*Re "** young men from 11-19", which if you think about it, is pretty much
the demographic of Wikimedia's admins and functionaries."* That's an old
joke, but nowadays a joke that looks a tad out of touch. Yes a significant
proportion of people were that age when they became admins in 2004-2008.
But if there is one thing we know about the people who became admins ten
years ago, it is that they are ten years older today. I couldn't guarantee
that none of our current admins were that young now, but I'd be surprised
if more than one or two were. Only twenty of our current admins created
their accounts in the last six years
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AListUsers&username=&group=sysop&creationSort=1&desc=1&limit=2000>.
RFA has been difficult for teenagers to pass for several years now, If any
have got through in the last six years they have been unusually mature in
behaviour. As for Functionaries, Functionaries other than crats have to
prove they are 18 or over when they become Functionaries. So it is
theoretically possible that any new functionaries who first became so in
the last two years could be 18 or 19, but it isn't exactly likely.
The template bombers who tag lots of articles for admins to delete probably
do include some people in that age group, but admins? If 1% of the 1200
admins on English Wikipedia were still under 21 I would be stunned. Far
more admins are over 60 than could possibly be 11-19.
On 20 February 2017 at 18:53, Neotarf <neotarf(a)gmail.com> wrote:
"A Call to Men UK has 55 coaches working in
schools, youth justice
departments and youth centres across Worcestershire. The organisation has
one principal aim, explains development manager Michael Conroy: to spark a
'cultural shift in the way boys relate to girls', and through this to
prevent violence against women and girls.... 'As a culture it’s time
that we gave our young men permission to be complex, sensitive and happy
human beings who transmit positivity and respect to others'.” [1]
They have a program "for young men from 11-19", which if you think about
it, is pretty much the demographic of Wikimedia's admins and functionaries.
[2]
This is all the more interesting right now because of the recent Newmark
Foundation grant to combat harassment, which it seems is to be used for
developing more forceful blocking tools for admins and functionaries "with
the participation and support of the volunteers who will be using the
tools". If anyone has not seen the Susan J Fowler / Uber piece on
harassment that has started going viral in the last 24 hours, it is here. "...they
didn't do anything because the manager who threatened me was a 'high
performer.'" [3] Sound familiar? This happened in a company with HR
oversight; Wikimedia admins and functionaries have no oversight at all.
[1]
https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2017/feb/
20/teaching-boys-about-healthy-relationships-they-need-it-from-birth
[2]
http://acalltomenuk.org.uk/
[3]
https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-
one-very-strange-year-at-uber
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