| There has been a significant amount of confusion recently about exactly what the Fourteen Year Old Sister Rule (FYOSR) means. In theory, it means that anything that gets posted on the board that you wouldn't want your hypothetical fourteen year old sister to hear/read would get moderated.
Unfortunately, as has been stated and demonstrated in recent months, this is a very ambiguous definition. One person's FYOS might be sheltered to the point that she thinks "hell" is a horrible word and hides, mortified, in her room at the very mention of sex in any context. Another person's FYOS might swear like a sailor and will graphically describe her various "exploits" to anyone who will listen.
Because of this, perhaps we should change the FYOS rule to the PG or PG-13 rule. From the MPA/MPAA website:
PG:"Parental Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children."
This is a film which clearly needs to be examined or inquired into by parents before they let their children attend. The label PG plainly states that parents may consider some material unsuitable for their children, but the parent must make the decision.
Parents are warned against sending their children, unseen and without inquiry, to PG- rated movies.
The theme of a PG-rated film may itself call for parental guidance. There may be some profanity in these films. There may be some violence or brief nudity. But these elements are not deemed so intense as to require that parents be strongly cautioned beyond the suggestion of parental guidance. There is no drug use content in a PG-rated film.
The PG rating, suggesting parental guidance, is thus an alert for examination of a film by parents before deciding on its viewing by their children.
Obviously such a line is difficult to draw. In our pluralistic society it is not easy to make judgments without incurring some disagreement. So long as parents know they must exercise parental responsibility, the rating serves as a meaningful guide and as a warning.
PG-13:"Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13."
PG-13 is thus a sterner warning to parents to determine for themselves the attendance in particular of their younger children as they might consider some material not suited for them. Parents, by the rating, are alerted to be very careful about the attendance of their under-teenage children.
A PG-13 film is one which, in the view of the Rating Board, leaps beyond the boundaries of the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, or other contents, but does not quite fit within the restricted R category. Any drug use content will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. In effect, the PG-13 cautions parents with more stringency than usual to give special attention to this film before they allow their 12-year olds and younger to attend.
If nudity is sexually oriented, the film will generally not be found in the PG-13 category. If violence is too rough or persistent, the film goes into the R (restricted) rating. A film's single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, shall initially require the Rating Board to issue that film at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive must lead the Rating Board to issue a film an R rating, as must even one of these words used in a sexual context. These films can be rated less severely, however, if by a special vote, the Rating Board feels that a lesser rating would more responsibly reflect the opinion of American parents.
PG-13 places larger responsibilities on parents for their children's moviegoing. The voluntary rating system is not a surrogate parent, nor should it be. It cannot, and should not, insert itself in family decisions that only parents can, and should, make. Its purpose is to give prescreening advance informational warnings, so that parents can form their own judgments. PG-13 is designed to make these parental decisions easier for films between PG and R.
These ratings provide more clairity than the FYOSR does, while still allowing some flexibility.
Also, regardless of the above, I think it should be the policy of the moderators to post a brief explanation of why posts are moderated, when they are moderated. Without this, moderations can cause a great deal of confusion, add a lot of clutter to the board, and even give the moderators the appearance of being capricious and/or malicious. This is amply demonstrated by the Pear Pimples For Hairy Fishnuts post and the ensuing discussion/argument/flamewar.
Post discussions/arguments on either of these below. | 
