Who is behind the Gifted Haven?
The Gifted Haven is an independent website. We aren't supported by any organization.
It is owned and run by voluntary individuals, who don't perceive any benefits from it.

How do I know my child doesn't get access to material I don't want him to access when there is a Private Board?
We want to make sure your child's privacy and safety are guaranteed. Since we are a public website, in order to so, we decided we needed to make a small part of the board private, where members could post things they do not want other people to read. For this reason, we are not planning on deleting the Private Board.
This means that unless your child does not show you or tell you about what he posts there, you won't get access to what's there. Our Privacy Policy indeed doesn't allow us to communicate any information to any third party. This includes parents.
So the short answer is : no, there is no way for you to check for yourself what's in the Private Board, due to privacy reasons.

Can you at least tell me what kind of material can be found in the Private Board?
Yes.
The Private Board was created to make a place where Havenites can talk about private things they do not want others to read about. These can be either rants that give an outlet to express their feelings in a safe environment, or advice requests. Topics on this are broad : they range from giftedness-related topics to substance abuse problems and from rants against parents to relationship problems.
There are also topics containing emails, Facebook informations or any other thread that contains information that would be a privacy threat had it been in a public part of the Haven.

Wait... you guys also talk about substance abuse, but in private boards. How do I know you aren't advocating its use?
We, as in the Gifted Haven's staff, do not support substance abuse. It is illegal in most countries, and we aren't advocating any kind of illegal activity.
However, we can't promise some people on the Haven don't advocate it, as it would go against the freedom of speech. Such censorship usually just strengthens the "rebellion" value of substance abuse, and as such, it is counter-productive. Not to mention the fact that someone who censors someone else may be seen as someone unsure of his arguments.
We do promise that the staff will support anyone wanting to get rid of addictions, and that not only we won't promote it, but will also post all the information about the dangers of substance abuse whenever the topic is raised.

My child wants to go to a Havenite Gathering... what do I do?
There have indeed been a few Havenite meetings. They aren't officially supported by the Havenite team, but they are organized by its members, and sometimes staff members.
These meetings are usually small in size, the two biggest ones in Amsterdam, Melbourne and Paris having only allowed three Havenites to meet each time, though bigger projects are being made.
Despite the fact that these meetings are not formally organized by the Gifted Haven and that it isn't responsible for them, parents who want to contact the staff to ask for information and warranties can contact the administor who will forward information to them.
It isn't unreasonable (and in fact, it is even highly advisable) to ask for a phone number of the person organizing the gathering, an adress, and the location of the gathering. You might want to bring your child to the meeting to meet the other persons.
Whenever possible, the Haven encourages big events (yet to happen...) to be organized in cooperation with official organizations like MENSA or Synescent.
As of now, all meetings between Havenites have gone without trouble.

Besides the Board, the Chat and some meetings, is there anything else organized by the Haven
There used to be a project of writing a book on giftedness with the participation of gifteds themselves and destined as a handbook and guide for kids discovering that they are gifted, but this project has been momentarily abandonned due to a loss of data in April 2009.
The other project, that is still active, is of a penpal circle : so don't be surprised if your child receives a postcard, or chocolate, or an elmo plush from someone living on the other side of the planet!

I am a parent and I want to contribute!
All contributions are welcome!
Parents can't be a part of the staff, nor even become Regular Members, but they are still welcome to contribute if they want to.
What we need parents for the most is help spreading the word : talk to other parents about the Haven, so that they talk about it to their children, or that they put links to our website on their website.
Other ways in which you can contribute is by contributing to the Book project, or organizing a gathering, or sending us feedback emails or making suggestions.

This site was created by Lis Davies in 2004, and is now owned by Samuel McNamara. Send an email to him at : sam@giftedhaven.net
The Gifted Haven is now moderated and maintained by a small but dedicated army of volunteers and contributors. Send questions or comments to us at : webmaster@giftedhaven.net. Criticism, comments, or notice that you're just dropping by are welcome.

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Text © 2003-2008 C. Davies 2009 Gifted Haven Staff and C. Davies