Do people know of any message boards for young children who are intellectually gifted? (infant, toddler)

[Clintone]

Specifically, this is a ten year old. She also likes to discuss quite controversial topics...like the kind that might get her posts deleted on this website...not due to trolling so much as sheer controversy and, probably a lack of tact. I'm thinking anything that allows extremely young children would probably be a bad idea for that reason. (I don't really know how much younger than 10 most parents are going to let on the internet in the first place...but I kind of have some concerns about what she might say to the other kids. Think, explaining to them how humanity is doomed to collapse into anarchy, and that sort of behavior. That's one of the less controversial topics she'd be likely to get into, by the way.

Thanks.

[wac_432]

If someone can't discuss topics with enough tact to avoid being censored by moderators, then they are not mature enough to be having online discussions with strangers. A gifted ten-year-old should be able to engage in detailed discussions under the terms of the "great debates" board.

Every topic can be discussed in a mature manner, and it is best to teach children how to do so early in life, so they don't end up like some of the infantile posters in the "politics and other controversies" mental toddler thunderdome.

If she is getting censored or banned, then it is probably time for the parents to work on her social and emotional learning. Being able to hold polite discussions of difficult topics is as much a learned skill as calculus.

All that said, 10 is probably too young for children to engage in intellectual conversation with non-family adults. The internet is not a safe space, and a 10 year old is not experienced enough to understand all the dangers of unregulated web communication. I think most message boards are regulated to a minimum age higher than that. Sure, there is rarely enforcement; that is really up to the parents, who should monitor and appropriately restrict their child's online activities.

I think the best bet, for this child's specific situation, would be for her to continue to practice conversing about sensitive topics with relatives and real-life friends until she is both old enough and emotionally mature enough to do so on social media.

[ClaraC]

Originally Posted by Clintone

Specifically, this is a ten year old. She also likes to discuss quite controversial topics...like the kind that might get her posts deleted on this website...not due to trolling so much as sheer controversy and, probably a lack of tact. I'm thinking anything that allows extremely young children would probably be a bad idea for that reason. (I don't really know how much younger than 10 most parents are going to let on the internet in the first place...but I kind of have some concerns about what she might say to the other kids. Think, explaining to them how humanity is doomed to collapse into anarchy, and that sort of behavior. That's one of the less controversial topics she'd be likely to get into, by the way.

Thanks.

I agree with WAC.

If you have a child who is very opinionated and has difficulty expressing her opinions in a socially acceptable way, the last thing you want to do is locate an avenue for her to continue to express herself in a rude and offensive way.

She needs the exact opposite. Experience with having discussions where she isn't purposely (or accidentally) offending those she's communicating with.