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I came across a post from a kid, it was this one: How to calculate the opposite of a number? Some members find this types of question to easy, lets call it "trivial", so they rated this question -1. The question was correctly tag, pre-algebra. To rate a question from kids negative, is not a good process, "in my opinion" at least. It stops them from asking more. From my point of view mathstack is the best way right now on internet on asking a mathematical question, since the quality of answers is great.

Maybe preventing the questions in certain tag to go negative? Are you working on a solution to this problem? I did not see any hints in the FAQ addressing this Problem.

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    $\begingroup$ I think you did all you can do. As you have observed, this site attracts all sorts. Professionals, amateurs, adults, kids, and those in-between who themselves are quite immature but have enough exposure to math to be tempted to downvote those who have less. All you can do is draw attention to such people, as you have. That usually stops the behavior. $\endgroup$ – Ron Gordon Aug 1 '17 at 11:30
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    $\begingroup$ As a side note, users here are supposed to be at least 13 years old. See, for example, How do I use Stack Exchange if I'm under 13 years old? $\endgroup$ – Martin Sleziak Aug 1 '17 at 11:40
  • $\begingroup$ "Maybe preventing the questions in certain tag to go negative?" Hmmm, each new question could be made to start at +5, thus reducing greatly the amount of those that go negative. $\endgroup$ – Did Aug 1 '17 at 12:09
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    $\begingroup$ @Did, why start at +5? Start at +100. I seriously doubt any question would get 100 downvotes. $\endgroup$ – Joel Reyes Noche Aug 1 '17 at 12:31
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    $\begingroup$ @thetha, Right now, the profile of the OP who made the question you linked to does not indicate the OP's age. How did you conclude that the OP is "a kid"? $\endgroup$ – Joel Reyes Noche Aug 1 '17 at 12:32
  • $\begingroup$ @JoelReyesNoche Deal. $\endgroup$ – Did Aug 1 '17 at 12:34
  • $\begingroup$ @Joel I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps it changed in the interim. $\endgroup$ – quid♦ Aug 1 '17 at 12:36
  • $\begingroup$ @quid, I looked through the OP's other posts and found no mention of the OP's age. Aside from the possibility you mentioned, it is also possible that the OP of this meta question knows the identity of the OP of the linked question. $\endgroup$ – Joel Reyes Noche Aug 1 '17 at 12:43
  • $\begingroup$ @Joel In theory that's possible, but to comment "check profile first" would not make that much sense then. $\endgroup$ – quid♦ Aug 1 '17 at 12:47
  • $\begingroup$ @quid, you are correct. $\endgroup$ – Joel Reyes Noche Aug 1 '17 at 12:48
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    $\begingroup$ Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria! $\endgroup$ – Will Jagy Aug 1 '17 at 17:39
  • $\begingroup$ @JoelReyesNoche look at the questions he is asking $\endgroup$ – thetha Aug 1 '17 at 18:50
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    $\begingroup$ "look at the questions he is asking" I take your comment to mean that your claim that the OP is "a kid" is an assumption you made based on the level of questions the user has asked. It is, however, possible that the user is not "a kid" but is just weak when it comes to the basics. $\endgroup$ – Joel Reyes Noche Aug 1 '17 at 21:43
  • $\begingroup$ I'd consider the case, thetha if you could justify your claim that the asker to the question you linked to above is a kid. I'd also have to consider how you are related to the asker of the question you linked. $\endgroup$ – Namaste Aug 1 '17 at 22:23
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I think voting should be based on the quality of the question, and not on the age of the person posting it. I personally do not find any problem with the question linked to in this post. I would not downvote it even if the OP was not "a kid."

Are you proposing that posts asked by young people should not be downvoted? What if the poster is indeed young but did not indicate his or her age in the profile? Should I ask the poster their age before I downvote? Also, what if people started changing their ages in their profiles just to avoid downvotes?

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