Dave_C

First of all, I originally posted this in the technical suggestions forum, which I think was the wrong place, please feel free to close/move either one of the threads. Sorry!

Can we have a youth forum, primarily for people in the 16 - 25 age range? Currently, there's a Women's forum, GLBT, Disability and Travelling with Children (aimed pretty much at the parents, rather than kids themselves) but no Young Person's forum.

I think a forum aimed at young people, and moderated by young people would make a great addition. There was a thread on either the CO/NW/DL forum (can't remember, sorry) that got four or five pages long about being young and elite, so I definately thing there's a need.

I see there's a big debate about whether there should be a forum for Chrisitian (or Religious in general) travelers; this isn't intended to be another "me too", lets have a forum for every minority interest under the sun. The fact is that every single person at one time or another was young and we have specific needs and issues and it would be great if we could have our own fourm.

Thanks!

wharvey

A Youth Forum? Is that OMNI?

This sounds like a great idea.... but remember that the forum would not be limited to Youth participating....

I would be curious to know what types of things you believe would be discussed in such a forum.

William

Fraser

As a young-un myself I second Dave_C's suggestion ^

Dave_C

I found the thread from the CO forum:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48208

This kind of thing would be exactly appropriate.

Of course older people will post there, just as men post in the women's forum and straight people post in the GLBT forum - it's not a problem in either of those places.

Thanks

Spiff

I'll post this suggestion in the TalkBoard Forum.

Be advised, however, that any post that caters only to flyers of a certain group or discourages participation by those not in a certain group is generally frowned upon.

For example both the Women's and GBLT fora both permit participation by all, not just by those for whom the forum is named.

Get togethers planned in public in these fora are also open to all. There have been a couple of instances in the past where youthful posters have attempted to organize events that were not open to participation by all.

Dave_C

Of course, I've been to a couple of BA board meets, and there were a few bmi interlopers there!

But seriosuly, I think it would be silly, small-minded and impossible to restrict it to people of a specific age, and I certainly wouldn't want that, nor would I imagine anyone else.

On certain topics, i'm sure having an older person's more experienced, and possibly wiser outlook on things, would be beneficial to gaining a different perspective on things.

Flyertalk gains greatly from having different people from all backgrounds participating together, however a youth forum just seems a noticeable omission to me.

Thanks!

AJLondon

Hey, I thought we bmi interlopers were the only sane (and sober ) people at that Do...

And I too welcome the idea of a Youth Forum. ^
So finally putting your 'youthful exuberance' to good use, eh Dave...!

cheers
AJ

civicmon

I also vote for this one.

Doesn't need to be youth-exclusive but youth-oriented...

jef7

I believe this will indeed be a nice addition to this already great community. I'm a young traveler and it would be nice to be in contact with the experiences of others like me. Of course it should be youth-oriented, maybe something that caters to younger flyers who are currently aspiring, but not quite yet the "premiers" and "platinums" like many of the helpful members here . Yes, open participation is important. A forum's effectivity can only be maximize by the invaluable inputs from flyers of all ages.

Dave_C

At least this is proving to be uncontroversial! Do we know if/when this is going to happen?

gleff

I admit I do have a couple of concerns, though they aren't necessarily insurmountable.

Is there something unique to the travel experience being young that isn't experienced by others, that cuts across various programs (as opposed to, say, United's CollegePlus program), that members of this forum have something to contribute to, and that is of frequent enough discussion to warrant being broken away from TravelBuzz?

Occasionally there are topics about how younger folks are treated in C or F. But I wonder if age is a relevant defining characteristic for the travel experience? Or if folks can point to a swath of threads in TravelBuzz that y'all could draw a circle around and say they should be in this new Youth forum?

Dave_C

I would argue that it's just as much a defining characteristic as being a Woman, or being Gay. The precedent has been set by these other two forums.

I suspect that before the GLBT forum was founded, people generally wouldn't have posted about issues related to travel and their sexuality in TravelBuzz, or in a specific airline's forum. I'm gay myself, and certainly wouldn't have. Not due to fear, or being closeted, but just becuase I wouldn't think it was particularly appropriate, or the community at large wouldn't have deemed it so. Even if there were a few threads, I don't suspect there will have been lots.

I think that will be much the case with young people and a youth forum too.

Youth and student travel are huge, in the UK, there are travel agents geared to dealing only with young people and students (STA Travel).

flamboyant 1

Yes to a forum with and for YOUTH-ORIENTED TOPICS! No age limit for posting of course. Just for topics that are like. Children and Students in FC. Best FFP / hotel program for students, etc.


VERY WELCOME ADDITION TO FT it would be. Please make it happen. Great idea.

gradvmedusa

I say go for it. I'm 17(soon to be 18) and would appreciate having a fourm geared towards youth travelers.