Kid Teachers?

[Thom Moen]

Okay, I suppose if we have a problem with something on Ridd we should just say it, right? I'd be a lot more tactful of me to actually PM the people concerned, rather than making a public thread, but just telling someone you're irritated with them doesn't really yield any results. So here's my problem.

What the hell is up with the retarded amount of 19-year-old professors popping up in the last couple of weeks? In two days two new 19-year-old professors have been created, and I don't know what anybody else thinks, but is the wizarding world so under populated that Hogwarts has to employ its students as teachers the moment they've graduated? Yeah, this site is called Riddikulus, and no, it's not supposed to reflect real life, but doesn't anyone else think it absolutely sucks to have their characters being taught by someone two years older than them?

But come to think of it, it's all kind of logical really - one of Ridd's biggest trends lately is seventeen-year-old superhero super models. Animagi, masters of wandless magic, pyshics... every child in the wizarding world is already a god anyway, right?

I'd say sorry for complaining, but I'm not really. I mean, Jesus, nineteen? If you can't handle RPing an actual adult, don't bother making a bloody teacher.

[Professor Rayna Olman]

Last I recalled, you're not the one RPing those characters. Yes, they're 19, but they've been graduated for 2 or so years and have had proper training, I'm sure. Besides, what class here is so hard here on Ridd that they need more training? Last I recalled.. not many. I'm 17 and can teach any one of these classes, quite easily I might add. Then again, my knowledge comes from reading and schooling.

Yes, the age may be young, but this is the wizarding world, NOT the real world.

But come to think of it, it's all kind of logical really - one of Ridd's biggest trends lately is seventeen-year-old superhero super models. Animagi, masters of wandless magic, pyshics... every child in the wizarding world is already a god anyway, right?

I totally agree with that.

But in all honestly, it's not your character, it's theirs. Let it go and move on instead of getting hung up on something this ridiculous.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Whoa, guys, let's not get into a tizzy over this okay? Amy, while I do agree that having so many young teachers, may be well a bit much...I think we should give them a chance, and see how it works out... Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll see. Also, not every 17 year old is a superhero you know, there are still plenty who don't have any special powers, so it's not really fair to them to say 'one of Ridd's biggest trends lately is seventeen-year-old superhero super models. Animagi, masters of wandless magic, pyshics... every child in the wizarding world is already a god anyway, right?' and while most of that may be true, not every child in the wizarding world is a god. I try to make my characters as realistic as possible, and yes, a few are flawed, but hey, their human. So before tempers start flaring and the claws come out lets calm down, think about this, and discuss it in a calm, rational manner. Please, no fighting.

Just my two cents....

[Ian Gray]

I'm going to agree with Amy here.

Look at it this way - On Ridd a lot of graduating students become apprentices. That can last for two years or more... and that's like saying the apprentice is as old as the teacher he serves under. A bit silly, right? If the 'proper' training is only 2 years out of Hogwarts, why even waste time with being an apprentice? All creating a student-aged teachers does, really, is take a concept that had been working really well (the apprenticeship) and suddenly make it inapplicable and void.

Basically, if you really can't stand to be a properly aged professor, become an apprentice. That's what the position is there for.

The whole point of creating an adult is to be an adult. If you really don't want to do that, then why apply in the first place? Teaching may be fun, but it's had restrictions forever. If you take on the responsibility of playing one, you've got to give up the student-RP and get used to the limitations. It's why, back when roleplayers only had one or two characters, if they had a teacher they'd almost always create a student as their second. That's the solution - creating a student and having her wear the nametag of "professor" isn't really logical.

I understand though that these are people's characters and imaginations and that this is online. Logical thinking almost doesn't deserve a place on a magical forum, right? But at the same time, your characters that you choose to make are interacting with OURS, and your decisions/RPs directly affect us and our development. If you were writing a story, you could do whatever you wanted, but as that's not the case, you have to think of how others will react to your person.

The only way to let the situation go is ignoring it really, and that would mean ignoring RPs with the character as well. Since the character is a professor and more important than any old Slytherin, you have to make them neutral.

Anyway, that was a bit of an explosive rant. Basically I just mean to say ... your nineteen year old teachers can't even gamble in America yet!

[Thom Moen]

“Besides, what class here is so hard here on Ridd that they need more training? Last I recalled.. not many. I'm 17 and can teach any one of these classes, quite easily I might add.”

That implies I’m talking about nineteen-year-old roleplayers though, which I thought was obvious I'm not. Any teenager whose read Harry Potter can pop on Lexicon and regurgitate something on Defence Against the Dark Arts. But that’s not what I mean at all – I’m talking about a nineteen-year-old character apparently knowing everything about wizarding Mythology, something which would be damn huge and complicated.

Do you really think that the brief fragments of lessons we all read about in Harry Potter are the be all and end all of magical education? Look at it this way: did your high school Science teacher happen to Google “Chemistry” for his lesson plan? No, they didn’t. They spent many years attending university and attaining Masters, broadening their knowledge outside the brief explanation of nucleuses and Newton’s their own teachers gave them – meaning they were at least mid-twenties before even being allowed to get a teaching job. Do you think you’d be able to learn all that was necessary in two years? I’m surprised I actually have to point this out, but surly you realise that what we learn in high school isn’t all there is to know about literature, art and history? What’s in your ninth grade Maths text book isn’t all there is to numbers.

I know we get to make it up on Ridd, but if your Rayna Olman was a real person in a real school, she wouldn’t be able to do what you’re having her do. Putting the usual “she was your typical Ravenclaw” in her bio doesn’t make her a super genius who has absorbed every scrap of knowledge about the wizarding world in her teen years. In JK’s reality there are hundreds of thousands of spells, potions, creatures and concepts. Horcruxes and Unforgivable aren’t the only Dark Magic, just as the junk you’ll probably put about dragons and Greek gods isn’t all there is to Mythology. Yeah, you can’t put into a thread everything Rayna possibly knows, but personally it really takes the authenticity out of RPing with someone when I know that the character I'm doing it with is nothing but the creator's wet dream.

And on them not being my characters – if live and let live means I can do whatever the hell I want, then why don’t I just go and make some twelve-year-old Sparklypoo whose a Charizard animagi, Voldermort’s BBF and taught Dumbledore everything he knows? I’ll have her join your Mythology thread and see if she can teach Rayna a few things – you obviously wouldn’t mind.

“… and while most of that may be true, not every child in the wizarding world is a god. I try to make my characters as realistic as possible, and yes, a few are flawed, but hey, their human.”

I understand that, Kris. I never said I think every teenage character on Ridd is like that. I said it was a popular trend lately – but I do see your point, so thank you. And I know the tone in my opening post was extremely peeved, but I don’t think I was trying to start a fight with anyone. Rayna’s roleplayer reacted the way she did because I’m pointing the finger at her character, but I think she could have responsed much less composed than she did, so I think this conversation is going as calmly as it can, given what I’d really like to say on a children’s fantasy site.

And thank you, Darin – all that I wanted to say without the bitter edge. Cheers.

[Carolanne Roberts]

Like Darin, I guess I'd have to sorta side with Amy. It would be kind of hard for someone to teach a subject that they probably haven't had hands on experience with. What I mean is, The older professors have been out there doing this for a while, you know? Usually the older they are, the more knowlegdable they are about the subject, right? Sure, thats not always true, especially in the Real World, but I do understand that Ridd is about the Wizarding world and all, but thats just it.

In the real world, usually, SOMETIMES that is, some of the younger teachers are awesome at what they do because, not only are they just out of school, they're easier to work with because of their age and all, but from what I've accumulated from this site is that the older they are, the more fun they are to rp with. In the wizarding world, if you teach, lets say Dragonology, then why not say your character did some sort of internship where they actually worked with Dragons and such? That'd give them most of the hands on learning NEEDED for the class, wouldn't it? Then the possibility of a 19 year old teacher might work, right?

To be honest, I guess I'm not taking any sides, I'm more or less just trying to find a way for the teen teachers to work. I've recently made a 20 year old Apprentice because I know how hard it would be to even consider making her an actual professor. I had a younger teacher once and it didn't quite work out like I had hoped. I'm all for people's freedom of creativity and such so I'm not bashing anyone that does choose to make a younger teacher but I'm also not siding with them, if it makes any sense...

And Darin, Love... you can gamble when you turn 18 in America, there are just some places you can't enter until you turn 21

[Eliot Moss]

Oh, shoot... well you can't gamble in overpopulated Las Vegas casinos yet!

Better for you, Rikki?

[Carolanne Roberts]

*grins cheekily* Yup ;D

[Bradyn Reed]

Alright, since the finger's also pointing at me here I guess it's a requirement for me to throw in my two-cents as well. First of all, I'd like to point out how utterly ridiculous it is for you to pick a fight on people's characters and openly say that you don't like them because of their age. That's pretty much rude and unfair to judge a character based on their profile alone and when you're RPing someone, you don't run around screaming "I'm 19! I'm 19!". It doesn't even really matter what age group students are it, just that it gives them an excuse to be a little more picky about the characters they post with. All of the characters on this site are made up, they aren't real and it doesn't matter how old you pretend they are.

Sure there's the possibility of them being not qualified, but no matter when you start it's all the same. Just like driving, when you first start out you're aloud to be no good at something, but you have the rest of your life to get better and better at it. Sure, the teacher might be under twenty now, but in twenty years they're going to be an old bag. And I'll repeat, who cares? And all of the teachers on Ridd are young, there's not really any that are over, let's say 35!

And I'll explain personally for my character, since it's obvious that you're not me and you don't have a clue how I choose my ages. For adult characters, there's not quite a limit on their age, now is there? I pick a celeb first, and go by the celeb's age. Why not, it's a pretty good marker considering your character is supposed to look like them. Julianne happened to be 19, so I went with it.

I hope that wasn't too snippy, but if you can't tell I'm a little peeved by this.

[Eliot Moss]

First of all, I'd like to point out how utterly ridiculous it is for you to pick a fight on people's characters and openly say that you don't like them because of their age.

No one said the character wasn't likable, that was certainly not the point of the thread. It was to point out how making such a character effects the logics, positions and people of the site. The professors could easily be cool and all to hang out with - that's not the issue, though.

It doesn't even really matter what age group students are it, just that it gives them an excuse to be a little more picky about the characters they post with. All of the characters on this site are made up, they aren't real and it doesn't matter how old you pretend they are.

Yeah, the characters aren't real. Unfortunately everyone seems to believe because that's the case, they can make unbelievably unreal characters. Like I said before, that would be chill and evoke no problems... if you didn't have to interact with others. Personally, RPing with people who refuse to, or dislike having realism in their characters just makes it difficult - for me at least. It feels like my character is only there to act like another rung on someone's ladder to the top of the world.

Sure there's the possibility of them being not qualified, but no matter when you start it's all the same. Just like driving, when you first start out you're aloud to be no good at something, but you have the rest of your life to get better and better at it...

I think it's more like saying... Just like driving, you wouldn't become an instructor right after you got your own license, you know what I mean?

And as for picking and choosing of characters... your method is a good one. I try to do that, too... But in a way, you shouldn't really pick a celeb that's so young to represent an adult character anyway.

But, hopefully it's clear that no one's talking about how likable these characters are! I'm sure they're great personalities - and no comment was meant to be particularly offensive and purposefully rude (from anyone, probably)

[Thom Moen]

“First of all, I'd like to point out how utterly ridiculous it is for you to pick a fight on people's characters and openly say that you don't like them because of their age.”

As Darin stated, the problem doesn’t lie with your characterisation. I really can’t see how you’ve come to that conclusion since I haven’t mentioned anything to do with personalities. Once again, I thought I was pretty clear about what bothered me, but I guess I’m talking Welsh or something.

“Just like driving, when you first start out you're aloud to be no good at something, but you have the rest of your life to get better and better at it.”

Isn’t that the blind leading the blind? Last time I checked, teachers usually had to know something about their chosen field before being shoved in front of a room full of children. Like Darin said, I’d hope my diving instructor knew more than I did before chucking me over the side of a boat...

“And all of the teachers on Ridd are young, there's not really any that are over, let's say 35!”

Maybe you should go research that?

“I pick a celeb first, and go by the celeb's age. Why not, it's a pretty good marker considering your character is supposed to look like them. Julianne happened to be 19, so I went with it.”

Personally I’d say that was sloppy characterisation. If you wanted to use Julianne and decided to match your character’s age with hers, it really would have made more sense to make an apprentice or shop owner. Want a teacher? There are plenty of attractive blondes out there who haven’t just left school.

[Professor Rayna Olman]

Okay.

I see all of you guys' points and have to agree somewhat with them. 19 is a bit ridiculous for a teacher, and I didn't give it much thorough thought. All I really cared about was having a teacher, but young one at that. We're all kids here, like it or not, and I'm sure that you'd like to retain that youth, especially when RPing. That's why there are so many 5-7th years on the site. Who wants to grow up so fast? I guess I'd rather play someone young, then have to 'grow up' and play a 35-40 year old.

I'll change my characters age, but just because this thread is absolutely ridiculous and I'd rather not see the bad side of people fighting over a topic that should have been through PM's or something.

( And I don't think that Kris has any room to talk when saying 'So before tempers start flaring and the claws come out lets calm down, think about this, and discuss it in a calm, rational manner. Please, no fighting.') *le gasp*

[Thom Moen]

Awesome. I appreciate you understanding my point of view. And I do get what you mean, trying to retain your own youth in your characters. I do that a lot, but I also have a lot of fun exploring adult personalities and discovering what they can do that children can't.

You should just try and step out of your comfort zone, it's not so bad.

[Professor Rayna Olman]

That's true. I can't believe how stubborn I was being, haha. A full night of good sleep actually does clear the mind.

And stepping outside of my comfort zone? It's a risk I'll just have to take! *wimp*

[Erys Grace]

Well I'm glad the sparks aren't flying anymore! Whew.

I'm just going to add that before Erys even thinks of filling in the Dark Arts professor spot she will be an apprentice for a long, long time. At this age she isn't ready to take over a full-time teaching job. She isn't going to be stepping into anybody's shoes for a while, don't worry. <3[/color]