teen furs at ac
This has been something that really has been bugging me, I can not say if it ture for anyone here or not but more of an over all thing. As a teenager who is slowly leaving the 'teen' part behind, i find myself talking to more and more 'adults' and even more so in the furry fandom. I have found one of two things normaly happen, one would be that I get to know someone and after talking they ask how old i am and are ok with it, or two would be the first thing they ask is my age then soon stop talking to me. I am not sure if they fear jail for simply talking to somone under the age of 18 or they just do not think i could have anything to offer but I do 'try' not to let it bug me, but I am starting to wonder what AC will be like will people stay away from me like i have the flue or like the simple act of talking to me will make the FBI come to the house. This has left me in a very bad spot were adults dont talk to me because i am a 'kid' and kids dont talk to me because i am too deep or something. So is there anything I can do to fix this prob
i think my fear is that if i do not talk to people online frist how am i going to talk to them in person, maybe its because my people skills are missing, but i like to know someone before i see them, online i can be myself and not have any fear of others thoughts (and i am myself on this website if anyone would like to know) in person i am not outgoing. And if i am not worried about pedophiles why are people worried about cops?(this is a joke but i cant use the smiles because i am on a phone)
I don't think you will have to worry about it at the con. We brought my son last year when he was 14 and will be bringing him again this year. He didn't have any problems. I would also suggest volunteering at the con, good way to meet people.
thats kind of funny because its normaly the kids dragging the parents to ac. not the parents takeing the kids. I do plan on volunteering because i am from pittsburgh so i think its the least i could do because i can nit sponser so i will volunteer
Heh... wait till you see all the babes in arms and kids in strollers. There are plenty of little ones being taken to AC! (And remarkably few meltdowns that I've witnessed.)
meltdowns? How could there be any when you are never more then 10 feet from a big fuzz teddy bear...... BUT i did just spend the week end at my sisters babysitting her two very littel kids talk about birth control *shivers*
I guess you've never seen what happens when a kid gets overtired and overstimulated. They're exhausted but their minds are so busy that they can't sleep, can't rest, if they're verbal they can't even communicate... and MELTDOWN. Good parents recognize the cues and get their kids to a quiet place where they can relax, and if they haven't staved off the meltdown, at least it happens in private.
Heck, even adults get like that sometimes, despite their best efforts to get to a quiet place and away from a target-rich environment.
Well no I can say I have not and I hope I never have to...... I am a great uncle but that is mostly because i can always go home, I do not think I could do it full time.
Just wanted to note that if you will still be under the age of 18 at the time of the convention(you seemed to imply an age below that in your first post), you will need a notarized permission signed by your parents, or they will need to accompany you to registration to grant permission(given you live in Pittsburgh, this may be the easier option.)
Hope to see you at the con! And don't be afraid of being a bit younger; most of us have been there at one time or another. :>
Thank you for pointing that out because even if I do know that there maybe someone who comes across this who dose not, but I will be having a notarized permission if only because my mom will be working at the time. Thanks never the less
i dont think your deep u just kinda rant on but i dont have that right...hmmmm sorry if this is a stupid comment and really off your question but i would like to say somethin so u know i read ALL of it
i am deep but not with you because you have never shown that you can handle it and i think you could have sent me a text messege and not have had to post but again you can post what ever you like i am not your baby sitter
wow, that's easily the single most rude reply i've seen from you yet, and that's saying a lot.
you really, really need to learn how to talk to people.
Please remember, when communicating online, that all anyone has to go by are your words and your presentation. Therefore, what you say and how you say it is more important than
face-to-face--- we can't see your expressions, or read your body language.
Therefore, if you want to make a better impression, work on those things.
To work on what you say is easier. After reading the FAQs,reading around
Wikifur, and the rules of AC, you have a decent grounding in the basic subject
of discussion. Make sure you read the posts of others carefully. I recommend
replying one session after you read the post-especially if you are going to
react emotionally to their post. This gives you a chance to cool down.
Therefore, your post will be calmer, and you may decide to skip the reply
as it won't benefit you or them.
Try to post friendly- posting posts that just complain, or insult, or
sound like you're in a panic will not improve people's opinions of you.
You can disagree without being disagreeable. (However, an occasional
mistake is forgivable.)
Remember that posting in all caps MEANS YOU'RE SHOUTING, and is as
polite or impolite as shouting normally is.
Try to use proper grammar, proper spelling, and proper punctuation.
Some of us make an effort to try to disregard them, but it's not
always easy to do that. Poor examples of each look like you're
lazy and you don't care. This may not be true-
you may know little English,
you may have a learning disability
you may have had a poor education
so we try not to make that the focus.
Still, it will have an effect on people, like it or not.
At least make an effort to post using proper English and so on.
Also remember to make some paragraph breaks. If all you leave is
one block of text, it will be painful to read it, and people will
just skip past it. If you want people to read, make spaces,and use
punctuation.
====================
As for teens at the con, actually, common manners go a long way.
People at the con tend to be friendly and of course have common
interests. Find the events that interest you, and strike up
a discussion on that subject. Or any subject any time,
providing you're polite and avoid the usual traps of politics
and so on.
It's easier than you think- AC'ers WANT to like you.
*slight sob* Am i correct to understand that most of the frist part was not at me personaly but to teens as a whole because of that I would like to hope that I am almost none of what you discribed.(sorry that was a littel hard not to take as an insult but i am sure you did not mean it that way) That is very much the problem, i put a lot of effort into reading past forms and getting information from this site to pass along when i can. I can not tell you what others think of me for it, but i am not like what you discribed but when people see my age thats what they think. I would LOVE to say i help some people on this site, and to tell you the truth it kind of bugs me that i put in so much effort just to be shruged off. BUT the spelling and grammer is only a problem now because i am on a phone and do not have a key board(also means i can not hit enter). My computer broke and i could not stay away for this long so i am on a phone. Sorry.
Don't take what BlackJack said personally. It looks like he was just giving out general information, not directing it specifically towards you. In short just post and act respectfully and you will be treated with respect. From what I have seen of your posts you have been respectful and helpful so I don't think you really need to worry there. And no need to apologize about having to use your phone, you can't help that you computer is busted.
Well i did not really take it as an insult, i found it better to ask what someone means when you are not clear then thinking you know what they mean. But based on past post from him i am sure he was not in anyway trying to insult me. Thank you I think you just made my day, *hugs* I worry all the time that what i try to do and they way I really look are two diffrent things. I really need to fix my computer, I do not like typos and i am sure there are many. one last time i will thank you
Don't take what BlackJack said personally. It looks like he was just giving out general information, not directing it specifically towards you.
Precisely.
As an online forum for a community with a large youth population, it's pretty common for folks to come who struggle with the medium and are still learning the importance of clear, well written and polite posting with an eye towards consciously indicating mood as needed. So we regulars struggle to find a good balance between welcoming and encouraging new posters to stay and find a place in the forums and asking for the grannar, punctuation, and respectful language we need to feel comfortable. The fact that this has been a rather painful issue in the last week just brought it to the forefront.
So far, posting clarity and politeness not seemed to be an issue for you, so i think it's safe to say that blackjack is speaking about teens in general who want to garner the respect of veteran posters, not you in particular. 
As for offline stuff...once you cross a certain threshold, most adults find it pretty hard to tell the difference between teens and twenty-somethings. If a room party has alcohol, they may not be eager to have teens at it and card at the door. If folks are going out to a bar, they'll expect you to let them know that you can't come. If you're going to the art show, we check your badge for adult status before we let you in the mature section. Otherwise, i don't expect folks will ask you your age all that much. 
Well, first off thanks you very much. Second *hugs* 
And the third was i did not 'really' think blackjack was trying to insult me, but i did want to make sure i knew what he was trying to say.I know i have had those times in the past i am not proud of but so have we all right? And I was not sure if I did something wrong that i did not know of and If i did i would just like to know so I could try and fix it that is all
My entire post was meant very generally. It's my understanding that
you've ALREADY read around the site and have the general idea what
we're about, and you don't post in all caps or with lots of
exclamation points.
When I made a comment about an occasional mistake being forgiven,
I was thinking of my OWN occasional mistakes.
Well thank you, all I was wondering, and I am very sorry if it sounded like i was accusing you of something, as far as I can tell you would never do such a thing. I just wanted to be clear
On a tangential note, I'm curious as to what's attracting teens to the fandom, as arguably the golden age for furry cartoons was 15+ years ago (Disney Afternoon, Tiny Toons, Sonic the Hedgehog (Sat. AM)), and AFAIK they weren't rerun much in syndication, so about all there is these days are webcomics, and I'd be a bit surprised if that was most of the attraction for teen furs...
WELL cartoons and kids? Some of us just do not out grow it. I know the anthro cartoons(ones you may not know of if you do not have any kids yourself) have always been something I have liked. Now For me I think its not about the cartoons but the family part of the fandom. Now I can not speak for ALL members or for even the teens but only myself. I know in school (and life) I am not a 'cool' kid, well let me reword that. I am not an anybody, very much my own person with few that can deal with my crazy. Now on that note my friends that I do have mean the world to me, so that is also a good thing. When I first started in the fandom it was 'only' because the fact that I like cartoons, but almost it seems the more time i spend with theses people the more of a 'family' it is. I do not think I have ever seen a 'group' of people who are all so different in what they believe to be true, who just get along as good as we do. We have our fights, but for the most part I have been greeted and greet people with open arms, really its something that i have never seen before. Now it also dose not hurt that the very reasons (like i am a proud nerd or geek or what ever the 'cool' kids call it) is also something that many can share with. But really when it comes down to it, I think teens are in the fandom for the same reason adults are. We are all just looking for that place that we can be ourself and be with others who are like us in some way, our way is just a little more furry then most.
I'll second the notion about volunteering -- it's a great way to meet people, and help out the con at the same time. At the Art Show we had some teen volunteers who were very good, and I appreciate their help. I had the same problem when I was growing up, I was too smart for most of the kids my age and felt more comfortable dealing with adults.
To sort of summarize all your fears down as far as I can - I started coming to the con when I was 17 and some of my BEST cons were when I was younger. I had an -awesome- time meeting people and making friends when I was younger. That barrier doesn't exist because I think intent is pretty clear in a face-to-face conversation.
I often find I don't have much to talk about with people I meet online, PERIOD, unless I find out we have a lot in common. In person though, conversation flows much more easily. I think a lot of folks are like that, and you might be experiencing some of that as well.
Long story short, don't think to deep into it, don't worry too much - you'll have a good time as long as you make the effort to meet folks and people, regardless of age, will be happy to talk to you.
Great post, Protocollie! Here's my advice on the subject, WeisenWolf:
Make an effort to meet people at the con, and be polite. There's a lot to be excited about, especially if cons are rare for you. In other words, be careful of what you say or how you act (personally, it's hard to pay much attention to really hyper people, or extremely shy ones). And by "you", I mean a person in general, not YOU you, you know?
Being thoughtful and clear helps people to listen and react to what you want to express. I tend to get a little long-winded and try to keep it simple and courteous, then cut it short when people's eyes start glazing over 
You'll have fun talking and making friends with no problems if you give it a try and are kind. Know what your limits are, like if someone's bothering you, walk away. If keeps up, get some help.
As for online stuff, it's sometimes hard to gauge because it's not always happening in real time. I like forums like this one because there's always a chance to say (or type) something thoughtfully and people have a chance to reply with the same courtesy. Just remember to know your comfort level when engaging in a conversation, online or off.
Personally, WeisenWolf, I don't think the problem will occur at the con. Here, in the anonymity of the Internet, people are afraid of talking too long, in private, with anyone who identifies themselves as... "sub-adult," for lack of a better term. People have a fear of talking to someone privately because they are afraid that the person may be a police officer trolling for pedophiles.
When you're talking to someone in person, that fear disappears. And if they meet you at the con, there will be less fear on the part of those over 21 to talk with you on-line.
(And I'm a lousy one to talk, as well. I have no means of Instant Messaging, no Facebook, Twitter, DA or FA accounts. In short, I'm pretty much isolated out here...)