3 posts shown.
Regarding the whole hair, gel, and towel situation—I totally get where you're coming from. In my book, it sounds like the towel was just overkill. Honestly, a few kind words and some genuine encouragement would have gone much further than all that gear.
When it comes to young guys—boys, really—there are stages where they start pulling away from physical contact. They might scale things back to a level that feels awkward to us, but it’s perfectly normal. It's tied to them discovering their own sexuality, and I truly believe it's vital to respect whatever boundaries they decide to set for themselves.
My son is fifteen and a half now. He just wrapped up his freshman year of high school. We live right in the heart of the city, so he’s got access to the late-night bus lines until about midnight. If he wants to hang out a bit longer, that’s fine by me, provided he gives me a ring so I can come pick him up.
Back when he was in eighth grade, his curfew was closer to 10:30 PM.
Last summer, we even let him stay out until 11:00 PM, so... yeah.
I never really sweat the small stuff—whether it’s thirty minutes more or less—as long as the transportation situation is sorted out.
It’s common sense, really. A minor shouldn't be wandering the streets alone at night before 4:00 PM anyway; besides, local ordinances wouldn't allow it.
Then you have different scenarios, like if he were just hanging out on the front porch in our neighborhood or something similar.
rapidgull14 said:According to the guidelines for the Politics sub-forum, this space is intended to be an engaging and civilized arena for discussion.
It’s perfectly fine to have such standards, provided they actually facilitate debate and are applied with absolute consistency in every single instance.
The issue, however, is that if these rules were enforced strictly and uniformly, a significant portion of the posts in the Politics section wouldn't make the cut. From where I'm sitting, it looks like I get banned while others fly under the radar.
In fact, it seems to me that these regulations essentially grant permission for bans based on pure discretion. One has to wonder how many threads would simply vanish if the rules were applied rigorously in every case.
Inciting an argument—trolling—or responding to a provocation with another provocation is perhaps the clearest example of this ambiguity. When it comes to trolling, I find myself questioning not what constitutes trolling, but rather what *doesn't*.
CONCLUSION: The individual deciding on bans can effectively ban whomever they please, whenever they feel like it. Perhaps it would be wise to draft a new set of rules that specifies exactly what is meant by each particular guideline.
I'm with you. Banning often feels like it lacks any real foundation. In my experience, a ban usually depends more on a moderator's current mood than on the actual rulebook.
Anyway, I’m just not a fan of this lack of transparency.