I know you guys hate me but here me out on a serious issue.
Looking at this forum, I have witnessed people express suicidal thoughts, people with clear mental health issues who has to virtually ignore everyone to keep himself sane and even bullying from moderators.
Now I'm not a saint, and I take ownership of some baiting or name calling around here, a lot of it having fun or in jest but lately I have read some pretty disturbing threads where people are pushed to tipping points or even a desire to end their life. Whether or not they are joking, the concerns must be taken seriously (or at least be seen to)
I think moderators should be conducting themselves to a much higher esteem and set a good example regardless of what their opinions on the members are. They are not only caretakers of the forum, but caretakers of its members too. They should not engage in antagonising or conduct unbecoming of someone with authority. Think of Moderators as teachers and the members as kids. What if kids saw teachers behave in petty and childish schoolyard bullying? Teachers might love to say what they think to the little snot noses but the job they accepted comes with that sacrifice.
Now a link to getting help could also be useful in the event that anything did happen to a member (and where their online activity would be scoured) that, that member had access to information that could help at any time. In the past, administrators of forums where members have been bullied and taken their own lives have been held to account for not stopping it and indeed goading the person to do it. If that happened here, currently there could be some hard questions for the people in charge. Maybe you guys also need a disclaimer that the views expressed in the forum do not necessarily reflect those of the administrators or moderators. Just legal red tape stuff to protect yourselves.
Now I know I am not liked here and you'll probably just pay me out etc and that's fine. I can take it. This is the 'suggestions and concerns' section so that is mine. Do with it what you will. Now that it's out there though, what do you choose to do about it?
Linking information to mental health help sites wont detract from this societies objectives. It would show that you give a damn, care about your members and indeed not treat an online forum like a school play yard and something adult and professional where real issues are acknowledged. You can not deny that this forum seems to have attracted a greater percentage of people with mental health concerns for whatever reason. Mental health is a serious issue. Given what I have seen on these boards, I for one will refrain from baiting or insulting sensitivities even if you guys wish to pile up on me. Mental health is a serious problem and it is doubtful anyone will go through life without either knowing someone who has suffered it or suffered from it themselves at one point or another. I confess as a newbie I didn't know just how sensitive certain members are to this stuff.
I'm happy to start over and sing a free thinking tune. I think that's a tune we can all sing regardless of our stance