How do we keep young people safe in our community?

Here is what we can do to keep young people safe, and what you need to do to ensure they are safe too

Our 13-17 Discord server and Minecraft server are both completely safe for young people to use, as they have quite rigorous verification measures in place:

Every young person must be verified, to prove they are who they say they are and they are joining with the right intentions before they are able to join. The way we do this is by asking young people to have a video call or have a 1:1 gaming session with voice chat to prove they are a young person and that they are joining with the right intentions.
Don’t worry, this isn’t a scary process. We just have a friendly chat and also use it as a good opportunity to get to know a friendly face and answer any questions.
Where young people feel unable to have a video call or have a gaming session, we make adjustments to this process but just enough that we are confident everyone is still who they say they are. This is done on a person by person basis but verification methods so far have included a video call with parents, a link to a YouTube or twitch channel and a referral from a school, organisation or professional. We can talk through these options after you complete the registration form.

Once young people are in our community:
- Everything is completely private: No one can join without being added by an admin.
- We have a set of rules that must be agreed to by members to make sure the community is welcoming for everyone.
- Every message on both Discord and Minecraft is logged, so the staff team can see every message that is sent.
- If young people are worried about anything, they are able to contact a moderator or admin who will respond as soon as they can. On Minecraft, young people can type ‘/support’ then their issue to notify members of the staff team, who can come along to assist.

WHAT WE CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
While we fully monitor our private Discord community, sometimes members make their own private group chats once they have developed friendships. We are unable to monitor group chats so young people who join them do so at their own risk. However, we will get involved if something happens in a group chat that causes discomfort or tension in our private server. As an extra measure, young people are not allowed to direct message other members or invite them to group chats without asking for permission from them within our server first.

Another rule we have is that server members are not allowed to send invites to other discord servers so our members are as safe as possible (we cannot guarantee the safety of our members in other servers). However, if young people develop strong/ close friendships, we don't think it is right that their friendship should be confined to Spectrum Gaming. So if this is the case, discord server invites are allowed if there is a mutual agreement between young people. But again, we cannot take responsibility for anything that happens outside of our server so young people do this at their own risk.

If young people are creating their own communities or inviting their friends to other servers, we would like to make sure they are as safe as they can be. So young people and parents are able to speak to a staff member for advice, tips on staying safe, or for support with setting up a Discord server.

UNDER 13 DISCORD SERVER
In our under 13 Discord server, it is parents who will need to create accounts and join the community, in order to comply with Discord's Terms of Service.

Everyone who joins this community must be verified in the same way as the 13-17 community and Minecraft server, so we know it is ok for young people to connect with each other outside of Discord through their games consoles and games. But parents must still take responsibility for connecting young people to each other, and supporting their children in taking part in events and activities which we share in the community.

OTHER PLATFORMS
On our other platforms, including our Facebook group and Twitch channel, we are more open with who joins and gets involved. As a result, parents *must* take responsibility for ensuring other people they connect with are appropriate.