I know PF tries to keep a positive image, reinforces good behaviors, and has an overall caring culture--it's great. What isn't great is what happens when kids feel they have a "safe space"--they tend to talk about subjects that, understandably, are inappropriate for global chat. When this happens, the mods are instructed to remind players of what is and isn't appropriate--which is their job, and I understand that. The problem is, the kids that open up tend to misunderstand this, and it leaves the proverbial "bad taste in your mouth." Kids don't have the experience and emotional maturity to understand that although staff and players do care about the health and well-being of one another, PF staff is NOT (nor should they be!) equipped to handle these kinds of issues. Is there any way we can make a stickied post where people can add support resources (suicide hotlines, sexual abuse hotlines, domestic violence support, mental wellbeing websites, etc) organized by country? That way, when these topics come up, instead of shutting down the conversation entirely, we can provide a useful direction for them to get the help and validation they need, and get the Global chat back to happier topics without diminishing or invalidating someone's concerns.
I genuinely don't see any downside to this, you made a very good point about who is and isn't equipped to be handling such matters. Someone asking for help, pertaining to a serious emotional, etc subject, should be getting pushed in the direction of those who are equipped to effectively and most importantly handle a situation, should one arise. Truly a well done post.
Hello, I believe there are some good points in this topic. But, also some miss conceptions. I personally and have seen other staff do this, will reach out to people via /msg if something like this does happen in chat, as well as say it isn't appropriate for global. We're humans too, we won't just say don't mention it, though there is no way for you guys to know that so I'm glad this has come up. But! You are right, a lot of us aren't equipped to deal with these sort of issues. Most likely I myself would be the most equipped as I'm an honours psychology major and have been studying psychology for several years - I've even taken a suicide prevention course as well. But a lot of staff can relate and help players who are going through things as they can relate in some aspects, who have been able to help players out when they need it. The only concern I have for this is how to execute it. From what it sounds, people would add links that apply to certain countries in one spot so people can get the resources they need. I'm not sure moderation wise how this would go. We can't always keep on top of it (constantly), so if someone puts a troll link, or a link in a different language that isn't actually helpful (like troll link but different lang), it could possibly do more harm than good, and that isn't something we want to happen. Overall I think the idea is good, but from our side I think it may be easier said than done. Hopefully something can be worked out!
