Story Comments
Do's and Don'ts

The following story comments do's and don'ts is a guideline for anyone wishing to contribute by offering their comments on various child abuse story pages on this site.

• DO offer encouragement and support.

  If you believe the person would benefit from some sort of professional help, say so in a kind and considerate manner. "Have you considered talking to a counsellor?" will usually garner a much more positive response than outright telling the person "Go talk to a therapist."

  
  
  

• DO provide understanding and empathy.

  By all means relate to the story submitter, but not at the expense of invalidating what the person has lived through. Remember to make your comments about the other person. If you need to share your own personal story, I welcome you to become a contributor and submit your own story of abuse.

  
  
  

• DO address each story based on what the story contributor wrote.

  Taylor your comments rather than saying the same thing to every person who submits a story.

  
  
  

• DO reply back through the Comments Form to someone who has commented on your story, but only if it feels comfortable to do so.

  
  
  

• DO contact me if you believe someone has posted a comment that you find offensive or in some way inappropriate.

  At this time, I do not have the ability to pre-approve comments. While I do monitor comments for inappropriate content and then delete them as soon as I become aware of them, I am one person and cannot catch offensive comments the moment they are posted. Report inappropriate comments

  
  
  

• DON'T take it personally if a story contributor does not reply back to your comments.

  Sometimes a story submitter is not in a position, either physically or emotionally, to offer a reply. Be respectful of the privacy wishes of story contributors.

  
  
  

• DON'T try to "make it all better" for the story submitter.

  Since there is no "making it all better", it's best not to try. Instead, offer supportive and encouraging remarks.

  
  
  

• DON'T share personal information in your comments.

  I want everyone to stay safe. Since I cannot control who visits this site, the inclusion of phone numbers, email and home addresses, etc. is strictly prohibited.

  
  
  

• DON'T include website or blog URLs.

  As Webmaster, I scrutinize all URLs for appropriateness BEFORE they appear anywhere on my site. Since I do not have the ability to pre-approve comments, the inclusion of URLs in comments is prohibited. URLs will be stripped from comments.

Report Inappropriate Comments Please note that all fields followed by an asterisk must be filled in. Name of Story Page* Name of Story Page* Your Comments (optional) Please enter the word that you see below.

This Comments Do's and Don'ts page was updated November 29, 2007