when they are able to start knowing what geocaching is. My older 2, twins, LOVE geocaching!

[+frinklabs]

This is one of the reasons I wish we could set up parent-child relationships for accounts. (Parent-Child relationship in the programming meaning)

If the parent account logged the cache then the child account should do it as well.

It could make those huge team trips easier to log.

Just the log from the parent account shows up with a list of all the child accounts and the regular log entry.

Ah, an ideal world in which I control the dev team at Groundspeak.

 

You might be interested in this Feature suggestion

[+Panther&Pine]

This is one of the reasons I wish we could set up parent-child relationships for accounts. (Parent-Child relationship in the programming meaning)

If the parent account logged the cache then the child account should do it as well.

It could make those huge team trips easier to log.

Just the log from the parent account shows up with a list of all the child accounts and the regular log entry.

Ah, an ideal world in which I control the dev team at Groundspeak.

 

You might be interested in this Feature suggestion

Simular, but I don't know much about app development.

[AZcachemeister]

I would say that if a child can't handle their own Geocaching account by age twelve, the parent(s) have not done a proper job of raising them.

[+wmpastor]

I would say that if a child can't handle their own Geocaching account by age twelve, the parent(s) have not done a proper job of raising them.

[+wmpastor]

Not every kid is adept with computers, even though most are.....

[+tweetiepy]

I signed him up under Thylvethter - he logged in a few finds today - told him no spoilers, and he did okay, wrote a little paragraph saying how much he enjoyed it.

 

He did good!

[+BlueDeuce]

I signed him up under Thylvethter - he logged in a few finds today - told him no spoilers, and he did okay, wrote a little paragraph saying how much he enjoyed it.

 

He did good!

 

Good for you both. All I can say now is Happy Caching.

[+Beach_hut]

I allowed my son to start his account last year. He was 14 at the time. My rule for him is to NEVER post in the forums. I would advise this for any parent. Allow the child an account, but NO FORUM USE. (It can get uncomfortable for youngsters sometimes)

 

Add to that no messaging other users unless you know them personally. As well as the forum guidelines, GC.com's terms of use forbid anyone under 18 using the site unsupervised. I'm sure that's not an issue in this case but it bears repeating.

[+slukster]

I set up my son's own account last year when he turned 5 but I do all of the logging for him (obviously ). I know one day he will be logging his own so I figured it was best to start keeping track of them now instead of having to go back through years of my logs to figure which caches he was with me for. Since I write very descriptive logs, including listing all who accompanied me, it was easy to go back and find the caches that he was with me for so I could log them for him. I write all of his logs from a kids perspective and usually relate his log to my log as if we were telling a story together. Here is "his" log for his first cache:

 

This was my first geocache. My dad says I was really excited but I was only 2 so I don't remember it but I do love geocaching now. I see my dad took a picture of me with my bunny ears I made at school for Easter. How embarrassing.

 

And here was my log:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=a1ae5581-18e3-40d4-b796-8c285834da13

 

Now my 3 yr old daughter doesn't have an account yet but has found a bunch with us so it might be time soon to sign her up!

Edited January 21, 2013 by slukster

[+edscott]

Not every kid is adept with computers, even though most are.....

 

Didn't you mean... Not every adult is adept with computers, but most every kid is.

[+Web-ling]

When we started geocaching in 2001, I signed both of my kids up for accounts. They were 3 and 5 years old at the time, so I logged their finds - although they often sat down with me and told me what to write.

 

Now that they're 14 and 16, they usually log their own finds.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Web-ling

[+DarkZen]

1358437257[/url]' post='5193084']

Yup, do it now to avoid hundreds of backdated logs in the future.

 

This.

[+Ambient_Skater]

(It can get uncomfortable for youngsters sometimes)

I think it gets uncomfortable for everyone else sometimes too. Although the rest of time it's not too bad here, so by disallowing your son to use the forums just to avoid the occasional discomfort he is missing out on a lot of good stuff too.