[Mark]

My gut feeling is that we shouldn't be excluding people from any of the forum features based on age. If the conversation is not suitable for kids it's not suitable for a newt forum. I'm not a regular user of the chat program but the few times I have there hasn't been a problem, in fact sometimes the younger chatters are the ones that spark interesting conversation. The new room feature allows you to move away from people you'd rather not chat with. I understand that moderators are not always around to police the chat rooms but you're welcome to report anyone that abuses the chat and spoils it for others. I'd rather see an annoying kid banned from chat rather than restrict an intelligent, eloquent, sub 18 year old from joining in a conversation with adults about caudata.

That aside, John is the only one who would know if what you are suggesting is even possible with the current chat program. I'd be surprised if we could restrict members from certain rooms based on the age in their profile. Also remember that we have no way of proving someone's age. There are probably quite a few kids who lie on their profile to avoid the COPPA restrictions we have in place.