February 2019 Meeting Schedule

@Jill7cups thank you for responding, jill! I think one of the main concerns here is if you're an ATL and if you're more active and participative in the teen side just like what Emma mentioned with her example about the modding. It's not like ATL mods are only required to mod the adult side. Since they can access both sides, they're expected to be able to mod both adults and teens. In that case, I believe that they should also be updated and be aware of the issues going on in the teen side as well. How is that possible if they're only required to attend the adult side meeting and not being able to discuss the issues they're facing in the teen side as a mod? That being said, ATL meetings are suggested by Emma.

@Jill7cups @Emsworld @Erato This wasn't something I'd heard of before, but then again I haven't been attending meetings much or at all for the past 2-3 months. I feel like this further adds to that feeling of alienation that aged up teens tend to feel soon after aging up. I'm someone who stays on the teen side only, yes I'm an adult listener but I honestly rarely enter adult rooms and if I do it's usually for about a minute or less. I know there are many others who are the same, who barely do anything regarding the adult side, if at all, I've been an ATL for over a year now but I still feel very out of place in any adult meetings when I do decide to pop into them. And from what I'm seeing here they're expected to just attend the adult ones from the minute the age up? A lot of those who have aged up feel this same feeling, that feeling of not fitting in on either side - since you're now considered "too old" for the teen side, and the adult side is completely new to you, so you can end up feeling really out of place there too. It's frustrating, and now seeing that ATL's aren't allowed to attend Teen meetings, that will only add to that feeling.
As far as I was aware, before this, teens did have Teen meetings from time to time, and those were stated clearly in the announcements that it was teen only, asking that ATLs don't come to those, which is absolutely fair, but not every meeting was teen only. ATLs spend time on the teen side, and should have a space to share their opinions on matters concerning the teen side too. In the adult meetings, it's always completely focused on adult specific situations, rooms etc. which makes sense but if ATLs aren't allowed to attend teen meetings, where can we discuss our opinions on certain issues, together?

Hey @Jill7cups

Thank you for your response! I think Era stated my opinions pretty well in her post, I think its difficult to explain it well - but I don't think the Skills Meetings are necessarily the issue. I can understand if we are just learning about things, and the exact same things are brought up - we wouldn't need two meetings. However, I am more on about the role meetings such as group mod meetings, and sc leaders meetings - where different things are discussed depending on the community.

I realise that with the meetings being cut back, things will be different - but one of the best parts about the moderator meetings was finding out what is happening in the teen community. As a teen moderator, I am often called into rooms - much like other ATL Moderators, and I don't believe we can fully understand the different situations happening, without attending meetings with the rest of the teen community. It almost feels like we'd be at a disadvantage and have lack of knowledge.

For the past year, when ATLs have spoken about how they feel in the teen community (especially those who have aged up), and we are often told that we are all included, and just as part of the community as teens. I realise that its a complex situation, and that we do have both sides of the site, so it makes things difficult, but I honestly feel like there is very little evidence to support this? We are still expected to help out when needed, and therefore a part of the community – but when getting the information, or support for teen side related issues, we dont really have any space for this.

I spend a lot of time in TL, much more time than I do in LSR and due to my role as a Global Moderator (and usually the only global mod online at the time) I am often called into moderating situations when in TL. This is at least a couple of times a week, but recently more frequently. When I am called in, it is good to have some knowledge about the room in general, as well as the current position of the room. If the moderators, or STL is doing anything specific in the room to help deescalate conflict, then its great to know for when we go in there. Now most of the time, there are no teen moderators around during the times I am online, so I will go into the room and try and deescalate the situation. Being present in moderator meetings, allows me to be aware of the different situations currently affecting the site and brainstorm with other moderators to get a better understanding of how we can work together. However, with it being recommended that adults now dont go to meetings (or that ATLs should leave teens to have their chance to speak – which is totally okay) I feel that this is missing. I feel like then it would be better for only teens to go into emergency situations – which obviously we dont want, because often they arent around all the time. As volunteers, we shouldnt require them to be.

I feel like the solution would be to have skill sessions, and open times with you and Kate for teens to share their problems, and have time alone – but when it comes to leadership meetings about the teen community, I think a decision needs to be made about if we want ATLs to have the leadership roles in the teen community, and if so than I feel it would be beneficial to have them included in these meetings. Maybe having a few meetings every now and then just for the Teen Community. Ive been writing this reply for the past couple of hours (in between lecture breaks opps!) so thank you @Kate for replying about the Teen Star/Mentor Meetings – Im glad to hear that we are still welcome in those meetings unless stated otherwise.

As Rose said, and Ive briefly mentioned already in this response, I feel like this does go further to isolate ATLs, especially those who have aged up. Like Rose, I have been on the adult side just over a year – and I feel more connected with the Teen Side, I explore the adult side but spend the majority of my time in Teen Rooms and TL, therefore attending Adult Meetings dont help to discuss the situations on the teen community. I realise when there is overlap, then its best to stick to one meeting rather than taking teen time, but role wise – I think it is important to have time for ATL's and Teens to interact. We are one community, and with us having no meetings together (except for the TS/TM meeting) we are becoming more and more divided.

I know that nothing can be changed, unless solutions are brought up so I wanted to bring a few ideas to the table – and see if they were realistic. ATL meetings, although not ideal because they arent with the whole community, would at least give ATLs space to discuss teen related issues, which we are unable to discuss in adult meetings due to the fact it is not being inclusive to all adults in the room. If possible, we could also figure out a way to give teens their alone time, but also have meetings to do with roles – for the whole teen community. I realise that there are probably reasons why we dont have these anymore, but Id love to see these start back up. Could meetings become more frequent if people volunteered to help out with them? Could we get a room for ATLs that we can simply discuss teen related issues, even if we have no official meeting – but much like Mod Zone that is open all time? Is there any other way we could still get the information?

I know that I dont speak for all ATLs with this post – and simply am only speaking from my point of view, although I think more support and transparency, is never a bad thing! I also really appreciate all that the admin team do for the volunteers on the site, and know that they try their best to support us. I hope this post doesn't come across as an unpleasant post, and it is very much meant to be a problem solving/feedback response to try and figure out if something could happen in the future! Thank you for monitoring this thread, and helping us figure things out!

Emma