quick question...

[wolfcubbie.livejournal.com]

Has anyone on this community offered help to the littles, or ASKED them questions, concerning the way they talk? I mean, I've been reading the posts here, and decided to make a journal so I could comment on them.

It really bothers me that people are getting so frustrated, uncomfortable, and generally pissed off at the littles' posts. First, let me say, why can't the littles post too? they have something to say like everyone else. And I noticed, they have sense enough(just like I did when I was little)to know when to post in their personal journal, and when to post in the communities, just need some help getting their thoughts across...

WHY WON'T ANYONE OFFER THEM THE HELP THAT YOU PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK THEY NEED?

yeah, I know sometimes lilspeak is fake, I know that. But, sometimes it's not. and no one else seems to know the difference.

I do. I'm gonna make a new community. I'm gonna ask Rick to help(because he's out more than me) like he helped me spell and LEARN TO SPELL when I was a little kid. I'm gonna make a community for littles that are frustrated at bigs not taking them seriously. For littles that want to be heard, but can't seem to get their thoughts across right. For littles who want help spelling better, and talking better on the internet. I'll let you know the name when I do it.

cubbie
Pack Collective

Comments

[shadowechoes.livejournal.com]

Has anyone on this community offered help to the littles, or ASKED them questions, concerning the way they talk? I mean, I've been reading the posts here, and decided to make a journal so I could comment on them.
Of course. There are quite a few adults in our system who spend lots of time with the children and help them out with things. Now that our system communication is at a better level, our kids have made great improvement. However, we do not feel it is our place to interfere with other systems' children unless specifically asked - that is the responsibility of their adult system members.

It really bothers me that people are getting so frustrated, uncomfortable, and generally pissed off at the littles' posts. First, let me say, why can't the littles post too? they have something to say like everyone else.
I don't think anyone is getting frustrated, uncomfortable, or pissed off by the fact that children are posting in the community. Rather, the adoption of "lilspeak" is what gets under the skin. No one said that children couldn't or shouldn't post, and no one even said they couldn't post in "lilspeak" - just that it might help anyone, old or young, to strive towards learning how to type in correct English when posting.

WHY WON'T ANYONE OFFER THEM THE HELP THAT YOU PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK THEY NEED?
Again, that's not the general public's responsibility, or really their business to butt in like that. Those adults in the system who are in charge of the children should take care of that obligation. However, I've already seen a lot of the commenters in the other thread offering help and suggestions when asked, so I don't think it's fair to say that no one is willing to help children learn to spell and type.

yeah, I know sometimes lilspeak is fake, I know that. But, sometimes it's not. and no one else seems to know the difference.
If you haven't already read this post (http://www.livejournal.com/community/multiplicity/288351.html), you probably should. There is a difference between lilspeak and errors in spelling and grammar. No one is saying that when kids make normal spelling mistakes that it's fake - but actual lilspeak is so obviously contrived and deviant from all patterns of learning in children that there is no possible way it can be real. The other problem with lilspeak is that while the spelling is all wonky and unadvanced, the rest of the sentence structure is so advanced that it doesn't match the intellectual level of the spelling. Anyway, just read that, the author does a much better job at explaining the difference than I can.

I'm gonna make a new community. I'm gonna ask Rick to help(because he's out more than me) like he helped me spell and LEARN TO SPELL when I was a little kid.
Good luck with your community. That's great that you have an adult in your system who helped you learn to spell - I think all system children should be lucky enough to have adults like that in their own systems to help them.

~Adryssa

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

"No one is saying that when kids make normal spelling mistakes that it's fake - but actual lilspeak is so obviously contrived and deviant from all patterns of learning in children that there is no possible way it can be real. The other problem with lilspeak is that while the spelling is all wonky and unadvanced, the rest of the sentence structure is so advanced that it doesn't match the intellectual level of the spelling.

Precisely. And if someone is writing in a blatantly-fake style, I think it is reasonable to question their veracity in other matters. There are people faking multiplicity - anyone who thinks there's not is either hopelessly naive, or brand-spanking-new to the Internet and hasn't yet figured out that there's all kinds of fakers online (I've even known of three who tried to fake their own realtime deaths and got caught doing it.)

As for "safety" - my own kid will be 16 in a few months, and she's still not allowed to chat online with people she doesn't know in person, because I don't think it's wise to let children interact with adult strangers whose characters and intentions cannot be known. Therefore I have to wonder about all these people howling "OMG my littles aren't SAFE here!" - I mean, really, whoever claimed that the Internet was safe for any child? Get a clue: it's not, never has been, and probably never will be. It's particularly not safe for children who hang out in adult forums.

The charge that I've hurt their poor wee feelings is actually causing me a good deal of sardonic amusement, because it proves my point: if these 'littles' were able to read my posts, which were written in a complex adult style that damn few grade-schoolers could comprehend, then clearly they've got the skills to write something approximating standard English. Can't have it both ways.

The charge that I've "said that their littles don't exist" causes me to wonder if the people making it really are morons and/or on crack. It's either that, or they've got some vested interest in pretending they think I said that, when they know perfectly well I didn't. That would, of course, constitute another instance of fakery. I won't hazard a guess as to what that vested interest might be - merely note that there are some who seem to have gotten a lot of mileage out of "OMG my poor, poor littles are so traumatized and terrified!" in terms of extra attention from those close to them.