We probably should completely remove all and any link to usenet articles and forums here on PF.
As a reminder, the Mentors have no idea how old, how young, how naive, how curious, how intelligent, how dumb, how silly, how talented, how [insert description here] anyone is, especially when someone is new to this forum. ALL that we can go by are the posts made by a member. At some point, we have to be fair and apply the same rules to everyone, even when we try to be flexible and judge each case individually when it is called for, which is why some time someone who should have been banned already has an extended lifetime on this forum. And age, unfortunately, isn't an issue. In fact, I would say that some of the most vile and profanity-laden complaints that I've received have come from teenagers and other underage kids. Certainly one could argue that they haven't matured enough to know any better, to which I could reply that being banned from here is the first slap of a lesson on being an adult by suffering the consequences of one's actions.
I'm all for encouraging young minds. Heaven knows I've volunteered constantly for many outreach programs and hosted many school kids coming to visit our facility. The difficulty here is in imposing some sort of a boundary on how things are discussed, keeping in mind how this forum has clearly expressed how such discussion should be conducted. This is something the Mentors often struggle with constantly.
Zz.
