The Administration of PTO has made the decision to close the Sex Related Issues Forum.

The Administration does not feel at this time that the Sex Related Issues Forum is of benefit to PTO and our ongoing commitment to Prisoner support. For this reason it has been closed.

We do however recognize that there may be occasions that actual ‘issues’ need to be discussed that are of a sexual nature between you and your incarcerated Partner. We are not saying that discussion of a sex related issue is forbidden – if it is a true issue. If you have a true issue then you may choose the most appropriate forum – such as Husbands and Boyfriends (or like forum), and post your discussion there.

We will NOT be tolerant to language and explicit descriptions as we were in the past – if you must discuss an issue on the open site then please do so in a respectful and dignified manner.

Foul language, explicit descriptions of sexual acts, or casual discussions about sexual topics will be removed from the site without warning.

We will permit the posting of links in the General Internet Resources Forum for sites such as www.pillowmail.com - a PTO favorite – but NO otherwise explicit sites will be allowed. If links to explicit sites are posted here then the member will be warned and the post removed.

We realize that this is a culture shift for PTO and that many members do like the Sex Related Issues Forum. We have however been carefully monitoring this Forum in the recent past, and find that it is much more about causal discussion and not specific issues that Prisoners and their loved ones face or experience.

As we continue to grow at unprecedented rates we are interested in directing our resources in a more focused way towards the business of Prisoner Support, Prisoner Resources, and as always – unprecedented support for ‘YOU’ - the loved one left behind.

We appreciate your attention and understanding with this matter as well as your compliance with the new policy.

YOU – the PTO Members are what make us so strong! Let’s keep building this community so that we always remain the PREMIERE site for Prisoner Support!

Thank YOU ALL for your continued support of PTO!

The PTO Administration Team - Administrators and Moderators.

As always ... Big Daddy and his "kiddos" are doing a great job to keep our best interests in mind ...

Thanks from one of the 'kiddos' LOL

I can understand the reasoning behind this decision, but I have to disagree. There are many more threads and even Forums that are less related to prisoner support. Some people who post on this forum have genuine concerns regarding staying faithful, behaviour at visits etc. Some posts were very light-hearted, but isn't it good to find something that we as loved-ones can actually laugh at together on subjects that our friends and families on the outside would never understand? That in itself is a support for those of us that often find what we are going through difficult and isolating.
Recently there was a poll asking if we would like to make the site more prisoner orientated and almost 62% said no.
I know that there are a lot of postings these days and few of us have time to read all of them. But I go through the list of new postings and just read any that sounds as though they will interest me or ones where I could possibly help someone. The rest I just leave alone.

Helen,
If there are issues such as you are talking about that need discussing, you are welcome to post them in the Husbands and Boyfriends section, or another that be more appropriate.

The majority of posts in the forum we're talking about were not what I want representing PTO to the public at large and many of our members, especially children.

The purpose of this forum was never to just cut loose with sexual preferences or desires, yet that is what became prevalent there.

Fed-X

Reading between the lines, this is what I suspected, but it wasn't the reason given. I appreciate your honesty.

I'm not quite sure I understand.. What reason other than what Tebkrg and I stated were you given?

Originally posted by tebkrg


We realize that this is a culture shift for PTO and that many members do like the Sex Related Issues Forum. We have however been carefully monitoring this Forum in the recent past, and find that it is much more about causal discussion and not specific issues that Prisoners and their loved ones face or experience.

As we continue to grow at unprecedented rates we are interested in directing our resources in a more focused way towards the business of Prisoner Support, Prisoner Resources, and as always – unprecedented support for ‘YOU’ - the loved one left behind.

[/B]

This is what I was replying to originally. There is no mention of cancelling the Forum because you thought it was unsuitable to be included in a site that is seen by children. I was replying to the statement that it was seen as a casual discussion and not specific to prisoner support. That was what I was disagreeing with.
But as it seems that no-one else is disappointed at seeing the end of the Forum, then there is no need to carry this on any further.

I'm disappointed seeing it go, but I do agree that we had been having waaaayy too much fun in there recently for it to be public. What I wish is that we could have that area remain but just somehow have it be made a private area only for adults. I know that might be hard to do, but could we figure it out? The sharing that was going on in that forum is very therapeutic and it's just hard to be clinical about such things. I don't see how we could avoid the same problems having the topic covered in Husbands & Boyfriends, which is still accessible to kids and would run the same risks.

what she ^^^^^ said!!! :)

that forum made me blush,,,lol i am teasing. I am sure pto as always is doing what is best for pto

Helen,

Sorry but I have been offline for about 36 hours and have not been able to respond to your posts...

I am sorry if I was not clear in what I stated - I did try to represent the nature of our decision and I realize that the post was rather long... Maybe I was not as clear as I could have been and for that I apologize. I was however trying to be polite and cautious in how I picked my words so as not to offend anyone or have anyone think that I was speaking directly to them - this does happen from time to time on PTO.

You seem to have missed this particular statement...

We do however recognize that there may be occasions that actual ‘issues’ need to be discussed that are of a sexual nature between you and your incarcerated Partner. We are not saying that discussion of a sex related issue is forbidden – if it is a true issue. If you have a true issue then you may choose the most appropriate forum – such as Husbands and Boyfriends (or like forum), and post your discussion there.

When I referred to 'casual discussions' WE (The Administration) were referring to exactly that - 'casual discussions' that often got a little racy and out of hand...AND were not directly an issue between two people - they were just 'discussions' for the fun of it... This forum was largely being used for this kind of discussion and the time to Moderate this Forum was getting out of hand. YES - there are many threads that you and others are probably not aware of that were routinely removed from this Forum because they violated PTO policy - even for the sex forum.

We were not referring to subjects of remaining faithful, or contact at visits - we do consider these healthy discussions and they are permitted at PTO - as long as the discussions remain dignified and respectful.

Hope this answers some of your concerns?

I don't see how we could avoid the same problems having the topic covered in Husbands & Boyfriends, which is still accessible to kids and would run the same risks.

toi_ama - again - we do encourage discussion of issues in the appropriate forum but we will not be as lenient with 'how far' the discussion can go.

The point here is that we do not any longer want to support discussions that were as direct and explicit as they were in the Sex Forum. Many things can be discussed without using the language and creating the kind of explicit picture that was sometimes the case in this forum. Again many things have had to be removed from this forum that even raised my eyebrows and I don't have much shame...lol In some situations you may consider this a situation that a few have pushed the limit too often and created this situation for others. As we grow the problem is exponential - unfortunately.


What I wish is that we could have that area remain but just somehow have it be made a private area only for adults.

This is a possibility in the future.

thanks for this thread. i seriously thought that i was temp. blind cause i sure couldnt find it. i too thought it was nice to talk about our "sexual issues" BUT if david feels its not what he wants, then what can ya do? i do think it was getting a lil out of control....but oh well.

it was fun while it lasted!! :wave:

Well, it was fun while it lasted but sometimes I think we may have pushed the envelope a BIT. I guess I assumed that things under the heading "Sex Related Issues" was for mature audiences only. I forgot that sometimes kids probably surf this site too. WHOOPSIE!
-sher

I must have really missed the really naughty threads- ah well. But this endeavor is to precious to jeopardize in any way.

That's right. We have to keep the main focus of this website...and what was that??? JUST KIDDING!!!
-Sher

Although I am sorry to see it go, I can certainly understand why. I would love to see a "private" room as suggested in earlier posts, but wonder how PTO could verify the ages of the users? As it is now, it seems that PTO my rely on the honesty of anyone who chooses to become a member... I'd just hate to see kids have access to a place that covers adult topics.