why some locked, not others?

metrovelvet

I dont understand why this thread was locked

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055410946

and this one wasn't

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055411026.

Amz

Did you PM the mods?

metrovelvet

No. Didn't know I was supposed to. Will ask directly.

Feelgood

I see your point Metro but...

My take would be that 99.99% of boards users aren't certified medical doctors. Doctors are too busy to be on forums.

So when someone posts something particularly about a medical problem with a child, the only decent and correct answer is go see a proper doctor and lock the thread.

On the other hand, the second thread is regarding a possible STD. In this instance boards users can offer a little bit of help i.e. where STD clinics are and information regarding STD's but still the ultimate answer will always be to go and see a doctor.

The other thing is that that post was submitted at 22:12pm on a Sunday night and there may not be a moderator of that forum online to lock that thread, seen that its a Sunday night and a lot of people have work in the morning...

Orion

Feelgood wrote: »

I see your point Metro but...

My take would be that 99.99% of boards users aren't certified medical doctors. Doctors are too busy to be on forums.

So when someone posts something particularly about a medical problem with a child, the only decent and correct answer is go see a proper doctor and lock the thread.

On the other hand, the second thread is regarding a possible STD. In this instance boards users can offer a little bit of help i.e. where STD clinics are and information regarding STD's but still the ultimate answer will always be to go and see a doctor.

The other thing is that that post was submitted at 22:12pm on a Sunday night and there may not be a moderator of that forum online to lock that thread, seen that its a Sunday night and a lot of people have work in the morning...

The first reply was a mod of said forum

The rest of your post is most likely right. Poster B was asking advice on a specific thing related to herself so there is some possible advice not requiring medical attention. Poster A was asking "what's wrong with my child" - suggesting doctor and locking was the best course.

Feelgood

Macros42 wrote: »

The first reply was a mod of said forum

Well spotted Macros..

Thaedydal was obviously at the boards beers last night and is still to pi$$ed to care...:D

Orion

Feelgood wrote: »

Well spotted Macros..

Thaedydal was obviously at the boards beers last night and is still to pi$$ed to care...:D

A definite possibility

Zaph

Thaed mods both Parenting and PI

metrovelvet

A medical problem? Constipation is a medical problem? Constipation is more a medical problem than an std? this is getting weirder and weirder... must pm Thaed.

Orion

In a 10 month old - yes it is. You have a kid - you should know that. pm her away - I'm sure you'll get a similar answer if less polite.

Feelgood

metrovelvet wrote: »

A medical problem? Constipation is a medical problem? Constipation is more a medical problem than an std? this is getting weirder and weirder... must pm Thaed.

But how are we to know it is constipation??. It could be anything?. We aren't qualified to make that judgement!.

To boot we aren't qualified to make judgements on itchy and scratchy Vag's either so yeah it technically should be locked but an itchy Vag is not life threatening and its not a child...

metrovelvet

Because it says its constipation in the thread title.

And Macros42, why should I know that? I have never heard of any mother of an infant refer to it as a medical problem when it is so common in babies being weened onto regular milk. I dont think you need to get snippy about it. Take it easy. Geesh.

Feelgood

metrovelvet wrote: »

Because it says its constipation in the thread title.

Yeah but having constipation could also be a symptom of colon cancer?.

seamus

Judgement and experience tbh.

The first one was asking question which should clearly be asked of a doctor.

The second one was asking question which should also be asked of a doctor, but from reading the thread you can tell that she's not going to. In that case, it makes more sense to try convince her that she needs to talk to a doctor instead of just locking it and telling her where to go.

In addition, constipation is a good deal more serious than thrush, especially in babies. I doubt the lady with the itchy ladybits is in any danger.

Dades

I have to say I don't see why one should be locked.

Why can't the OP be told to see a doctor and be offered any advice from parents who may have encountered the same thing. They were only looking to see if others who might have encountered the same problem had any thoughts.

It's all a bit *think of the children!!*

javaboy

Dades wrote: »

I have to say I don't see why one should be locked.

Why can't the OP be told to see a doctor and be offered any advice from parents who may have encountered the same thing. They were only looking to see if others who might have encountered the same problem had any thoughts.

It's all a bit *think of the children!!*

Because inevitably some of that advice will include "that happened my baby and I gave him half a Senekot and he was fine" or "that happened my little girl but it cleared up after a few days so no need for a doctor".

Boards could be in hot water over that if someone follows that advice. Sure the same is true of STD advice but it's less extreme and a lot of people will be just repeating the same kind of things that publicly available STD information contain.

Steve

Dades wrote: »

Why can't the OP be told to see a doctor and be offered any advice from parents who may have encountered the same thing. They were only looking to see if others who might have encountered the same problem had any thoughts.

Maybe because if the OP actually got some 'advice' then they might act on it and possibly harm the child before actually going to a doctor.
I'm not a doctor but I would imagine there are lots of causes for what might be perceived as constipation ranging from poor diet to some serious infection in the digestive system.

The young lady with the smelly gee wasn't looking for medical advice, just wondering how it happened and how to stop it happening again.
I'm sure that if any medical advise was asked for / offered in the thread then Thaed would lock it up just as quick.

Dades

javaboy wrote: »

Because inevitably some of that advice will include "that happened my baby and I gave him half a Senekot and he was fine" or "that happened my little girl but it cleared up after a few days so no need for a doctor".

TBH I don't see that type of response as inevitable at all - especially in the parenting forum. Who is going to post "no need for a doctor"? Even if such a post was made, I would have thought it the job of a mod to screen for reckless responses, rather than preempt them by barring any response.

I appreciate it's difficult to be completely even-handed regarding medical advice, and I don't envy the mods the job of modding of said forums. This is just my 2 cents.

@SteveC, why is it the childs constipation puts it at death's door, whereas the poster in PI just has a smelly gee?

Nevyn

Feelgood wrote: »

Well spotted Macros..

Thaedydal was obviously at the boards beers last night and is still to pi$$ed to care...:D

Charming, I was infact alseep when this thread was started and a pm was then sent.
/adds Feelgood to that list.

Macros42 wrote: »

In a 10 month old - yes it is. You have a kid - you should know that. pm her away - I'm sure you'll get a similar answer if less polite.

/Stares at Macross and puts a black mark against his name cos he is already on one of her lists.

seamus wrote: »

Judgement and experience tbh.

The first one was asking question which should clearly be asked of a doctor.

The second one was asking question which should also be asked of a doctor, but from reading the thread you can tell that she's not going to. In that case, it makes more sense to try convince her that she needs to talk to a doctor instead of just locking it and telling her where to go.

In addition, constipation is a good deal more serious than thrush, especially in babies. I doubt the lady with the itchy ladybits is in any danger.

Pretty much what Seamus said.

metrovelvet wrote: »

A medical problem? Constipation is a medical problem? Constipation is more a medical problem than an std? this is getting weirder and weirder... must pm Thaed.

Firstly there is a differences between an adult posting about somthing and an adult posting on the behalf of an infant/child.

The infant/child may have other symphthoms which it can not express,
a parent should always seek help/guidance when it comes to a child, be it
thier own ( hopefully) more experienced parents, dr, nurse ect.

IF the parent had of said that the child had already been seen by the dr and it was an on going concern under medical review and was asking about how other parents coped with simple constipation in an infant then the thread would have been left open.

As it stands it was locked to encourage the op to seek out medical aid for her child rather then let what could be something life threatening to an infant happen due to the parent delaying seeking real life actual help.


In the second case which is in a different forum to start with, it was an adult posting, she has already been to at least a chemist to buy cream for thrush.
Thrush can be spread like an sti but it can have other causes, a person can be completely sexually in experienced and still get thrush if that is what the matter is.

There are more issues in play in that thread then just the op possibly having thrush, I left it open due to that after saying she should see the dr and am hoping that others will do so and that she may elaborate on what happened and get some good advice and information as she seems pretty inexperienced.

I have replied in public as you first called to question my mod actions here in public rather then replying to your pm.

seamus

I appreciate it's difficult to be completely even-handed regarding medical advice, and I don't envy the mods the job of modding of said forums.

Which is probably why the question arises, and why it arises on other forums such as the legal discussion forum. For this kind of rule, there is a fuzzy grey area where something may or may not be across the line. However the mods do have to draw a line somewhere, and it would be possible to pull up a large compendium of threads that live in this fuzzy grey area but which have had very different actions applied to them.

This doesn't mean that mods are inconsistent or wrong (though we'll all admit we get it wrong from time to time), it just shows where the line was drawn at any one particular time.

@SteveC, why is it the childs constipation puts it at death's door, whereas the poster in PI just has a smelly gee?

I think more in terms of the possibilities. Someone could very easily suggest a drop of senakot or a similar laxative, and a naive poster could work away and give the child a dose of it without taking into account the full effect on the child.

The lady with the stinky bits however might just apply some vagisil and find it has no effect and there's no harm done. So the potential problems which could arise from the two threads are very different.

Nevyn

Dades wrote: »

I have to say I don't see why one should be locked.

Why can't the OP be told to see a doctor and be offered any advice from parents who may have encountered the same thing. They were only looking to see if others who might have encountered the same problem had any thoughts.

Currently there maybe other or a bigger under lying issue and if the parent has said that the child has seen a dr/nurse then such discussion is allowed with in reason.

Dades wrote: »

It's all a bit *think of the children!!*

Well DUH! it is the parenting forum and esp in this case when it is an infant who can't communicate and is reliant on a parent doing the best thing for them.

javaboy

Dades wrote: »

TBH I don't see that type of response as inevitable at all - especially in the parenting forum. Who is going to post "no need for a doctor"? Even if such a post was made, I would have thought it the job of a mod to screen for reckless responses, rather than preempt them by barring any response.

Maybe not inevitable but I'd say it's damn likely. And you can't expect the mods to watch the thread as closely as the OP probably will. Mods have lots of threads to watch. The OP has only one. So if somebody posts up an irresponsible bit of advice, it doesn't matter that it gets deleted 2 or three minutes later. The OP may have already read it and decided to try it out.

Steve

Dades wrote: »

@SteveC, why is it the childs constipation puts it at death's door, whereas the poster in PI just has a smelly gee?

My point was: how do you know it's actually constipation?

Anyhow, Thaed and seamus have already answered better than I can.

Orion

Thaedydal wrote: »

/Stares at Macross and puts a black mark against his name cos he is already on one of her lists.

I thought I was on the good list :cool:

Dades

SteveC wrote: »

My point was: how do you know it's actually constipation?

And my point is your valid concerns are now raised here in feedback, not in that mother's thread.

But yeah, I see Thaed and seamus have summed up the position. That is all.

javaboy

I'm going to go ahead and lock this soon.




Fingers crossed one of the higher-ups coincidentally locks this now to make me look super awesome.

WindSock

Thread Locked!








IAJB-In after Java Boy

metrovelvet

Thanks Thaed for clearing that up. It was just a bit confusing. I guess pediatrics are a no no.

And this is the first I heard of constipation being life threatening unless accompanied by other symptoms. I sincerely doubt when she brings the baby to the doctor s/he is going to order a colonoscopy.

Nevyn

I am always glad to answer any reasonable questions or queries.

VH

If the constipation thread had been started on a site about parenting it would not have been locked. Many parents have children that appear to be constipated from time to time and they should have been allowed share their experiences.

tallaght01

You're much better off locking threads where people are asking for medical advice, as you just don't know what you're dealing with.

A few people on boards have appointed themselves self-styled experts on sexual health etc. But it's just too dangerous to let them ply their hobby on potentially vulnerable people.

We don't know which of the 2 is more serious. The kid might have serious bowel problems, and the girl might have thrush because she doesn't know she's HIV positive, for example. Or it may not be thrush at all.

Both of them might have nothing wrong with them. But the fact that both posts involve asking randomers questions about their health, rather than friends, family or a healthcare professional immediately confers a potential vulnerability status.

You don't get enough reliable feedback in these situations to allow you to rely on perceived judgment and experience.

In cases like that, the wrong advice is much worse than no advice.