Raise the age for new Mods to 17

[Cuteboi]

While I dont see a problem with any of the current mods who are under this age, i think that by raising the minimum age for application to moderate to 17, we will have less incidents of staff abuse and will lead to a much more mature and thoughtful staff. I think a lot of younger people might lack the emotional maturity it takes to run a community, and having a higher age cap will prevent this.

This comes in light of two staff members losing there position after harassing me and my friend while using there mod powers. This unfortunate incident has lead both me and my friend to leave the DarkRP server for the time being. Both mods in question were under 17 and lacked the emotional maturity required for moderation, and niether had been on the mod team for over a month. In the past there was another moderator I reported on who also got banned for 6 months for abuse who happened to be 16 as well.

I think I can speak on behalf of the community that many of us do not appreciate it when mods cant act mature, and that we should consider raising the bar for moderation in order to ensure the quality of staff on the server.

 

[E-THOT]

I agree that children shouldn't have power. I'd argue 18 should be the minimum age.

 

[autumn pepper 🍂]

I disagree with this and I am one of the oldest players in the community going on 28 next month. At the great top of the pyramid, Wilkers & Noob are under 18 themselves are incredible examples of smart, mature, and professional teenagers. I also have experienced most of the staff team that has been with Atomic, and while there are a few bad apples, most staff under 18 usually can uphold a professional standard and be mature enough to handle the responsibility.

I vet this sort of thing when I am reviewing staff applications and while I have a tendency to -1 an under 18 application, there are a few exceptions if the person displays what I was talking about previously. I wouldn't generalize the whole age group. I appreciate your perspective and thoughts, thanks for sharing.

 

[PyroLa8z]

Thought you quit bruh

 

[Cuteboi]

I disagree with this and I am one of the oldest players in the community going on 28 next month. At the great top of the pyramid, Wilkers & Noob are under 18 themselves are incredible examples of smart, mature, and professional teenagers. I also have experienced most of the staff team that has been with Atomic, and while there are a few bad apples, most staff under 18 usually can uphold a professional standard and be mature enough to handle the responsibility.

I vet this sort of thing when I am reviewing staff applications and while I have a tendency to -1 an under 18 application, there are a few exceptions if the person displays what I was talking about previously. I wouldn't generalize the whole age group. I appreciate your perspective and thoughts, thanks for sharing.

I would like to say there are plenty of good mods under 17, though i think there should be extra wearyness when selecting people under the age of 17. Wilkers and Noob are in fact incredibly professional for there age, to the point it actually awes me in a way. I think we need moderators like this regardless of age. However, I would also like for you to consider that their are many teenagers under 17 that DO NOT have the same level of mental maturity as Wilkers and Noob. Wilkers and Noob are not a baseline, they are an exception. I would much rather see someone denied on a staff application for being underage, than becoming staff, abusing there power, and earning a 6 month ban. I dont like filing admin reports as I understand the ban time is extremely long for abusing staff and I hate to lose members of the community.

Obviously, I think we can make exceptions to this rule, as we already make exception to the 15 age limit for staff, with to my knowledge at least one staff member is 14. I am not saying we cant have staff under 17. But I DO THINK that you need to get an exception for being under 17 in order to get your application accepted.

 

[Cuteboi]

Thought you quit bruh

Haha, I mean for the time being. I was very high when I said I was quiting and said I would be gone forever, but i will probably return eventually. I need a break however.

 

[PyroLa8z]

Haha, I mean for the time being. I was very high when I said I was quiting and said I would be gone forever, but i will probably return eventually. I need a break however.

 

[autumn pepper 🍂]

I would like to say there are plenty of good mods under 17, though i think there should be extra wearyness when selecting people under the age of 17. Wilkers and Noob are in fact incredibly professional for there age, to the point it actually awes me in a way. I think we need moderators like this regardless of age. However, I would also like for you to consider that their are many teenagers under 17 that DO NOT have the same level of mental maturity as Wilkers and Noob. Wilkers and Noob are not a baseline, they are an exception. I would much rather see someone denied on a staff application for being underage, than becoming staff, abusing there power, and earning a 6 month ban. I dont like filing admin reports as I understand the ban time is extremely long for abusing staff and I hate to lose members of the community.

Obviously, I think we can make exceptions to this rule, as we already make exception to the 15 age limit for staff, with to my knowledge at least one staff member is 14. I am not saying we cant have staff under 17. But I DO THINK that you need to get an exception for being under 17 in order to get your application accepted.

With that said, there is plenty of 17+ staff members who get accepted and then display zero qualities and acts as immature as someone under that age bracket. I trust that Wilkers and Noob thought out what age they thought would work best as I was thinking this myself a few weeks ago.

 

[Cuteboi]

With that said, there is plenty of 17+ staff members who get accepted and then display zero qualities and acts as immature as someone under that age bracket. I trust that Wilkers and Noob thought out what age they thought would work best as I was thinking this myself a few weeks ago.

I mean, there will always be some, but every single staff report i have filed, all three were 16 or under and all 3 lost moderator privledges. I just want more scrutiny of staff members who are a bit younger. Im not against them being staff, but its a fine line to tread the younger you get.

 

[JohnnyRicoGaming]

I somewhat agree and disagree I have met more over 17 year old admins that were abusing being a minge and downright unsafe worthy. You can't really allow age to decide if someone is truly ready for the maturity for staffing though

 

[MckRic]

Guess I’ll just fuck off xD

 

[DearlyDecrepit]

While I dont see a problem with any of the current mods who are under this age, i think that by raising the minimum age of moderation to 17, we will have less incidents of staff abuse and will lead to a much more mature and thoughtful staff. I think a lot of younger people might lack the emotional maturity it takes to run a community, and having a higher age cap will prevent this.

This comes in light of two staff members losing there position after harassing me and my friend while using there mod powers. This unfortunate incident has lead both me and my friend to leave the DarkRP server for the time being. Both mods in question were under 17 and lacked the emotional maturity required for moderation, and niether had been on the mod team for over a month. In the past there was another moderator I reported on who also got banned for 6 months for abuse who happened to be 16 as well.

I think I can speak on behalf of the community that many of us do not appreciate it when mods cant act mature, and that we should consider raising the bar for moderation in order to ensure the quality of staff on the server.

All groups should have some form of maturity check, that I agree. But I think whether someone should be a mod should be determined case by case, and age shouldn't outright stop someone from being mod. Maybe it should make staff more cautious, but if the application and performance is great than ignore it. I am not aware of everything someone does to become mod, but as long as they are interacted with, and watched, I think they will show their maturity.

 

[Mr.Hart]

-1 17 or 18 whatever it is you are arguing should be the new age requirement is in my opinion dumb to raise it so high and after reading a few of your replies to the replies I can't agree with you at all I just now turned 17 and I am an admin mind you this I HAVE minged on this server before and I have gotten demoted before age doesn't have anything to with emotional maturity except leave you with the assumption that 16 year olds can't handle being staff because 3 of the NEWER staff made some fuck ups and quite frankly I sorta feel like you're looking down on my boys in the staff team just because their age as you mentioned before when we briefly talked you are a bit older than most of us which I understand but at the same time I agree with pepper I can be 17 and still laugh at fart noises or I could be 17 and be a fuckin psychologist I think it depends on the mentality of the person what their life was like and how much they actually care about the server I joined when 40 people on the server was considered a lot and after going through the staff team I've made some sacrifices and had to suck some shit up because I love the community and the server

 

[CJGotStyle]

-1 17 or 18 whatever it is you are arguing should be the new age requirement is in my opinion dumb to raise it so high and after reading a few of your replies to the replies I can't agree with you at all I just now turned 17 and I am an admin mind you this I HAVE minged on this server before and I have gotten demoted before age doesn't have anything to with emotional maturity except leave you with the assumption that 16 year olds can't handle being staff because 3 of the NEWER staff made some fuck ups and quite frankly I sorta feel like you're looking down on my boys in the staff team just because their age as you mentioned before when we briefly talked you are a bit older than most of us which I understand but at the same time I agree with pepper I can be 17 and still laugh at fart noises or I could be 17 and be a fuckin psychologist I think it depends on the mentality of the person what their life was like and how much they actually care about the server I joined when 40 people on the server was considered a lot and after going through the staff team I've made some sacrifices and had to suck some shit up because I love the community and the server

this mf preachin

 

[Cuteboi]

-1 17 or 18 whatever it is you are arguing should be the new age requirement is in my opinion dumb to raise it so high and after reading a few of your replies to the replies I can't agree with you at all I just now turned 17 and I am an admin mind you this I HAVE minged on this server before and I have gotten demoted before age doesn't have anything to with emotional maturity except leave you with the assumption that 16 year olds can't handle being staff because 3 of the NEWER staff made some fuck ups and quite frankly I sorta feel like you're looking down on my boys in the staff team just because their age as you mentioned before when we briefly talked you are a bit older than most of us which I understand but at the same time I agree with pepper I can be 17 and still laugh at fart noises or I could be 17 and be a fuckin psychologist I think it depends on the mentality of the person what their life was like and how much they actually care about the server I joined when 40 people on the server was considered a lot and after going through the staff team I've made some sacrifices and had to suck some shit up because I love the community and the server

Apologies if I made it sound like I was attacking the current moderation team. Like I said, I dont have a problem with any of the mods who are under 17. Some of them are extremely mature and I think are a perfect fit for the mod team. Im trying to say that in the future we should raise the Moderation age and make exceptions for people under that age who demonstrate maturity. Im fully for allowing anyone on the mod team regardless of age as long as they display maturity. But I also realize that age comes maturity, and not having a little scrutiny over someone who is younger when giving them a position of power and authority can be a bad thing.

There is a reason I never said, "All mods who are under 17 should be removed" or said that being under 17 means it is impossible to moderate. I am saying in future recruitment processes, I think greater scrutiny should be taken on who is accepted into the moderation team if someone is under the age of 17. I think we should at least make sure that they are mature enough to moderate and make complex dicesions that require critical thinking and that are not performed on a whim.

I am not saying that there are no good mods who are ages 14-16. Some excellent mods are very young and I think that is awesome that they are able to do their job and keep a level head. But as I said before, Emotional Maturity increases with age. A baseline 17 year old is gonna be much more mature than a baseline 14 year old.

 

[Wilkers]

Everyone in this thread makes very good points, being around for so long I got some stories/experience to add to the mix.

Ironically enough, all of the people that have abused their staff perms in a malicious and malfeasant manner (in a blatent act of hatred, not just a simple mistake they went on to regret) were over 18. At the end of the day, when I decide who we are going to trust enough to staff on our server, I truly consider age only when we are talking below the age of 16 (where some of the applicants might not have had experience in high school yet, where a lot of people grow up/change in a big way)

Through being lucky enough to have been put in this position, I have met youngsters with the maturity of adults, and adults 10 years older than me and Noob that could barely hold conversation, and would let their emotions beat out their rational minds. From my time here, I can tell you that character and the way a person chooses to carry themselves does not come from their date of birth, but the character that's been instilled in them from the experiences they've had in life.

We do everything in our power to make sure we put the right people in the right positions, and there are times where me and noob regret those decisions (we are only human). But I hope you guys can put your trust in me that we vet to a point where we can usually remove the people with malintent at a very early point in the process. Which usually does happen for the majority of our less good hearted staff that join the team at a rank of Trial Moderator or Moderator.

 

[Cuteboi]

Ironically enough, all of the people that have abused their staff perms in a malicious and malfeasant manner (in a blatent act of hatred, not just a simple mistake they went on to regret) were over 18. At the end of the day, when I decide who we are going to trust enough to staff on our server, I truly consider age only when we are talking below the age of 16 (where some of the applicants might not have had experience in high school yet, where a lot of people grow up/change in a big way)

I think this is very well put. I agree with this 100 percent.

 

[hon hon hon]

as a 13 year old kid waiting to be 16 for staff I would say this is a bad idea but i think its good making so there is more responsible staff on the server as I would love to keep playing

 

[Cuteboi]

as a 13 year old kid waiting to be 16 for staff I would say this is a bad idea but i think its good making so there is more responsible staff on the server as I would love to keep playing

While you might be too young for staff, there are other things you can do to change the server. Post in suggestions, be an active part of community, and help new players. You will gain more power and influence just by being nice to other players and helping them have fun.

Moderator is a hard job. Focus on learning and being a positive part of the community in the meantime.

 

[Cuteboi]

I understand that some people have intepreted my suggestion as anyone under 17 should not be moderator. I was only refering to the application process, and I am not advocating stripping current mods of there power or 100% barring people under 17 from being mod. I am just suggesting that the minimum age to apply be raised, and anyone under this age would need a waiver.​

However, thank you to everybody who gave thoughtful input on the subject.