Teen Advice
Peer Advisor Handbook

In order to be a Peer Advisor you must agree to the following:

• monitor ALL folders in the Forum and reply to at least 20 posts per week to the best of your ability
• alert other Peer Advisory members of posts that need extra attention
• alert the Teen Advice Guide to any and all posts that you feel should be removed (see: Removal Guidelines)
• report any suicide threats, criminal confessions or other threatening posts to the Teen Advice Guide
• report any posts made by a person under the age of 13 to the Teen Advice Guide
• report any posts that give clear directions on where somebody lives in real time (full address, phone number, etc)
• respond to any e-mails forwarded to you by the Teen Advice Guide
• attend at least one of two monthly chats held every second week (2 times per month) to brainstorm, get guidance, and discuss any issues or problems
• IF you want to have Forum control privledges (remove posts, move posts to new folders, close posts, etc) create a separate Forum ID according to the Peer Advisor ID Guidelines
• have the name you post under and a brief description of you (you will get to "OK" anything written about you) on a Peer Advisory Panel Home Page
• try to be as objective as possible when answering posts - if you can't be objective don't respond at all, and notify the Teen Advice Guide
• remove your opinions from your posts as a Peer Advisor, if you want to post an opinion please do not identify yourself as a Peer Advisor
• IMPORTANT: you must add the official Peer Advisor logo to your Delphi signature file , the code will be sent to you when you are accepted, you can add it to your existing signature or make it your only signature

Monitoring Folders

• Advisors are free to answer posts in all folders, but try to spread your posts out so that you all don't post to one message while ignoring others.
• if you can't answer a post or are uncomfortable posting as an advisor in a specific folder please deal with this privately by contacting the Teen Advice Guide
• if there is a problem between two or more Peer Advisors keep it off the boards and contact the Teen Advice Guide
• whenever possible, refer Forum posters to relevant pages for more help on their problem (see: Referral Pages)
• Do not portray yourself as an "expert", and encourage people to get outside help whenever it is necessary or relevant
• BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE AT ALL TIMES WHEN POSTING AS AN ADVISOR!

Privacy Policy

• the Teen Advice Peer Advisory Panel will adhere to the Privacy Policy posted by About.com
• your e-mail address will not be made public - any e-mail sent to you will be mailed to the Teen Advice Guide on your behalf
• your full name will not be used, only first name and initial, unless you request that it not be used at all
• you will be expected to identigy yourself as a Teen Advice Peer Advisor in all "official" communications to forum users

Your Peer Advisor Identity - Forum Moderators ONLY

• all Peer Advisors who want moderator privledges must create a new Delphi ID using this format PA[nickname here] (you choose the nickname) and have e-mail sent to teenadvice.guide@about.com
• once accepted, you will be sent a PA signature HTML code and are to use it on all PA posts
• you can use your PA ID at other boards, but if you post on other boards using your PA ID you are expected to abide by the same rules of objectivity
• you are encouraged to also maintain and post using your personal ID
• A sample PA signature would be:

  PAMikeH
  
  Teen Advice - PA Home Page - [Your Personal Home Page Here]

Post Removal Guidelines
When to request a post be removed.

• if the post is threatening to another person or group of people
• if the post talks of harming others
• if a post is blatantly false or misleading
• if a post is "spammed" across many folders
• if a post "seems" wrong or inappropriate - if you don't feel "right" let the Guide know

Pages to Post for More Advice

• Help Line Phone Numbers  http://teenadvice.about.com/library/weekly/aa070500a.htm
• Teen Advice Subject Pages  pick relevant subject pages from this list
• Teen Advice Weekly Q & A  pick a relevant question from this list
• He Says/She Says  pick a relevant question from this list
• Teen Advice How Tos  pick a relevant "how to" from this list
• 10 Things About  pick relevant top 10 lists from this page
• If you know of any other good and reliable Teen Advice pages please feel free to add them to your posts where needed