<p>Thanks for the info, MaineLonghorn, I will follow up on that suggestion.</p>
<p>What I am suggesting is that everybody make a conscious effort to retract their claws when responding to a youth poster. Here are some examples of the sort of thing that bothers me. I’m paraphrasing.</p>
<p>“If your parents’ income is … they should have done such-and-so (e.g. 529 investment amounts).” Positive approach: Your parents may have made a 529 investment, and may be willing to reassure you about this; have you tried asking them? [Note, many youth posters may not even know what a 529 investment is, or how it works; some parents may not even know.]</p>
<p>“You should have talked with your parents earlier about…” Positive approach: it’s never too late to talk to your parents about…</p>
<p>“Judging from the financial information you have posted, I think it’s likely your parents can afford…” Sorry, I can’t find a positive way of expressing this.</p>
<p>I realize that some youth posters have a thick skin and can handle a lot. But (a) <em>I’m</em> offended by some of what I have read on the forum. And (b) let’s suppose the youth poster accepts the responders’ advice to start a dialogue about finances with his parents, and begins by showing his parents his CC thread; it would be a shame if the tone of any of the responses in the thread put the parents on the defensive about their finances or financial savvy.</p>
<p>Note, it doesn’t bother me when an adult poster talks to a youth poster about the dangers of getting in deep debt. That’s not what my plea is about.</p>
<p>Regarding tangents – every forum has its own level of tolerance of tangents. Judging from the tangents I’ve seen on this thread, I guess CC has a very high level of tolerance of tangents. Wow!</p>
<p>It’s not that the tangents aren’t interesting. It’s just that they make it hard for people with limited internet time to participate or find what they need.</p>
<p>I would like to request that new threads be made for the tangents in this particular case at least. Just post a link to your new thread.</p>
<p>If there’s more people want to say on the topic of etiquette when responding to a youth poster’s thread … I look forward to reading it! If people feel done with this topic, let’s let the thread die a happy death. Thanks, everyone!</p>