To all of you well meaning folks and certain others.?

Question

Do you all have any idea of the age of some of the people asking certain questions?
Sometimes you can tell by the questions they ask.
Do you really feel it is your place to answer in detail,even smoothed over detail?
I am gay and a parent and don't feel it's our place to, as strangers, to ans. some of these questions from KIDS.

you were once a kid yourself and you must know that parents can't keep their eyes glued on their kids ever second.

I agree-parents should be more responsible and most of you folks do take care with your ans. I am just targeting those that don't.

Answer 1

You presume that those with the most graphic answers are adult, but they too are little more than kids.

Speaking as someone who grew up on the internet, and still young enough to decipher approximately the age of the asker there is a responsibility to give good information to counter the bad and sometime dangerous information put forth by less mature people. To not tell a 14 year old boy the reality of what an*l sex is not only wrong, its uncoscionable when 5 or 6 bad answers sit there with dangerously wrong information.

The fact is Yahoo Answers is unmoderated, and there is no way to weed out vulgarity and foolishness. There is no way to prevent a precocious 10 year old to ask about words they heard in the school yard or on tv. There is a responsibility of those who do care, to get the right information out. We can not presume that there is a caring parent home that would be horrified that Johnny found out an*l sex, but we can make sure Johnny gets the RIGHT answer instead of bunk from a 13 year old girl in Fargo.

If a kid can articulate a question about sex, then the horse is out of the barn, he/she is curious enough to want to know. To not answer and let other kids give bad information is not a solution and is irresponsible. To say its our job to do what parents should be doing is naive, and shirks an obligation to be a voice of responsbility. These unsuperised kids will get an answer, its up to us to at least put out the real information. There is no Mary Poppins, never was, and in this age of rampant std rates in teens and threat of hiv/aids the right info needs to get out, there is no too early age to get the responsible answers out and stop wringing our hands in angst that its "too young to know"...thats bunk, thats dangerous. We aren't seeking them out to force them to learn our truth, but they are reaching out for information, sometimes its just for childish titilation, but even then, underneath the surface is a child on the verge of sexual activity wanting to know the truth.

I wish more ADULTS would actually step up to the plate, stop wagging their fingers at kids, and steer the kids right. Pass on links to good information not try to shame the kids away (which doesn't work). Kids will get the information, lets see that its the truth, and not misapplied parental skills that last no longer than the time it takes to scan the answer to see its a non answer.

http://www.sxetc.org

http://www.outproud.org

Pass those links on and stop trying to do a job that will never work, net nanny, you might actually counter the garbage they WILL find with or WITHOUT you.

Answer 2

If its really obviously a kid, I usually suggest that they talk to a parent or teacher, even to friends. But I figure, personally, that if they're old enough to ask the questions, they're old enough to get an answer. I'll smooth over, like you said, on some of the gorier details, or just give few details and suggest asking someone they know or looking it up online themselves.
I'm gonna have to take a common party line and say that some parents don't monitor their children AT ALL when they're online and then complain about what the children learn. Not trying to offend you, just saying that some don't take any responsiblities themselves. I, personally, was twelve and surfing porn sites and my mom never once realized it. Good mom in other areas, but she thought we were safe online. Obviously, not the case, as recent news would tell you.
I admit there are a lot of idiots and jerks on here that will answer questions with too much detail or will answer incorrectly for the sheer purpose of being idiots/jerks. I hope you know, however, that there are others here who are a bit more responsible than that.

Answer 3

Yes I can understand where you are coming from with the question. I would absolutely HATE being a parent in this day and age. Yet I feel I try to give informed answers and pick the questions I answer carefully, but I do not get overly concerned of the askers age. I figure they're gonna get their information somewhere just like the kids in our generation did, but this time the network is so global and more widespread. Is this a good thing? I don't know. I only know what I see in the abused foster kids my Mom has been seeing through her house in over 35 years and can tell you that it's just as bad, if not worse than when I saw them as a young child. Kids need constant, consistent and controlled parents (at least one) and those that have this can grow into well-adjusted lives in in the crazy world we live in. It is my opinion that if these foster kids' parents weren't so whacked the kids wouldn't be. I just try to help change things in my little part of the world (think globally and act locally) and put some trust in the human element. I have to trust the human element or I would go crazy myself. I believe that most humans try to be good in their hearts. There are no easy answers.

Answer 4

Everybody deserves an answer. If they are old enough to ask the question, then they are old enough to get the answer, in my opinion. The only problem is that a lot of idiots on this website give the wrong answers, or stupid ones.

Which is why parents should take care to notice what their kids are doing online, and, moreover, should hasten to talk to their children about anything and everything, make nothing taboo, go into no talks with an angry, set stance, and let it be known that sexuality is fine and dandy and something you can talk about.

I feel like I give good, solid advice to people no matter the age, and am as informative as Wikpedia, which you can bet kids will go hunting for if they can't get an answer on here, so you can bet I'll keep answering the young'ns questions. The more information they have, the better they can make the right choices in life.

Answer 5

If answering the question requires a certain level of detail, yes.

If parents are watching their kids online, it's not going to kill is it? If they're not, they should be, it's not our responsibility to make up for their poor parenting.

It is further muddied because I don't believe in nannying kids, if they're mature enough to ask certain questions they're mature enough to get an answer.

And finally, in the case of neglectful parents, like kids who are afraid their parents are going to disown them if they come out, they're curious. The information a parent could perhaps give and get hold of isn't there. They're mature enough to take an interest in finding things out (and don't tell me they can't read topic titles) so they're mature enough to get answers.


And this place is mild compared to some others. They would only go hunting for those places if they didn't get answers here.

Answer 6

i disagree, i don't myself answer questions from kids, but i'd rather then get accurate info form here, than learn it wrong on the street, and many can't talk to parents or friends. i grew up in a VERY small town in alabama and i would've been so much better off with something like answers to help me understand what the hell i was going through. in a perfect world kids wouldn't feel the need to seek out help from strangers, unfortunately were not yet evolved enough for that to happen.

Answer 7

I always try not to be to specific in adult content and always try to watch my language.But not just because kids can access this but because I try to have a little class.However, we can not be held responsible for what children see on-line.That is the responsibility of the parent.After all, the first and only person who has any control of what a child sees and has access to is the child's parent(s).If a parent can't take responsibility for what a child watches on TV or what a child accesses on the Internet then that parent needs an education into child filter technology.That or just limit their access to TV and the computer for times you or a responsible adult can monitor their viewing and activity.

Answer 8

Its nice that you care, but I feel you are living in a fantasy world, and what is sad is that you fail to see that there is a responsibility to counter bad information. But you won't see any of the good answers before me, you are so convinced that you are principled that you you can't see silence or chasing kids off is irresponsible, and ultimately dangerous. I am glad to see others do do the right thing, and aren't trying to cocoon other peoples' kids. Your suggestion that responsible people detach from these kids is really no answer, and in fact is worse than all the vulgarity they will see.

Answer 9

No, i don't have any idea of the age of some of the people asking questions on here. That isn't my responsibility. It is yours --as a parent-- to monitor them. If you don't want them on these sites then tell them 'no' and expect them to stick with it. I, as a young child, knew what I was permitted/expected to do. You should worry about instilling the same values in your children. Even as an adult..I am not about to behave as some of these children do on here..even if I now am of "legal age" to do so. And the bottom line is that we don't always know the ages of the askers--so do you expect us to guess?

Answer 10

if parents aren't watching what their kids are doing how are we supposed to be responsible? i don't know who the people posting the questions are. i feel like they shouldn't allow kids on here anyway. if i had kids they would definitely not be allowed on this site