There have been some highly contentious topics on the Forum in the last few weeks. While I am neither agreeing, nor disagreeing with the posts made I would like to make the following general comments.
The Forum is a publically accessible web page. While a password is necessary to make posts, all those written can be seen without control by anyone who has a fancy to look. I think it is commonly accepted that children do make use of the internet to a great extent and while I do not believe that they would choose this site as a priority they may access it in other ways, possibly more so if parents or grandparents have left it as a bookmark. They will probably look at the 'Chitchat' page first as it list 'jokes and trivia'. The point I am making is do we wish some of the posts made to be seen by children, or our grandchildren? Some of the comments are made to introduce discussion and to provoke thought, but they may not always be taken in that context.
If it is felt by all that freedom of speech should prevail, then would it not be beneficial to everyone to make a new Forum sub section for these topics, that is password protected for access. Then posts would not be exposed to even the slightest possible access by non-adult members.
I do remember being advised by the IT department of one of my employers that I should be prepared to repeat anything I placed on the Internet in the middle of the local high street, because it was just as public.
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