hiding spot

[+L0ne.R]

One of your recent hides has an interesting cache write-up .....I'm surprised your parents approved it. Publicly disclosing that you are a 12 year old boy doesn't seem like a safe thing to do, You also post photos of yourself. You used your cache page as a soapbox to chastise the forums, I'm a little surprised the reviewer let that pass but it's not an agenda so maybe that's OK. And admitting that you are legally a child that shouldn't legally be using the site, it surprises me that the reviewer published the cache(s). I'm guessing since you say in your write-up that your parents' are aware that you geocache but do not enjoy geocaching and are not particularly supportive, this somehow qualifies as using the site with parental consent.

 

There should be a more formal process. A checkbox when submitting that says 'I am 18 years of age or older'. There should be a mandatory parent/guardian consent form when a user is determined to be a underage or a minor signing up or logging into the service. In the consent form, a parent or guardian would be required to enter their full name and email address and to check boxes that declare that they are a parent or guardian of the minor, accept this Agreement and privacy policy of the service and take responsibility for the use of the service by the minor including responsibility of the cache hide. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

Edited November 16, 2014 by L0ne.R

[Keystone]

That cache listing was revised significantly after it was published. The boy is using it like a blog - he's put dates at the beginning of some of the additions to his long description. So, don't be surprised that it was published because the page was different then.

[Pup Patrol]

That cache listing was revised significantly after it was published. The boy is using it like a blog - he's put dates at the beginning of some of the additions to his long description. So, don't be surprised that it was published because the page was different then.

 

Some times, I think the local reviewer should start a dialogue with the cacher.

 

This cache description is giving away too much information, and the parents should be made aware of what their kid is telling anyone and everyone out there.

 

It's a sneaky thing to significantly revise the cache description after publication. This is one of those things that a reviewer should discuss with the cacher. Perhaps a young child just does not realize that it's not a nice thing to do.

 

 

B.

[Pup Patrol]

I also don't think this child is old enough to understand what true "hate" comments are.

 

It definitely proves to me why children should not be allowed to post on forums without DIRECT parental supervision.

 

 

B.

[+Manville Possum]

I also don't think this child is old enough to understand what true "hate" comments are.

 

It definitely proves to me why children should not be allowed to post on forums without DIRECT parental supervision.

 

 

B.

After reading his cache page that he is using for a blog site and seeing where adults are offering to let him tag along with them..., if this were my child I would "make" a brick. This kid needs a baby sitter, not a geocaching app.

[+MountainWoods]

I gave up trying to read the description because it looks like it was written by someone who is illiterate. Yes, I know he is only 12. But we had learned how to spell, punctuate, and capitalize by 12 years old; as well as some basic writing techniques, and what to avoid, such as run-on sentences. I hope this is not a typical example of what is being taught at the public schools these days! (Although after reading Facebook posts, I fear that it is.)

[+TriciaG]

I can't read it. It's PMO.

 

EDIT: A kindly soul sent me the cache description.

Edited November 16, 2014 by TriciaG

[Mr.Yuck]

I gave up trying to read the description because it looks like it was written by someone who is illiterate. Yes, I know he is only 12. But we had learned how to spell, punctuate, and capitalize by 12 years old; as well as some basic writing techniques, and what to avoid, such as run-on sentences. I hope this is not a typical example of what is being taught at the public schools these days! (Although after reading Facebook posts, I fear that it is.)

 

OMG, as the kids would say. That is absolutely freaking brutal. Perhaps Principal Rooney, who published the cache, should retract it.

 

I don't know man. Is this the one where Geocaching.com should instruct it's reviewers to start enforcing the "you must be 18 years old to use this website thing"? Yeah, yeah, I know you're busy, and this cache page was edited after the fact and everything, but I still can't believe what I just read on that cache page (as much of it as I could follow as a native English speaker).

 

By the way, I first encountered unsupervised children using this website way back in 2005, when a gang of then middle schoolers got a hold of a GPS unit or two. Lots of stuff only kids could come up with going on even back then, including a cache hidden in a seasonal pile of grass clippings on the edge of a park during summer, a film canister tossed into the landscaping of a Quizno's in full view of employees and patrons, and an LPC in the parking lot of a large private business with 1,000 employees.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Tough situation. Yes. I suspect that schools still teach kids how to write, use punctuation marks and capital letters. But this is the modern Internet world?

Underaged kids using the site? Yeah. That happens.

We had a cacher nearby (Yeah. Seemed to have been a kid.) Probably the most depressing user name I've ever seen. Lived with his mother a few thousand miles away. Visited his father (nearby), who lived with the grandmother, for the summer. Hid a few caches. Found a few. Most of the hidden ones have been archived. (He has not been back since, and it's been a few years.) One of the two remaining is listed as: stinky and moldy. The other has only been kept around by throw downs. An unusual hide that I have not attempted. I am not into crawling through drainpipes. Sadly, his best hide was archived because his grandmother did not want geocachers wandering about her property.

All I can say is: I hope the kid got the help he needed!

[+Ambrosia]

<snip>

 

By the way, I first encountered unsupervised children using this website way back in 2005, when a gang of then middle schoolers got a hold of a GPS unit or two. Lots of stuff only kids could come up with going on even back then, including a cache hidden in a seasonal pile of grass clippings on the edge of a park during summer, a film canister tossed into the landscaping of a Quizno's in full view of employees and patrons, and an LPC in the parking lot of a large private business with 1,000 employees.

 

Oh, my, that brings back memories. We had a newbie place a cache behind a fast food place, where they tossed loads of grass clippings and lots of other unmentionable stuff. The container was just going to be to covered. Not a fun find.