What should be done about random postings in the special education section?

Thanks to Big Mouth for the "good idea" evaluation. I would prefer not to categorize all the people using Yahoo Answers into one group and make generalizations about their lack of intelligence. We are user here, too.

Even if large numbers of users ignored the clarified headings, some would likely read them. I think of it as traffic signs. They may not help, but they can't -- and for those that care to use them they can be beneficial.

:-D

I just looked up the current first pages of some Yahoo Answers pages. The astronomy page had 20 entries, all of them related to astronomy. The biology page also had 100% related to the topic heading, although one had possible racists undertones about the differences between black and white people. In contrast, the special education section had postings about humming or singing in the bathtub, the meaning of god killer, computer programming, future telling, radio broadcasting, certificates of deposit, ceramic materials in aerospace, zodiac signs, MBA degrees, and only one posting about students with disabilities. This is the difference that I was referring to in my original post, when I ask what can be done to help make sure there is a better correlation between the heading and the postings. One out of 20 is a very weak correlation.

I have waded through several pages without a single posting related to the field of education or disabilities. I have seen individuals who had previously posted some thoughtful posts on these subjects, with sources, seemingly disappear from Yahoo Answers. In the meantime, the number of racial slurs, sexist comments, advertising, chatting, etc. have increased especially under the heading of special education.

It is apparent that more than a few users “don't think anything needs to be done about it. It's not really a problem.” This leads me to wonder, if we adopt that view, why do we need any headings at all? If we stress “freedom of speech,” including racial slurs, etc., without calling for any responsibility on the part of the users or management by this forum, then why not just let everybody post everything into one big heading?

I have to agree that Yahoo! Answers is a public forum. However, I am not sure if “the door is wide open to whoever wants to post, including the rude offensive.” I am concerned that few, if any, will ultimately want to post the type of “quality” answers that would “stand out” in such a setting.

One of the reasons that I took the position that special education means special education of students with disabilities is because it comes under the broader heading of Education. Also the other subgroups tend to support my position, including: Financial Aid, Higher Education (University +), Home Schooling, Homework Help, Preschool, Primary & Secondary Education, Standards & Testing, Studying Abroad, and Teaching. To me those headings, all affiliated under Education, sound like formal educational institutions to me. My definition of special education fits with those. Fortune telling does not.

In response to Maria’s post.

I am hesitant to judge another’s “tone” in an online setting as there are no voices used here. However, words like “selfish,” “self-serving,” “(your) control issues” and “(your) anger issues” are prima face personal attacks.

If the term "Special Education" has another meaning to you other than something involving students with disabilities, you could have put that forth, but chose not to. Instead you opted to attack my opinion and my character. Ironically, you assaulted me for not allowing others to have their opinion, while at the same time denying me a right to have mine.

I had no idea that a simple question on how we can improve this forum for the benefit of those with disabilities and those that work with them would be found to be objectionable.

I am not sure how even a qualified psychologist could diagnose my personality defects by a posted question here. I do believe that your statement that I am a danger to myself and to others is a libelous and illegal statement, unless you have tangible physical evidence to support such a claim. Why am I dangerous? For asking how we can help those with disabilities have a voice here? How is that threatening to you or anyone else?

Nor did I ever conceive that sharing my opinion here would elicit false accusations about actions that I reportedly made. You state “I also see that you have already had two answers from other users yanked, since they are no longer visible here yet show in the total count.” That is one explanation, and a false one. I could pose at least three other theories as to why the posts and the count are not the same. Let me assure you, it was not at my request. You jumped to a false conclusion. Besides, I don’t think that Yahoo Answers “yanks” people’s posts simply because they have a different opinion. They are removed because they violated some rule. As long as you obey the rules and try to address the question, instead of attacking other people’s character, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Unfortunately, in the process of declaring the assumed right to say and do anything here (albeit while attacking others for exercising a similar right), you have contributed nothing to the question itself. As I indicated above, other headings I cited have either a 95% or a 100% on-topic rate, while the special education heading is overpowered by topics not related to schooling or disabilities to less than a 5% on-topic rate. Somehow, this factual issue was never even acknowledged in your post.