I just thought, since the last thread has sparked a certain amount of controversy, an nice old poll would clear everything up...

Maybe - I remember a lot of interesting threads got closed/deleted because it got too controversial. If those threads could be moved to an 'Adults Only' section, it could be worth it. Definition of Adult would need to be carefully considered for it to work though.

Well, I'm mainly on the teachers form, and most music teachers are adults, so I'm happy enough with using the teachers forum as an "adult" section, even though students do have an input there.... I think that works fine

I suspect that even if we did want it, though, it would be too much work to be put into place, and cause divides over how we define Adult. But I still think that it would be a nice idea

I don't think there's a need for a separate adults only section.

In the time that I've been regularly posting, I've been impressed by the mature comments made by some of the younger members of the forums as well as embarrassed by some of the childish tantrums thrown by the so-called adults!

Having an adults only section won't get around the insensitive immaturity inherent in a minority of individuals. Thankfully the vast majority of forumites (both younger and old(er)) are level-headed and a pleasure to be around - otherwise I wouldn't be here so often!

Posted this on the other thread, and said why : but I really don't think an 'adults only' area is needed on the forum.

Maybe... it depends on whether the 'adults' want one or not!

Honestly, I wouldn't mind either way... I doubt it would create a massive rift in the forums if it were implemented, because it's not as if all the adults would suddenly congregate just to that section. But it's not exactly strictly necessary either.

~Wobby~

Having been the one to ask the original question, my own resonse is actually that I'm not sure. What I had envisaged was probably something casual along the lines of the Double Bar (which, incidentally, I haven't ever looked at much) but which was only accessible to long-standing posters, who will inevitably have got to know each other's characters and opinions fairly well, and who will not easily offend each other by saying things like, "Catch a grip, dear, where on earth did you come up with that idea in that thread?" I know that PMs exist for this type of thing, but a PM is only a one-to-one discussion.

And sometimes I get the feeling that serious posters with valid arguments back out of a thread because their arguments are simply not taken at face value, but, rather, are taken as offensive, and so the whole thread gets bogged down in these people defending themselves against the easily offended, or backing off. Or else the whole thing goes to the dogs because of a few ridiculous comments which it takes the next two pages to be dealt with, at which stage the crux of the matter is lost! I think Rosemary might have a point in suggesting that maybe it would be at this point that the mods could take the decision to move the thread to the passworded section, where the discussion could continue without moderation - within reason, obvously - and without hyjacking. Maybe a combination of your username and a pin number could get you there? 'Adults Only' was probably a bad choice of expression, as I agree with others that age 18 is not always relevant.

Just a little food for thought! It could, in reality, create more problems than it would solve, but I was interested to hear others' thoughts on the idea!

I know exactly where you are coming from Dulciana. The problem is that some people seem determined to wind up serious posters and don't know when to stop and similarly I agree that some people are over-sensitive to certain issues. That's human nature - we are all different and whilst some can laugh it off, others will brood.....

btw - in response to a previous suggestion somewhere - ignoring posts from certain individuals is one thing but unfortunately you can't ignore their quotes if others continue to respond. After all it takes two (or more!) to argue.

I put maybe, because I can really see where you're coming from... I can also see the problems (if there's not a strict age limit, imagine how much fuss there'd be from the members deemed too immature/oversensitive).

It's all very well to say ignore the posts of certain members, but if someone says something particularly misinformed or rude etc it can be very difficult to ignore...

There seems to be an overwhelming no...

I'd say no, for I seem to remember that the Forums Cafe was introduced for chatty (and possibly controversial/non-musical) threads to carry on, but that doesn't happen either, it's all censored these days.

Big brother state.

I want to write the PMs!

I'm sorry, (insert name of forum member), but you are too immature to enter the passworded section of the forum. Feel free to get back to us when you have grown up a bit...

How will the mods know hold old we are in order to prevent us having a password?

I ticked maybe. My reasons for a yes are on the other thread. However although I can justify the reasons for an adults only section, I am unclear over whether this is the correct place.

It would be interesting to see the age profiles of the no group.

There are times where I need to discuss difficult issues with adults. Issues where quite frankly I would rather discuss things "not in front of the children", but I am unclear whether this is the best place.

Maybe ABRSM could create something like rooms. On aol they do that and you can IM people, if they are on-line (which you can see from your buddy list) and invite them into a room and talk about what you want.
Anyway, I am ticking no.

While I have often confused people's gender on here, I have never really had difficulty estimating an approximate age for someone on here. Also, often people post their age, or are known by someone else on the forum in real life. If the section was open only to people who requested access, I doubt that it would be difficult to verify the ages of all but a small minority.

I would hope that most of those would still get closed.
No, I don't think it's needed or desirable.
For starters the heading 'Adult Only' is open to misinterpretation.
If you are adult enough you don't need a post things you don't want people to see..... anything like that I keep to myself or discuss in private with friends.