Mudcat: A safe site for children?

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Jeri
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 11:58 AM

Good, though...

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Hollowfox
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 12:05 PM

Guest, is your concern possible earthy content or possible rudeness?

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 12:14 PM

Probably right. But as the Borg say "irrelevant". It's quite an interesting topic - not just the Mudcat, the whole business of knowing where when and how to protect children.

I remember when the magnificent storyteller from Clare, Eddie Lenihan was over in Sidmouth one year the booked him into a storytelling session for children in the library.

He let rip, as he does - blood and gore and cannibalism and everything. The kids were goggle-eyed, and loved it. I heard a worried mum asking the librarian "Do they check what these stories are going to be like?"

What kids need protecting from isn't stuff like that, or stuff like us. It's the stuff that is put out for them by people who are trying to sell things, and trying to turn them into future compliant customers.

The storyteller Dan Keding who sometimes drops in here has some good angles on adjusting stories for children.

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: GUEST,JohnB
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 12:23 PM

"Wrap said child in cotton wool, place in a hermetically sealed glass tank and never let them out" How the hell did WE all survive. JohnB

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: ermintrudeclaire
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 12:33 PM

My kids are 8, 11 and 12 and I would be happy for them to learn from mudcat, but as has already been said i would expect them to be bored to tears by most of the content. Folk songs are often fairly risque and I can remember going to Spinners concerts as a kid of about 7 and laughing hilariously at the jokes whilst not understanding a word! Everything on mudcat is less than whats on TV and in the real world, and how do kids learn to deal with expressed feelings if they are protected from them? That said i dont allow any of my kids in chatrooms.......

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 12:33 PM

Is Mudcat a safe site for children?

Are you serious???

I've met any number of children who are considerably more dangerous than Mudcat Cafe.

Have you seen the video games that are marketed to the children of North America on a regular basis these days? How about the TV shows?

I wouldn't doubt that there is the occasional sensitive child who might be disturbed by something that has been said by someone on Mudcat.

Well...ain't that just like the real world? I remember being hurt by countless things that other people said and did in the real world when I was a child.

That's life. Mudcat is a VERY minor risk in the great field of life.

And as McGrath said above: "What kids need protecting from isn't stuff like that, or stuff like us. It's the stuff that is put out for them by people who are trying to sell things, and trying to turn them into future compliant customers."

It deserved to be said again! Right on, McGrath!

- LH

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 12:36 PM

Dave The Gnome:

Irony and sarcasm are related, as you point out. Sarcasm is a subset of irony, distinguished by a higher level of "bite" or maybe hostility. Irony may be merely tongue-in-cheek.

Dave-the-Pedant

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: MMario
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 12:38 PM

[cynical satirical mode ON]Obviously JohnB, "we" are all warped, twisted, psychotic individuals due to being brought up unshielded from the realities of life. I mean, I was exposed to public prayer of at least 5 faiths before I was 12. And remember the "LIFE" series on conception and gestation? yup - saw all them full colour pictures and read all the articles before I was even 10. and *gasp* changed the diaper of a child of the oppisete sex when I was only 9!

Of course probably the worst factor was that I was actually punished for infractions of rules.

it's no wonder I am such a mess![mode OFF]

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 01:12 PM

Regarding what Mousethief said above, it is also my perception that there is an inner group of "Traditional Music Scholars" present on this forum, and these people have a great deal to offer in terms of shared knowledge. I often read the threads where they discuss such things as the background of Child Ballads, topics with which I have only a passing familiarity. I often find them interesting, sometime just too esoteric for my more contemporary and blues-oriented taste, but I very rarely post to them because, frankly, it feels like an intrusion. And the few posts I have made in those threads have sometimes been treated as off-topic interruptions, accompanied by a reprimand to "search the DT and Forum before posting". Such responses are not conducive to encouraging participation by those who might be considered Novices in the pursuit of Traditional Music topics, but I would suppose that that is the intent.

It occurs to me that a little sympathy and warmth in response to any well intentioned post, no matter how ignorant it may appear, could go a long way in spreading the knowledge that our resident Traditional Scholars possess.

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 01:22 PM

Sarcasm is always nasty - it's using irony, which in itself is merely a harmless way of skewing the way you say things (or the way you see things), and using it as a weapon.

From the Greek sarkazein - "to tear, gnaw flesh lige dogs, to bite the lips, to sneer, taunt", from sark/sarx , flesh" - as my dictionary puts it eloquently.

"No dark sarcasm in the classroom" as Pink Floyd also put it eloquently.

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: GUEST,Denise:^) (both guest AND first grade teache
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 01:24 PM

1)Yes, most kids would probably be bored. 2)If getting into the (most often) subtle ribaldry exhibited in folk music is the worst thing they do--HOORAY!! They are already rising above their peers. 3)Have you turned on your TV lately? Have you looked at (many) modern picture books? While student teaching, I was handed a book I never would have chosen, and told to read it to the class. A little later, I was called to the office--seems a parent walking by had heard me reading, "Shut up, you're so stupid!" to the students, and went and told the principal I was calling the kids names...It took some fast talking to explain that one! And this is a story in a much-touted series of contemporary children's picture books.

Let'em read Mudcat. They'll find worse in their school library!

Denise:^)

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 01:33 PM

In the movie "As Good As It Gets" (with Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson), Nicholson's character plays a writer whose caustic personality belies his success at writing romance novels.

A memorable scene in the movie occurs when a fan asks Nicholson how he writes about women so knowledgeably.

"Easy," he says, "I think about a man and then I take away reason and accountability."

Nicholson's character never met Jeri.

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: hesperis
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 02:20 PM

Hmmm, yeah.

If you don't think that mudcat is safe, then you might want to brush up on your parenting skills.

My mother got really early level books on how babies are born and stuff like that. I read them before I was 4 years old. I was a virgin until I was ready to open up to someone in that way - just past my 20s. This is in the city with the highest level of teen pregnancy in the whole county!

My mother had a talk with me about drugs when I was 9 or 10 years old. She had taken some of them earlier in her life, and she told me exactly what they were like, what they do to the mind, and how you can get that "high" in a truly healthy way, without any substances. Some of my friends in high school did drugs, and some of them wanted me to try it. I told them I was crazy enough without doing anything... and were they sure they'd want to see me crazier than I already am? They backed down immediately.

I later tried "maryjane" once but it didn't do a thing for me. I was already high without it.

It's amazing how an open, frank discussion of reality can help kids to make choices that are right. And not just "morally right", but right for the kid, too.

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: dwditty
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 02:29 PM

I only read about half of this thread, but here is my take. Pay attention to what your kids do, see, smell, feel, taste, and hear. The world is certainly crazier than it use to be. Kids run into stuff all the time. Left to their own devices to analyze and make value judgements about those encounters is, in general (and in my opinion) not a great idea. Kids today are no different physiologically that we were at their age. They are just not equipped with enough experience to make wise decisions in many situations. The amount of guidance they receive from the world is vastly different than it was "when I was a boy." The point is, parents must take responsibility. In preparing our kids to cope with life, we cannot shelter them from all the crap that exists, nor can we just let them go about making their own interpretations without some help.

Personally, I am probably more strict than many. In my book, R rated movies are not for my 6 and 9 year olds. I may give in when their 16 instead of waiting til 17. Or I may not. I'm sure my older kids snuck R movies, but not on my watch. Likewise, my little ones do not use the internet unless I am sitiing there - actually, that time is great as we discover stuff together.

As for Mudcat, I would gladly bring them here - note: not send them here (it IS an internet site so I am with them). The Mudcat is, to me, a wonderful example of how the internet can be used for good - knowledge sharing, community, etc. With that, I'll take yet another opportunity to say, "Thanks, Max."

dw

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 02:41 PM

To heck with kids. I am tired of folks pseudo-sanitizing reality to skew some yard monkey's mind set. The water supply is full of unnescessary antibiotics to sanitize kids from a virus, the airwaves are full of kids braodcasting, hollywood caters primarily to kids and the bathroom unwashed hands of the kid at McDonalds is making your cheeseburger. Perhaps we should ask if we are safe FROM children on this site.

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: MMario
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 02:46 PM

~NO~ place is safe from children - ask most parents...

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Jeri
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 03:13 PM

GUEST, thanks! I have numerous moments of stupidity, but mostly I can edit them out of my posts, if not my life.

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 03:47 PM

Jeri - Yeah, that's the blessing of virtual reality...you get to edit out the mistakes,if you notice them, before anyone else sees them. I wish to God regular life was like that!

Or do I?

Well, yeah, I think I do...

- LH

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 04:43 PM

Dave the Gnome- I had noticed that as well, I suspsct gargoyle.Just trace gargoyles posts, then notice all the uncanny similarities,(thrad titles, style of writing, self written songs whithin posts etc).

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Ralphie
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 08:40 PM

As a 47 year old child....(!) I think that the forum works just fine, as long as I don't read postings from people who can't spell the definite article.....(Just have a look!!)
It's certainly not a threat to most teenagers I know......not rude enough! Regards Ralphie x

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Dorrie
Date: 12 Jul 01 - 03:24 PM

I was a only 14 when i 1st came across mudcat and it never offended me but i'm not sure about younger kiddies i'm sure they'd all be fine

Subject: RE: Mudcat: A safe site for children?
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 12 Jul 01 - 06:09 PM

If my children are here reading even the worst that Mudcat can throw at them then they are not surfing the porn sites or drinking on street corners so it must be safe. Actually both my 17 year old and my 7 year old read the forum . Anything really rude or crude goes over Maddies (7) head and Natasha (17) probably knows worse !!