City Hall wanted some input on various questions concerning Whyville and its policies on behavioral punishments. Where should we set the limits? Should it be the business of Whyville that its citizens are nice, in and outside of the website? I actually thought about those questions myself, and came up with answers that I find are appropriate.
A question was brought up a while ago, asking how can you get people to be nice. I thought about that as well, and have come up with my own answer to this problem.
You cannot get people to act kindly towards others. No amount of force or punishment is going to change someone's rude ways. People must take the initiative before they can better themselves and act more respectfully. It would be unfortunate to actually witness Whyville pile on the punishments, since we already have a fair amount and yet problems still arise here and there. What would the point of Whyville be if it would be more suited to label it as a jail rather than an educational website?
In actuality, much of our efforts is put in ensuring the citizens behave properly rather than learn something new. However, that has to be the case. Some individuals do need to be on constant watch, because their conduct can be very inappropriate. I am assuming that you aren't allowed to swear at home or at school, so what gives you the right to do so on Whyville? I understand that the majority of people may slip up and get a fine or two, or perhaps be muted on occasion, but there is a difference between learning from your mistakes and doing them repeatedly.
It is true that our actual demeanor can get so low that it happens outside of Whyville. Perhaps on other chat-rooms or instant messaging services. Even fights that emerged on Whyville can blow into schools, malls, etc. However, shouldn't it be your own personal responsibility to act kindly and look beyond these arguments, instead of it being the job of the workers of Whyville?
I have witnessed some rude and hateful behavior on Whyville, and the disappointing thing is that we cannot do much about it. Muting helps, for a while -- but everything cannot be permanent. Instead, we should take it upon ourselves to act in a more suitable way.
Safety and actual *kindness* are two different things. The problem is if one person hacks into another's out-of-Whyville account, there is a greater chance that personal information could be retrieved which then, in turn, will make a potential Whyville citizen vulnerable. Does Whyville have the authority to monitor what goes on outside of the Playground, Sportsplatz, Pool Party, or in front of Grandma's front door?
In all truth, it would be a case of his word against mine. In addition, finding out the actual crime and serving a punishment would be like going to court. You would have to find out what happened, listen to both sides of the story, and then compose a suitable punishment. Perhaps Whyville needs a full time Lawyer and Judge...?
We all think of Whyville as a town with its own set of rules and codes of conduct. Well what about in your country? Sure, there are laws you have to abide by, but a simple argument will probably not get you into too much trouble, unless it escalates, but that is an entirely different story. Should Whyville be like that? If major problems occur in real life, then yes, there are punishments. However, in the cyber world it is more difficult to track down what happened and find actual evidence on the case.
To be honest, some of the problem lies in chatting or being able to interact with other citizens. In some respects, it adds to the learning experience. However, in others, it detracts from the experience. Chatting and learning is what makes Whyville unique, but some use it in the wrong ways.
Should we let things be? Is there anything we can do? I do not actually see a definite solution to this problem; everything still seems to be blurry. Coming up with an answer is difficult, since one citizen may have a different opinion than another, and each would react to a 'solution' differently.
Perhaps if City Hall offered rewards to those who act in kind ways, we might begin to see a decline in the number of people being bad. What sort of rewards could work, and how could city workers decide what was honestly nice and what was a set-up? It all gets so complicated!
No one is to blame for your actions except you. Whyville shouldn't be responsible for everything if we want to have freedom and be able to do things we want. There has to be a fine line in between the two points somewhere.
I Want to Be Bad,
TIKE
