Watching discussions about problems on the website has led to a somewhat disturbing realization that despite this website being aimed at children and modded to be age-appropriate for those children. Child users aka COPPAS are the least considered group and are almost never advocated for when it comes to user issues. Many users have no problem advocating for the website to be adult game levels of challenging but they never even think of child users let alone address them.
Which is where the disturbing part comes in. Conversations on chicken smoothie and its practices are DOMINATED by adult users and children, who are the most likely to get the short end of the stick and have no means of pushing back against choices that would make them unable to play the game like everyone else. They have been rendered voiceless on the website. When comes down to things like should URs count in full collections we fail to consider if COPPA users would be able to trade up to them because they can't send messages that are required for negotiations in high-value trades. Current child users would not have the trade stock required to get 2 URs every year and so will never have a complete yearly collection even if they have otherwise complete collections of pets for the years they are here. Similar issues pop up when monthly rares and Dec 18th are thrown in.
Another problem appears when it comes to trading and trading standards. Many users cancel trades with no messages but COPPA users can't send them so this feels like we are just, albeit unintentionally, kicking down on child users. Also, the fact that many adult users are rude and quick to anger and may or may not lash out at what could be a literal 10-year-old. Long and complicated trade rules must be a nightmare for COPPAS as they can't PM a user or leave a message on trade for clarification and isn't helping them to understand how they should go about trading if they have to fear being chewed out by grown adults.
We need to remind the community that this IS a kid's game and not just a kid-friendly one. We need to remember them and speak for users who can't otherwise due to COPPA restrictions. We need to look out for them and not just new users. It makes me sad how forgotten they are. I would love to hear people's opinions on this topic as it feels undiscussed, especially if you know the opinions of COPPA users.