Paddle2See on stuff considered inappropriate for Scratch

Paddle2See wrote:

For example: commercial spam, excessive violence, stuff that's too mature for a kids site, comments that ask for or give out personal contact info like phone numbers or email

Looking at “stuff that's too mature for a kids site”, I can think of a lot of things that seem to fall into this category (for example, politics, which seem unhealthy for the average kid).

What does the ST think about this?


EDIT:
As it turns out, abortion falls into this category.
how about lgbt?

In my projects, I try to minimise the amount of political topics, even in the comments. It's really hard to do sometimes, because some of my projects talk about Isreal, which is where I live. I do this because I feel that politics and scratch don't mix that well. Even irl I don't have a political opinion. In short, I think that we should avoid talking about politics in scratch, but IDK what does the scratch team think about it.

Galleigo wrote:

Paddle2See on stuff considered inappropriate for Scratch

Paddle2See wrote:

For example: commercial spam, excessive violence, stuff that's too mature for a kids site, comments that ask for or give out personal contact info like phone numbers or email

Looking at “stuff that's too mature for a kids site”, I can think of a lot of things that seem to fall into this category (for example, politics, which seem unhealthy for the average kid).

What does the ST think about this?

Scratch is not a discussion site, it's a programming site.

The purpose of Scratch is to learn how to program.

The purpose of Scratch is NOT to be a place to discuss topics like religion and politics and marriage problems. If you do that then you will most likely end up offending someone, getting reported, possibly getting banned, and so on and on.

I don't know. I think the main reason they try to avoid discussion of stuff like politics is because it can result in flaming, which is against the CG.
You're allowed to talk about your religion, political views, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. as long as you're respectful about it, since the ST allows free (as long as it's kept Scratch-appropriate and just generally respectful) speech.

While there's nothing wrong with discussing sensitive and controversial topics on Scratch alone (assuming that they're being done respectfully), they tend to lead to angry discussions and flaming. Therefore, they're strongly discouraged on Scratch.

If you come across discussions like this that are getting out of hand (or isn't appropriate for all ages), then they should be reported.

use your judgement on if its appropriate then report it

4kun wrote:

LionHeart70 wrote:

I don't know. I think the main reason they try to avoid discussion of stuff like politics is because it can result in flaming, which is against the CG.
You're allowed to talk about your religion, political views, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. as long as you're respectful about it, since the ST allows free (as long as it's kept Scratch-appropriate and just generally respectful) speech.

If speech is of having artificial restrictions placed on to it, therefore it cannot be considered to be free speech.

This argument again?
Well, the thing is, “free speech” doesn't technically refer to just saying whatever you want. It often would have some restrictions.
For example, the United States technically is considered a “free country”, but has many laws.
And you can say what you want, as long as it's not gonna be offensive to anyone.

4kun wrote:

If there are restrictions placed on freedom of speech, then it's not freedom of speech.

Yes, that's technically correct. Maybe the correct term is “liberal speech”?

4kun wrote:

LionHeart70 wrote:

4kun wrote:

LionHeart70 wrote:

I don't know. I think the main reason they try to avoid discussion of stuff like politics is because it can result in flaming, which is against the CG.
You're allowed to talk about your religion, political views, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. as long as you're respectful about it, since the ST allows free (as long as it's kept Scratch-appropriate and just generally respectful) speech.

If speech is of having artificial restrictions placed on to it, therefore it cannot be considered to be free speech.

This argument again?
Well, the thing is, “free speech” doesn't technically refer to just saying whatever you want. It often would have some restrictions.
For example, the United States technically is considered a “free country”, but has many laws.
And you can say what you want, as long as it's not gonna be offensive to anyone.

If there are restrictions placed on freedom of speech, then it's not freedom of speech.

If you are talking about the US constitution, “freedom of speech” referred to criticizing the government. The government cannot abridge your freedom of speech.

It does NOT refer to what individuals can do to you. For example, you can go to someone's house and they can tell you, “ Do not talk about this, this, or this while you are in my house,” and that is perfectly okay.

The company you work for can tell you, “It is forbidden for employees to discuss this or this in the workplace,” and that is okay.

Your wife can say, “Don't talk about that, please,” and that is okay.

I find it funny that this topic on whether or not the discussion of controversial or political topics should be allowed turned into a topic discussing a controversial or political topic and criticizing someone for their technically incorrect use of the phrase ‘free speech’ when it was clear everyone understood perfectly what they meant.


In general, that guideline is in place so as not to offend anyone.

If you are going 62 mph in a speed limit 60 zone, most police officers wont bother pulling you over because they understand that you aren't posing a significantly more dangerous risk than is already being taken when you go 60 mph. Similarly, when the “discussion of controversial topics” guideline is ‘broken’, but the topic remains respectful, the reason for the rule is invalid because there is not a significantly greater risk to viewers or participants and as such the Scratch Team will tend to ignore it. If it wasn't reported, it probably means nobody took it personally.

If you find a discussion of a controversial topic that you find too personal or otherwise offensive, its up to you to report it. If it doesn't offend you and doesn't clearly offend anyone else, it shouldn't be your job to report it.

KingOfAwesome58219 wrote:

I find it funny that this topic on whether or not the discussion of controversial or political topics should be allowed turned into a topic discussing a controversial or political topic and criticizing someone for their technically incorrect use of the phrase ‘free speech’ when it was clear everyone understood perfectly what they meant.


In general, that guideline is in place so as not to offend anyone.

If you are going 62 mph in a speed limit 60 zone, most police officers wont bother pulling you over because they understand that you aren't posing a significantly more dangerous risk than is already being taken when you go 60 mph. Similarly, when the “discussion of controversial topics” guideline is ‘broken’, but the topic remains respectful, the reason for the rule is invalid because there is not a significantly greater risk to viewers or participants and as such the Scratch Team will tend to ignore it. If it wasn't reported, it probably means nobody took it personally.

If you find a discussion of a controversial topic that you find too personal or otherwise offensive, its up to you to report it. If it doesn't offend you and doesn't clearly offend anyone else, it shouldn't be your job to report it.

Well, I tried to ask for people's opinions on abortion. There were some random replies and whatever, no arguments, but Scratch decided it was “too intense”.

Umm.. Scratch supports LGBT+ because they want to be respectful about someone coming out/what their sexuality is.. it's not really a bad thing at all honestly..

Galleigo wrote:

Well, I tried to ask for people's opinions on abortion. There were some random replies and whatever, no arguments, but Scratch decided it was “too intense”.

It violates the “too mature” rule. 8-year-olds do not discuss abortion.

footsocktoe wrote:

Galleigo wrote:

Well, I tried to ask for people's opinions on abortion. There were some random replies and whatever, no arguments, but Scratch decided it was “too intense”.

It violates the “too mature” rule. 8-year-olds do not discuss abortion.

Yeah, I assume so.
I don't think any kids do, honestly.

LionHeart70 wrote:

Umm.. Scratch supports LGBT+ because they want to be respectful about someone coming out/what their sexuality is.. it's not really a bad thing at all honestly..

It's a hot political, social and religious issue that I don't really think should be discussed because of the flaming potential.

footsocktoe wrote:

Galleigo wrote:

Well, I tried to ask for people's opinions on abortion. There were some random replies and whatever, no arguments, but Scratch decided it was “too intense”.

It violates the “too mature” rule. 8-year-olds do not discuss abortion.

8-year-olds do not discuss LGBT either.

Also, the majority (60%) of people here (according to stats) are 13 or above (or at least claim to be).

Galleigo wrote:

footsocktoe wrote:

Galleigo wrote:

Well, I tried to ask for people's opinions on abortion. There were some random replies and whatever, no arguments, but Scratch decided it was “too intense”.

It violates the “too mature” rule. 8-year-olds do not discuss abortion.

8-year-olds do not discuss LGBT either.

Also, the majority (60%) of people here (according to stats) are 13 or above (or at least claim to be).

Nevertheless, Scratch is still for all ages. However…

cul8er wrote:

LionHeart70 wrote:

Umm.. Scratch supports LGBT+ because they want to be respectful about someone coming out/what their sexuality is.. it's not really a bad thing at all honestly..

It's a hot political, social and religious issue that I don't really think should be discussed because of the flaming potential.

Galleigo wrote:

footsocktoe wrote:

It violates the “too mature” rule. 8-year-olds do not discuss abortion.

8-year-olds do not discuss LGBT either.

Not true. Ask an 8-year-old if he has ever heard the word “gay”. I'm not saying they understand it, but they use the word, so it benefits from discussion.

But they don't use the word “abortion” unless they heard it somewhere and use it for shock value and there is no benefit to discussing abortion for them.

People do discuss things on here like the lgbt community, real world events (not pop culture news but like actual world news), etc.

If you have any questions about what is or is not okay for Scratch, just use the Contact Us button to ask the Scratch Team directly. We'd be happy to answer your questions.