Young posters

@AlexisHeretoHelpU
Hello!
If they are under 13, you can politely let them know that they can use our site when they are 13 or up and for their safety, also let community@7cups.com know about it. Screenshots are preferred.

If its a member who is under 18 but at least 13-17 years of age, they can be asked to write an email to community@7cups.com with their correct date of birth and request to be switched over to the teen side of 7 Cups. The member can then connect to a teen or adult-teen listener for support.

Hope this helps.

@AlexisHeretoHelpU I would say that "clear" is one thing, and "might be" is another, so it is unsettling that you wrote both.

If the plain fact of the matter is that a member lied about their age and is not yet 18, then you cannot chat to them. You have to tell them that and end the chat immediately. (For some listeners the relevant age would be 13.) I suppose you should also report the situation to 7 Cups.

However, in real life I once spoke to a woman in her 30s who was having a psychotic episode and reliving memories of when she was about 9. She sounded and acted like a 9 year old, which she was in her head.

And online (but not at 7 cups) I have come across people who have dissociative identity disorder (DID) and have a number of personalities (or alters), some of whom are young children.

So it is not always easy to be certain enough of the facts to do the right thing.

Charlie

If someone is under 13, there are resources that can be recommended to them, although some of that is location dependent.