Should EPISODE be 15+ instead?

We know so much “stuff”, it’s not like authors are exposing us to the world. I know to act mature, even though sometimes it might not come off like that, but I have a special place in my heart for Episode. This is so cheesy, but true. Sometimes I feel alone, but then I’m happy here, and there’s no true word that describes it. And it’s sad to think that even the community here makes you feel lonely.

and im crying… like for real guys… this isn’t very “respectful” :persevere:

We’re not saying that you’re not wanted here, you just have to understand that some things on EPISODE aren’t supposed to be seen or viewed by younger audiences. And a lot of the writers on here are writing content that should be labeled as 15+. If you read the previous conversation/debates that we already had on here, you’ll understand better. And you don’t have to cry, no one’s being mean to you : ) . And maturity is a valuable thing to have, especially as a younger teenager/person, but you could be the most mature younger one on the planet, but still be pressured/persuaded to do things. I remember when I was younger, I thought the exact same thing, I thought I was mature… the outcome isn’t all that pretty. But like I mentioned before, I’m only offering a suggestion, and this topic has been moved as well.

^here is the new topic if you want to continue to discuss there.

Cheers,
R.

thx… :no_mouth: kinda speechless… but thx for putting our views into perspective. I understand that some authors put “not so appropriate content” on the app, maybe those sections will help!:blush:

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yes it would be better,
btw ;is someone good in art cause i need a cover
ps:this is my email if you are interested:
liz.jc.episode@gmail.com

Heyo! We actually made another topic about this!

Here it is if you’re interested!

Cheers,
R.

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Your responses are kind of mind-boggling. You like to use the argument that instead of banning stories who disregard the guidelines, we should just make a way to work around them by changing the age!

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No, I’m not, and, again I’ll tell everyone, we moved the topic over, this topic was supposed to be just a passing thought. But I’ll respond to you anyway. EPISODE already bans stories, and we also ban stories, well, some of us do. But, there’s just too many stories out there that are not appropriate for the age that EPISODE has specified for the APP/Website (13+). Even EPISODE itself disregards it’s own guidelines sometimes in favor of writing a good story. And again, the reason why I suggested this was so that not only would readers be of age to read the stories being produced, but the writers wouldn’t have EPISODE breathing down their necks about what not to write. It’s already hard enough to write a story within the proper guidelines of a PG-13 story, but EPISODE’s guidelines are all messed up. I’m sure I used this example with someone else, for forgive me for that, but I’ll repeat it again:
When asking whether I could talk about suicide in a story that I was writing, the response was pretty much yes, but under severe limitations. However, then I asked about human trafficking, which, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a bit more darker and sinister than depression and suicide, but EPISODE just said that if I wanted to, I could write an entire story about it.
…What the heck?
I know that it might seem unfair, but it might prove to be better for EPISODE and it’s community members,
Anyway, like I said, we moved the topic so if you want to voice your opinions there, feel free too : )

Cheers,
R.

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I’ve been playing since I was twelve, and I have to disagree with you. I LOVE reading and want to be an author one day, I’ve gotten most of my inspiration from Episode… so in my opinion. It should stay 13+

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same, well since i was 9-10 lol didn’t know the age restrictions back then lol :joy:

Well, for one, I’d have to be worried that you were breaking the guideline rules, second, like I keep telling everyone, there is a set limit age for anyone to be exposed to anything. And, again like I said, EPISODE has content in it that should be 15+.

If you want to read more, I’ve had this discussion numerous times with other people. Just scroll up.

Cheers,
R.

Well Episode should at least give Authors the option to warn children about 15+ content, if they ignore it… it’s their loss. Plus, it depends on maturity.

Well, think about it like this. When have you ever turned the story off, or exited out of it solely because of a warning at the start of the story? Most people don’t. Anyway, the topic has been moved to here:

If you still want to talk, or if you like this suggestion better, please go here.

Cheers,
R.

I’m not sure if I agree with you that there is a set limit age to be exposed to something. I think younger people can be exposed to a lot of different things, depending on how we expose them to it. I mean, children in schools are often taught sex education a lot earlier than the age of 13, but it’s about how it’s done in schools.

That’s actually part of the reason why I’m worried that raising the age will just give people an excuse to depict sensitive topics in very toxic ways.

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Like I said before, everything has a time and a place for everything, and yes, I agree on you that it’s also important about the way that we expose children to sensitive topics that makes a difference. But let me tell you an example of when you expose children to things too early, I’m that example. I was told about the whole birds and the bees talk when I was about 5 years old, wayyyy too early for anyone to be learning about that type of stuff, and the outcome? I thought pretty much nothing but that in my later years, stuff like ‘I can not wait to have sex with people’, stuff that a child should NOT be thinking. And what I specifically meant by ‘there is a set age limit for anyone to be exposed to anything’, is that some topics literally are not meant to be talked about with kids. The brain isn’t developed enough for some topics to be completely understood by kids, and they can use it in the wrong type of way. Or actually be easily more pressured into doing things that they normally wouldn’t do.

And yes, I also agree on you with the whole ‘sensitive topics in very toxic ways’, there’s nothing much we can really do about that, I’ve already seen plenty of stories on EPISODE that has sensitive topics (death, suicide, depression, bullying ect.) dealt with in a very immature manner. But we can’t really stop all of those can we?

Cheers,
R.

But you do seem to be negating the fact that it can be completely dependent on how the birds and the bees were brought up.

I can give you a personal example, too: I learnt about sex fairly early, too, but my mum never portrayed it either as a good or a bad thing. It was just a thing that adults did. I went about my way and never thought much about it. To me, adults were the ones who have jobs, swear and do that special kind of hug to have babies.

Yes it can depend on how you talk about it, but it still isn’t completely dependent on how you talk about it. There’s still things in the world that children/kids or anyone under the proper age limit, shouldn’t be exposed to. I’m not saying that we can’t talk about it, I’m saying exposed to. Yes, there’s people out there that do, in fact, talk about it immaturely, or maturely, but even if you talk about it with the most maturity in the world, and there’s still a chance that they will do those things, or abuse them in the future.

Cheers,
R.

The problem is that abusing or doing bad things is just part of what makes us human. We aren’t saints and sometimes we want to do bad things because they’re bad. I mean, we aren’t just robots that are the product of our environment. We can’t blame how we turn out completely on the things around us. It’s completely our choice how we respond to these different stimuli in our life. Often, in fact, not getting enough information about and exposure to these things can make them more appealing because they make us rebellious. Then, the fact that we haven’t discussed the themes with our parents can become a real problem because we may not know how to deal with issues as they arise.

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True, I 100% agree with you on that point, but environment is also a factor in how the child turns out in the future. If a family swears and abuses drugs, then the child will most likely grow up thinking that it’s okay. Or if they are brought up in the world where drinking alcohol while being underage or where everything that we would nowadays see as morally wrong, they would see as right and being ‘okay’, then they will do those things. And I’m not saying that you absolutely have to make the right decisions 24/7, but that 24/7 hour period is where you must be striving to make the right decisions. If you do something wrong, be it legally or not, you can’t just turn around and use “I’m a human” as a response. Then it just becomes excuses for getting out of things.

Cheers,
R.

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I don’t think you’re understanding what I mean entirely. What I mean by “we’re human” is that sometimes, it doesn’t matter how we have things portrayed to us as children. Sometimes we need to take responsibility for our own bad choices. People have tried using “this influences people” to stop all kinds of films, books, games etc. The only problem with that is that we all react differently to these portrayals. Also, most of the time, a well-thought-out representation can be better and more beneficial than not representing difficult topics at all.

It may be better to cover things like rape and sexual assault in ways that help young people understand these topics and behave sensitively. It may be better to show young people that relationships with teachers are inherently unhealthy, rather than not represent them at all. Maybe it’s better to show young people that these things exist and teach them how to deal with sensitive topics as they arise appropriately and usefully, as opposed to censoring difficult stuff from 13-year-olds. Ignorance isn’t always a good thing.

I also believe that you are not understanding what I am trying to say as well. I’m saying that if we show those not the appropriate age these kinds of things, then not only will they be tempted to do it themselves, they will become desensitized to it, and they’ll accept those things as ‘normal’ and ‘everyday occurrences’ and not care. In an article that I read online (they also made it into a documentary I’ll see if I can find it and link it to you) was that a boy who was taught about rape, or was exposed to it (the idea of it), actually did commit rape. But not only did he commit a high level offense, he did it to his own sister. The parents said in an interview that they highly regret exposing him to those things early on, and even wanted to warn parents that there was a time and a place for talking about those types of things.

And even if that is a worse case scenario, they will still be desensitized to the idea of all of these terrible things. Murder? Meh. Rape. Whatever. Torture? shrug Pregnant when 12 years old? Happens all the time, so why not do it myself?

The point I am trying to make here is that if a highly impressionable child/teen/preteen is exposed to these things in an earlier age, then they will accept them as normal, and even do it themselves. It won’t matter how many times you say that it’s wrong, the damage will be done already.

And that is the grim truth and harsh reality that all parents/adults/anyone has to deal with.

Cheers,
R.