Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What the hell is the point of this thread?

To try to ostracize someone who doesn't agree with OP. shrug....OP needs a life.

So is OP the "angry poster who is not going anywhere" or is OP upset with an "angry poster who is not going anywhere"?

Are you British?

No.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe me, there are more than one of us! " Free-speaking community" in this context means free from all of you angry, nothing-to-contribute posters!

I have no dog in this fight (no kids of AAP age) and clicked on this thread out of curiosity but I find this comment amusing. Being "free" of opinions you don't like is exactly the opposite of what a "free-speaking community" is. Freedom of speech means you can say whatever you like and I can say whatever I like back and then you can say whatever you like to me and then I can . . . you see how that works? If you want to be free of "angry, nothing-to-contribute" speakers, you don't want a "free-speaking community", you want to be president of the censorship board so you can decide what speech is acceptable and what isn't. Sorry, but all the snark, offensive and angry speech on DCUM is why it is so great. You get to hear what no respectable DC mother or father will actually say in person. If you don't want to hear it, go to a PTA meeting where the parents will keep their offensive thoughts to themselves.

This is not a freedom of speech debate. If you read the original context of "free speaking community" use and understood the entire reason a separate AAP forum was created -- you would know that it was to avoid the pointless, repetitive, nasty comments that populated the discussion re:AAP on the VA Public Schools forum AND to be less irritating to the people who either don't care or don't like AAP. It was supposed to be a win-win for both those who wanted to discuss AAP without being hijacked and for those wanted to discuss VA Public Schools minus what they label as the crazy, obsessive AAP discussion. But instead, the people who claimed to want to be rid of us, followed us here.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:When you see posters trying to hijack a thread or posting messages that are purely insults, please click on the "report" button and let me know. I have no problem removing such posts.

I know there are posters who do nothing but attack AAP programs. There is one poster who I essentially follow around deleting everything he posts. If there are others like him, I can follow them just as easily.

So are you saying you delete posts that express negative opinions about AAP? You are censoring the forum?

Expressing a negative opinion about AAP is fine unless it is completely off-topic for the thread. For instance, a thread in which posters report test scores would not be appropriate for a post attacking AAP programs. A separate thread could be created for that purpose. But, most posts I delete in this forum attack AAP parents. I generally don't see a need for such posts.

I prefer the term "moderate" rather than "censoring" given that I think of censorship as more of a government-sponsored activity and I, despite my hopes and dreams, am not a government. Though, there is still hope for Steeleistan. But, yes, of course, I moderate this forum. If you think that completely anarchic forums have any hope of success, you have not had much experience with such.

Anonymous wrote:No other forum is free from opinions. AAP has become such a heated discussion point, and frankly most of the threads in this forum are inane and repetitive. I have kids in AAP and have on a few occasions found this forum to have info to appease my morbid curiosity, but nothing really helpful that isn't already on the FCPS website. I know this is the crazy season, but I wish AAP posts wouldn't even show up under Recent Topics, like explicit. It's painful to see what people are doing to get their kids in this program, that frankly needs a serious overhaul. But all the posts are like "did anyone get letters from such and such school?", "what about this score?", etc. It's annoying. So I sort of understand why someone might jump in with their opinions to irritate people. Hopefully the people with those kind of comments can keep it productive, but also provide a dose of reality to those who have gone insane over this stupid process and undereffecive program.

You know what I do when something causes me pain or annoys me? I avoid it. No one is making the detractors read this board--in fact, as has been stated repeatedly, this board was established because readers wanted AAP discussion out of other boards. Done. Not sure why so many of the irritated folks then came over here to continue their complaints.

Anyone who is here to say "You guys are taking this too seriously"--believe me, that point has been made. Far more times than anyone has asked for scores.

Again--if you find AAP-score discussion irritating, stay off that thread.

The existence of AAP affects all parents w/children in FCPS, whether we currently have children in the program or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:09:39 - while you seem to have lots of time on your hands being curious, amused and detached - the folks using this forum are trying to gather share information and possibly match their child w/ the AAP program. They have to navigate thru poster trolls who hate AAP, mock/attack prospective parents, for no other purpose than amusement or validation. We don't need your lecture - please feel free to use other DCUM forums where you have more skin in the game.

I judge your tone to be angry and your advice unhelpful. Accordingly, please refrain from typing such things in the future so that my eyes may be free from reading content that is different from my own point of view. Thanks very much.

+10,000

Anonymous wrote:09:39 - while you seem to have lots of time on your hands being curious, amused and detached - the folks using this forum are trying to gather share information and possibly match their child w/ the AAP program. They have to navigate thru poster trolls who hate AAP, mock/attack prospective parents, for no other purpose than amusement or validation. We don't need your lecture - please feel free to use other DCUM forums where you have more skin in the game.

I judge your tone to be angry and your advice unhelpful. Accordingly, please refrain from typing such things in the future so that my eyes may be free from reading content that is different from my own point of view. Thanks very much.

The AAP program seems to be designed to enrage everyone. They try to accommodate this person, and that person and it is somewhat of a mess. At least they changed the name. GT really? One kid is "gifted and talented" and the others are "base?" What did they think would happen? No dog in this fight -- mine are not in this system.

jsteele wrote:When you see posters trying to hijack a thread or posting messages that are purely insults, please click on the "report" button and let me know. I have no problem removing such posts.

I know there are posters who do nothing but attack AAP programs. There is one poster who I essentially follow around deleting everything he posts. If there are others like him, I can follow them just as easily.

So are you saying you delete posts that express negative opinions about AAP? You are censoring the forum?

Anonymous wrote:Then start threads like "The mismanagement of AAP funds" or "How to we work together to make our center school a neighborhood school"

The pointless vitriol of a few (and yes, I truly believe it is just a few very active posters) who continually hijack every single thread with pages of rude and ill informed comments that are full ot insults and contribute nothing to the discussion except fighting make the original justifications for a separate AAP forum completely void.

They do zero to contribute to a candid and intelligent exchange of ideas and make it very difficult for those who come here seeking information.

Actually, I consider any and all viewpoints to be an "exchange of ideas" and I have gotten a lot of very useful information here from people who are not shy about sharing their opinions, especially the negative ones. If I don't want to hear from anyone who might disagree with me, then I'm not living in the real world. I welcome all opinions about AAP on this forum and look forward to reading more.

09:39 - while you seem to have lots of time on your hands being curious, amused and detached - the folks using this forum are trying to gather share information and possibly match their child w/ the AAP program. They have to navigate thru poster trolls who hate AAP, mock/attack prospective parents, for no other purpose than amusement or validation. We don't need your lecture - please feel free to use other DCUM forums where you have more skin in the game.

When you see posters trying to hijack a thread or posting messages that are purely insults, please click on the "report" button and let me know. I have no problem removing such posts.

I know there are posters who do nothing but attack AAP programs. There is one poster who I essentially follow around deleting everything he posts. If there are others like him, I can follow them just as easily.

No other forum is free from opinions. AAP has become such a heated discussion point, and frankly most of the threads in this forum are inane and repetitive. I have kids in AAP and have on a few occasions found this forum to have info to appease my morbid curiosity, but nothing really helpful that isn't already on the FCPS website. I know this is the crazy season, but I wish AAP posts wouldn't even show up under Recent Topics, like explicit. It's painful to see what people are doing to get their kids in this program, that frankly needs a serious overhaul. But all the posts are like "did anyone get letters from such and such school?", "what about this score?", etc. It's annoying. So I sort of understand why someone might jump in with their opinions to irritate people. Hopefully the people with those kind of comments can keep it productive, but also provide a dose of reality to those who have gone insane over this stupid process and undereffecive program.

Anonymous wrote:Believe me, there are more than one of us! " Free-speaking community" in this context means free from all of you angry, nothing-to-contribute posters!

I have no dog in this fight (no kids of AAP age) and clicked on this thread out of curiosity but I find this comment amusing. Being "free" of opinions you don't like is exactly the opposite of what a "free-speaking community" is. Freedom of speech means you can say whatever you like and I can say whatever I like back and then you can say whatever you like to me and then I can . . . you see how that works? If you want to be free of "angry, nothing-to-contribute" speakers, you don't want a "free-speaking community", you want to be president of the censorship board so you can decide what speech is acceptable and what isn't. Sorry, but all the snark, offensive and angry speech on DCUM is why it is so great. You get to hear what no respectable DC mother or father will actually say in person. If you don't want to hear it, go to a PTA meeting where the parents will keep their offensive thoughts to themselves.

Then start threads like "The mismanagement of AAP funds" or "How to we work together to make our center school a neighborhood school"

The pointless vitriol of a few (and yes, I truly believe it is just a few very active posters) who continually hijack every single thread with pages of rude and ill informed comments that are full ot insults and contribute nothing to the discussion except fighting make the original justifications for a separate AAP forum completely void.

They do zero to contribute to a candid and intelligent exchange of ideas and make it very difficult for those who come here seeking information.