Lighthouse welcomes members of all ages, including minors. Because children are part of our community, we take their safety seriously. This policy describes the protections we have in place and the expectations we hold of everyone — members and staff alike — when it comes to the safety of minors.

While we take significant steps to promote safety, no online community can guarantee complete protection. For this reason, we encourage parents and guardians to remain actively involved in their child's online activity.

Our Commitment to Child Safety

Lighthouse is committed to maintaining a community environment where minors are safe, respected, and never exploited. This commitment shapes how we design our community spaces, select and train staff, and respond to safety concerns.

We believe that protecting children is a shared responsibility. Every adult member has a role to play in maintaining a safe environment for younger members.

What Information Is Collected About Minors

When a minor registers for Lighthouse, the same information is collected as for any member:

• An email address
• A chosen username
• Their birthdate (for age verification)
• (optionally) Minecraft and Discord account names

We do not knowingly collect any additional personal information about minors beyond what is required to create and manage a community account.

For details on how all member data is handled, see the Data Privacy Policy.

Staff Conduct with Minors

All staff members are expected to uphold the following standards when interacting with minor members:

• No unmonitored private communication. Staff should not engage in ongoing one-on-one private conversations with minors. When communication is necessary, it should be brief and redirected to official, visible channels (such as tickets) whenever possible.
• Transparency. Interactions with minors involving community matters should always be handled through the website ticket or discussion system. These conversations are visible to select staff leadership so they are never strictly one on one.
• No secrecy. Staff must never ask a minor to keep a conversation secret from parents, staff, or the community.
• No inappropriate content. Staff must not share any content with minor members that would not be appropriate in a public community channel.
• No special relationships. Staff must not develop inappropriate personal relationships with minor members.

Violations of these standards may result in immediate removal from staff and reporting to appropriate authorities if warranted.

Member Conduct with Minors

All adult members are expected to maintain appropriate boundaries when interacting with minors:

• Do not attempt to form private, one-on-one relationships with minors.
• Do not move conversations with minors to private channels (DMs, external platforms, etc.).
• Do not request personal information from a minor.
• Do not offer gifts, favors, or special access in exchange for attention or interaction.
• If a minor initiates private or personal conversation, redirect them to public or moderated spaces when appropriate.
• Do not encourage secrecy or attempt to isolate a minor from others in the community.

Any behavior that appears to be isolating, manipulating, or building undue influence with a minor may be treated as a serious safety concern.

Staff Vetting

Lighthouse does not currently conduct formal background checks on all staff. Instead, we rely on a combination of community-based trust, leadership review, and ongoing oversight:

• Staff applicants must be known to leadership through prior community involvement before being considered.
• Staff promotions are reviewed and approved by Command before being finalized.
• All staff operate under supervision and are accountable within the community's leadership structure.

We are actively evaluating additional vetting measures as the community grows.

Reporting a Safety Concern

If you witness or become aware of behavior that may put a minor at risk, you are expected to report it immediately.

1. Do not confront the individual directly if the situation involves a potential threat to safety.
2. Submit a support ticket immediately. Use the Support Ticket system to report the concern. Include as much detail as possible.
3. Contact Command Staff directly if the concern involves a staff member or if the situation requires urgent attention.

If you believe a child is in immediate danger, contact local law enforcement or child protective services in your area first.

Parental Controls and Involvement

Parents of minor members are welcome to contact us at any time with questions or concerns. While we cannot share information about another user's account, we are happy to explain how our community spaces work and what protections are in place.

Minecraft and Discord (the platforms Lighthouse uses) each have their own parental control and account safety features. We encourage parents to review those features on the respective platform websites.

The Parent Portal on the website allows parents to determine what features of the Lighthouse community and systems their child may participate in. Through this system, a parent may disable their child's account from accessing our Discord server or the Minecraft server.

Parents who wish to request the deletion of their child's data may do so by contacting us through the Support Ticket system.

How We Handle Reports Involving Minors

When a safety concern involving a minor is reported, Lighthouse's response prioritizes the minor's wellbeing above all other considerations. Depending on the nature of the concern:

• Command will review the report and take immediate protective action if needed (including removing an individual from the community).
• The concern will be escalated to appropriate authorities if the behavior may constitute a legal violation.
• The person who reported the concern will be notified that their report has been received. Due to privacy considerations, we may not be able to share the outcome in detail.

Contact

For child safety concerns, contact us via Support Ticket or reach out to a Command staff member directly in Discord. Command members can be identified by their role in the Lighthouse Discord server.