VISION STATEMENT FOR MISC.KIDS.MODERATED
By Roger Hunt and Claire Petersky

Our vision for misc.kids.moderated centers on the twin concepts of the
COMMUNITY and the VILLAGE.

We want to see a real COMMUNITY emerge for us. Community is something that
can't be forced. It can't be externally imposed. It exists and flourishes
because individual members want it to happen, and work to make it so.
Moderation can't make that happen, just as government can't make people
become ethical. Both ethics and community are the collective expression of
individual attitudes and behaviors. We want to create and sustain a place
on the Net where community can thrive.
 
We want a VILLAGE in which we can raise our children. We see a parenting
newsgroup as an extended village of friends and acquaintances, of
newcomers and long-term residents. The fact that we may never "meet" in
"person" is an inconvenience, but one that doesn't need to hinder our
ability to advise, support, and offer friendship to each other and each
other's families.

We want a newsgroup that won't scare off people who are coming here for
the first time. Many of us feel that if we were to wander into many
unmoderated newsgroups nowadays, we would just keep wandering, on out the
back door. A village thrives best with new villagers. 

We want a group that has a stable core of long-time members who know the
group, know the issues, and are able and willing to help the rest (and
each other) at our common task of child-rearing. A village thrives best
with village elders.
    
We want a civil atmosphere to our discussions. We don't object at all to
lively debate or strong language. We don't, however, see any point in
posts that are purely inflammatory and have no bearing on the group's
purpose. No village survives long without manners and respect for others.

We want to encourage free exchange. No village society survives long
without freedom of speech.

We want a group where parents and others can easily find information about
being better parents. No village survives long without a clear purpose of
the work to be done.

We want a group that's congenial and fun to be in, as well as
informative. Part of any newsgroup should be support as well as
information. Laughter, and the opportunity to enjoy and even celebrate our
families, are as critical to this mission as sober analytical discussion.
No village survives long without festivals.

We also see misc.kids.moderated in terms of the GARDEN and the PUBLIC
SQUARE
  
We see moderation as like pulling out a few weeds that threaten to choke
out the good flowers in the garden. All the sunshine and fertilizer and
watering in the world won't make your garden grow. You've got to have good
seeds for that to happen. But we want at least to give the flowers a
chance to grow before they're choked out by a few weeds soaking up all the
sun and water. (We think even dandelions are flowers.)

In a different metaphor, we see misc.kids.moderated as a PUBLIC SQUARE.
People have met and talked and gotten to know each other in public squares
for generations. Public squares have also been a place in history where
speakers could reach a mass audience, to rally support for a cause, to
"think out loud" and develop a position, or merely to express themselves
on a topic important to them. We think it's great they had a place in
which to speak (as much as we might disagree with what they're saying).
Unfortunately, the current state of affairs on unmoderated newsgroups is
qualitatively different. We are plagued by small but zealous gangs of
thugs who are exercising their lungs by staking out a place right next to
us, yelling in all our ears as we try to carry on normal conversations
with each other, taunting us when we politely ask them to voluntarily
speak in civil tones, and sometimes trying to sell us things we don't want
or need. We just want a different -- but still public -- Square, so that
we can talk to each other and to anyone else who comes along, about what's
important to us.

July, 1997