Occasionally we have enquiries about the lower age limit for participation in the forum, and I feel I need to clarify this, as the policy we use behind the scenes is not clearly stated on the forum.
A person needs to be at least 13 years old to have an account on the forum. This is a legal requirement as this forum is hosted in the USA, and the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Rule places particular requirements on websites that knowingly have accounts belonging to children under 13 - requirements which we do not attempt to comply with as there is no need for children to participate here. This is incidentally the same reason that all social networks say that users must be over 13 (even if they do not enforce that rule).
The primary purpose of this forum is to support people in their marriages. It is therefore not relevant to anybody who is too young to seriously consider marriage. As a result, we would not expect most people under the age of 18 to find this forum relevant to them, and would expect to find most users to be at least that age. But that is not a rule, as there are obviously some individuals for whom these issues are relevant at a younger age. For example:
However, it is anticipated that the vast majority of members will be over the legal age of consent & legal marriage age in their jurisdiction of residence - and few people below that age ever sign up. In those rare cases where a younger person has a legitimate reason to have an account on the forum, the forum staff take a very close interest in their welfare, both to ensure that they receive the assistance they are here to receive and to protect them from potential inappropriate approaches by other users. This usually includes placing protective restrictions on their account.
A person needs to be at least 13 years old to have an account on the forum. This is a legal requirement as this forum is hosted in the USA, and the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Rule places particular requirements on websites that knowingly have accounts belonging to children under 13 - requirements which we do not attempt to comply with as there is no need for children to participate here. This is incidentally the same reason that all social networks say that users must be over 13 (even if they do not enforce that rule).
The primary purpose of this forum is to support people in their marriages. It is therefore not relevant to anybody who is too young to seriously consider marriage. As a result, we would not expect most people under the age of 18 to find this forum relevant to them, and would expect to find most users to be at least that age. But that is not a rule, as there are obviously some individuals for whom these issues are relevant at a younger age. For example:
- Marriage ages in law and custom vary around the world, so there are individuals in many countries who must grapple with these issues at ages below the norm in Western countries.
- Underage sexual behaviour is becoming increasingly common in Western secular culture, and as a result some people may have to grapple with the issue of what to do about past behaviour at less than desirable ages.
- Some Godly teenagers may wish to study marriage and understand it clearly before they reach a legal marriage age.
However, it is anticipated that the vast majority of members will be over the legal age of consent & legal marriage age in their jurisdiction of residence - and few people below that age ever sign up. In those rare cases where a younger person has a legitimate reason to have an account on the forum, the forum staff take a very close interest in their welfare, both to ensure that they receive the assistance they are here to receive and to protect them from potential inappropriate approaches by other users. This usually includes placing protective restrictions on their account.
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