Forum Guidelines - Read this before you post

[laura bowman]

The purpose of these forums is for members to help each other learn and grow.

With that in mind, here are the current forum guidelines:

Exercise good judgment, reasonableness, and mutual respect - This is a community for radical unschoolers and those interested in the radical unschooling lifestyle who share an interest in
personal growth, so please treat it as such. Personal attacks and
name-calling as well as profane, pornographic, racist, sexist, or
otherwise demeaning or offensive messages will not be tolerated.
Recognize that there's a human being behind every post, and behave
accordingly.

Post responsibly - These forums are very popular and very public. Be aware that what you post here will become
part of the permanent archives and will therefore be available online
for an indefinable period of time. Other web sites, including search
engines, may link to what you wrote, making it easy for others to find.
Moderators will NOT honor requests to delete, edit, or otherwise alter
your posts or username. If it is important to you to keep certain
details of your life private, do not share those details here.

Do not spam - These forums are intended to be kept spam-free. Posting off-topic
advertisements is completely unacceptable and will likely lead to your
account being banned. In general you can expect the moderators to be
more lenient with long-term members who have a history of solid
contribution and more heavy-handed with new members who are posting for
the first time. If one of your very first posts is a solicitation, it
will almost certainly be deleted.

Do not troll - "Trolling," i.e. posting inflammatory, off-topic, highly immature, or
insulting messages to provoke a reaction from others, is completely
unacceptable and will result in your account being promptly banned.
However, friendly debate, socializing, and good humor are perfectly
welcome here. What crosses the line is when someone behaves in a manner that degrades the quality of the forums for other members. These forums are a resource for your personal growth, not a juvenile stomping ground.

Do not whine (i.e. no pity parties) - It's okay to share your problems and challenges and request advice and
help from others here. It is NOT okay to incessantly whine, complain,
unload negativity, or seek commiseration. Members who exhibit a pattern
of negative "poor me" posts with minimal receptiveness to change will
be banned. These forums are for people who assume full responsibility
for their lives, not for those who are looking to be objects of pity or
to assign blame.

Do not post copyrighted or illegal material - Do NOT post copyrighted content here such as articles or images
without the express permission of the copyright holder. If you wish to
reference a copyrighted item found elsewhere online, simply link to it.
If you acquire permission to repost a copyrighted piece here, add the
phrase "posted with permission of the copyright holder" to your post.
If you don't know whether or not something is copyrighted, assume it
is. Do not post messages that invite or encourage visitors to engage in
illegal activities such as hacking or piracy.

Use reasonable avatars - If you associate an avatar (image or picture) with your account,
please make a reasonable and mature choice. You don't have to use a
real photo of yourself, but it's highly recommended that you do because
it makes it easier for other members to connect with you. The following
types of avatars are unacceptable: visually obnoxious or pornographic
avatars; or avatars that include advertising, URLs, or marketing info.
Avatars that ignore this rule will be removed, and continued abuse is
cause for banning.

Use meaningful thread titles - Meaningful, descriptive titles greatly improve forum usability.
Ambiguous, cutesy, or clever titles diminish forum usability. Most
members only have time to selectively read a small percentage of posts,
so please respect their time. If you want to be clever or cute, feel
free to do so in your post content, but keep your titles as clear and
direct as possible.

Stay on topic - When starting a new thread, use your best judgment to select the appropriate forum. If a
thread drifts far from its original topic, please start a new thread
for the secondary topic in the appropriate forum. Follow the rule of
one thread, one topic.

Avoid thread-hijacking - Thread-hijacking is when a member attempts to derail a pre-existing
discussion and take it away from its original topic. This behavior can
be frustrating to members who want the discussion to proceed on course.
If you wish to take a topic in a new direction that would otherwise
derail the original topic, simply start a new thread for your own
topic. Do not engage in thread-hijacking, as it reduces the quality of
the forums for others.

Avoid cross-posting - Don't cross-post the same message to multiple forums or to multiple websites.
This will be treated by the moderators as spamming. Use your best
judgment to select the single most appropriate forum for your post.

Adequately describe linked content - When posting links to files or web sites, include a clear description
of the linked content. This allows members to more easily decide
whether a link will be of interest to them.

Quote efficiently - When quoting a lengthy post or posts in your response, quote only the
passage(s) relevant to your response. This makes it easier for others
to understand the context for your message.

Exercise cultural and religious sensitivity - A wide variety of belief systems are represented here. Feel free to
challenge any belief system, but honor others' right to choose their
own beliefs. It isn't necessary to be "politically correct," but it is
necessary to show basic respect.

Address mature topics intelligently - Controversial and/or adult topics such as drug abuse, domestic
violence, and sexuality can be discussed if done in a mature,
respectful manner. However, if you begin a topic you feel might be
offensive to more sensitive readers, please label it appropriately by
adding a word such as "(Mature)," "(Adult)," or "(Explicit)" to the end
of your post title, so members wishing to avoid such content can more
easily do so.

Notify moderators of problems promptly - These forums will be attentively moderated in order to maintain a high
level of quality and usability for members who are committed to
personal growth. If you feel another member is violating these
guidelines in a manner that degrades forum quality, please notify the forum moderator, Meredith. **Additional moderators will be announced soon**

Your adherence to these rules is greatly appreciated. Help keep the quality of these forums high for everyone.

these guidelines were borrowed from this forum:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/emotional-mastery/announcement-f...

[Meredith]

I'm "bumping" this up to the top since we seem to be having a big influx of new members and several people have gotten their feelings hurt. Please take time to read the various discussions before posting so you get a good sense of the "tone" of the discussion forum, in particular.

 

Please also note that individual groups and blogs aren't the same as discussions. If you don't want your words discussed with quite the same level of vigor, its better to put your comments in a blog post. Also, if you're looking for general hugs-and-kisses support (as opposed to stretching-and-growing support), there's an unschooling support group specifically for that purpose. Check it out! and while you're there, check out the other Groups, to connect with people who share interests besides unschooling.

[Meredith]

Oh, and in case anyone's wondering "who Are the moderators?" I'm one, as is Joyce Fetterol and the network owner is Laura Bowman. You may have to "friend" us to send us messages.

 

[Meredith]

I want to take a moment to clarify something about "thread hijacking". Sometimes threads take tangents, and that's okay if they stay more-or-less on topic, at least with regards to the larger topic of unschooling. Discussing/complaining about someone else's posting style, though is absolutely a kind of thread hijacking... and a kind of whining besides.

 

The style of discussion in the general Forum here is a bit different than many others. It works on the basis of examining words and ideas in light of the philosophy of unschooling. It can be very startling at first!  If you're not comfortable with that particular style of discussion, you may prefer to post either in a blog or in the Groups section. Those are also great places to connect socially - which the discussion forum isn't, for the most part. There are groups for specific interests, "loving support", even a group for unschooling families where a child has chosen to go to school - and it's really easy to create a group of your own. So if you have a specific interest which is a bit of a tangent from radical unschooling, check out the Groups! You may find one you like already exists or you can create a space to connect on your favorite topic with other unschoolers - which can be a wonderful luxury.