About EO's Forums
Education Otherwise is a membership organisation providing support and information for families whose children are being educated outside school, and for those who wish to uphold the freedom of families to take proper responsibility for the education of their children.
Along with all the usual membership benefits, we are pleased to announce the launch of a brand new members' area on this website, with forums for parents where they can chat to other members, obtain support and information and exchange ideas and for children where they can chat to others, make online friends and have fun.
Use of this forum is limited to EO members and there are message boards for both adults and children. If your child wishes to use the Children's forum, we ask you to read and accept the terms and conditions of use before your child/ren can post. We also ask you to read through the list rules with your child/ren.
Important - Child Safety
Whilst EO strives to provide a safe space for the children and young people to chat, no provider of online space can guarantee child safety. Parents are advised that they remain responsible for their children's safety when using the forum. Parents will have their own login so they are aware of what their children do whilst on the forum. They are encouraged to read posts on the children's boards so that they can supervise their children as Education Otherwise cannot act in loco parentis. We do ask however, that you don't reply to the children's posts.
Moderation
Both parent's and children's message boards are post-moderated, i.e. messages appear on the boards first and will be checked later by moderators. Although moderators keep an eye on the conversations on the boards, they may not immediately be aware of any potential problems. We ask members to report any posts which concern them.
The moderators don't chat on the boards and nobody will be aware that they're there unless they need to intervene. If you want to report a conversation you feel uncomfortable with, an easy way to do so is by using the report button found at the top of every post.
Use of PM and Email on the Boards
When an adults user account is opened their PM and email facility is turned on so they can contact other members privately. However, when we open a user account for your child or teenager, we turn off the facility which allows them use of Personal Messages (PMs) and Emails. This is for safety reasons as we are unable to vet our members and have no control over who is chatting to your child in this way.
We appreciate that some children and teenagers may wish to have this facility turned on to enable them to send PMs and emails to others on the forum. If you are happy for your child to do this, then you need to request a permission form to have your child's use of PMs or email on the board turned on. The form asks you to acknowledge that this is at your own risk.