Please read! SWS REVIEW

PLEASE CONFIRM THAT YOU READ THIS IN THE COMMENTS

(Please skip to the dashed line if you don't have enough time to view, but I'd rather have the whole thing read).

I'm not sure how to begin this post (as always), but the recent events have unsettled me.

I'm not saying that Taco shouldn't have left, or Electro shouldn't have been fired, or something along those lines, but rather that SWS is... well, deteriorating. And to be honest, I really don't want to see this site go to waste. This has been a wonderful idea and creation, and to give up on it would be devastating.

So I want to turn this back around, if I can.

I'm entering Grade 10 this year, and it will be only 3 more years until graduation. I can't say that I will be around forever, particularly in Grade 11 and 12, as my grades matter more and more towards my future. I am also an executive of my school's Environment Club, so I will be quite busy throughout the year trying to manage projects and whatnot.
But I've still got a year to go, and I want to make the most of it.

I apologize if the paragraph above seemed to imply that 'I' was the only 'hope' of the society, but to tell the truth, I think it's mostly just Beta and I being active. I do wish that more CMs would be active as well; that's an issue that I will address in the post.

I hope that this can eradicate the Jan 4, 2017 deadline.

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I'm going to be blunt in this post. I don't want to cause any trouble or hurt any feelings, but I'll say what I need to say.

I will be addressing several problems and new(er) methods in the post. Because I realize that a large block of text may be boring and monotonous, I've decided to put all of the important things in the front. But again, I stress that you read the entire post, even if it means taking breaks.


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Self-Sustainable Blog.

This is obviously the most important issue here. What I want to do, and what I think we should all work forwards to, is to create a blog that can sustain itself. This means that if the Council were gone and only the authors left, this blog can still keep on running.

The Aim & Benefits:
To create a blog that can function solely by itself. The benefit is that it could be continuously working, and would need some/little maintenance.

The Procedure:
This is going to directly engage the public. There will only be 3 ranks; agent, poster, and Council Member.
The poster is going to essentially, organize posts and post them.

Steps:
1. A member of the public (jammer) will email SWS with evidence of the scammer.
2. The poster will check the email to see if it has sufficient evidence/meets criteria, and then sends an email back saying that will be posted, or the email will state that it was rejected and explain why.
3. The poster will then proceed to make a post about it, giving credit to the jammer as well.

Additional Notes:
-Form for posting is the exact same as the one in Posting Rules, except the post must give credit to the jammer.
-The form to submit a scammer will be:
  Username:
  Amount of Scammer(s):
  Member/Non-member:
  Date Caught (optional):
  Status Harmed (refer to Posting Rules for more info):
  Picture of the scammer(s) player card"
  Picture of them scamming:
-We either need to create a new SWS email or get Cerise to sent us the email's password
-Only 1 or 2 people will be sufficient for this job (they must be interviewed and deemed responsible enough)
-Form for Application to be a Poster (must be an agent):
Username:
Agent Name:
Number of Scammer Posts:
Daily Amount of Hours Online:
Reason for Application:

Pros:
Engages public (creates publicity/awareness)
More scammer posts

Cons
Relies on public to give information
Relies on poster to make post (trust & availability)

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Communication between Council Members


I've mentioned this before. What the Council is lacking in most is communication and collaboration. I literally have almost no idea of what's going on, and whenever I see an Update post, I think: when did this happen? Perhaps it's because Council Meetings are held most often on AJ, or perhaps it went on in the Chat Room.
But I'd like to host Council Meetings in a place where everyone can contribute their opinions; a.k.a, on this blog.

The Aim & Benefits:
We can get a general consensus of opinions and have information from many viewpoints to consider. It would be best if everyone could participate.
The Procedure:
The Meetings will essentially be held on this blog. A poll will be created, if necessary.

Steps:
1. An issue arises, and a CM makes a note of it.
2. A post will be made on the blog, with all of the details noted and a suggestion/solution made. The post will include a general overview of the author's suggestion (like what I did for this post; ex. include Aim/Benefits, Pros/Cons, etc).
3. A due date will be put on the post; all CMs MUST reply before the due date. I suggest that the date should be 2 weeks from the time that the post is published. 
4. All CMs will present their own opinions on the issue, as well as comment on others. A general 'debate/meeting' will be held, and a final solution suggested.
5. The outcome MUST be a consensus (everyone must agree).  

 Additional Notes:
-If a council member does not reply within the date, the outcome will be decided anyway, OR we wait until the member replies. I prefer the former, as it allows us to make decisions efficiently, but we lack their opinion/knowledge, UNLESS another CM can contact them in another way with the post's info.
-Critique, questions, etc can be made as well. Don't be afraid to comment!

Pros:
Can get a consensus, which means we have considered everyone's viewpoint
Can review the issue if necessary

Cons
Relies on CM's avaliabilty
May be a long time before we reach a solution

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SWS Review

Basically, I would like to have a review on the SWS every 6 months or so. The feedback is going to come from our viewers/agents, and I/we will create a page for this.

Aim & Benefits
We get a feel of how our blogs doing & what we can do to improve it. We can also get honest feedback from viewers, instead of basing features on what we think is right.
Procedure:
This will be largely dependent on the Suggestions Page, which I will have a draft of, and which I hope will be critiqued.

Steps:
1. A suggestion is made.
2. A post will be made on the blog, with all of the details noted and a suggestion/solution made. The post will include a general overview of the author's suggestion (like what I did for this post; ex. include Aim/Benefits, Pros/Cons, etc).
3. A due date will be put on the post; all CMs MUST reply before the due date. I suggest that the date should be 2 weeks from the time that the post is published. 
4. All CMs will present their own opinions on the issue, as well as comment on others. A general 'debate/meeting' will be held, and a final solution suggested.
5. The outcome MUST be a consensus (everyone must agree).  

Additional Notes:
-If there are multiple suggestions, we can focus on the most important/first one per month/2 weeks

Pros:
Enables us to review all suggestions
Enables us to improve our blog

Cons:
May have overload of suggestions
Depends on viewers for suggestions (may have a lack of)

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Recruitment

As we all know, SWS is lacking in active agents, so I have some ideas for recruitment.


Aim & Benefits
The aim is to get an increase in the number of agents (not applicants). This will benefit SWS/AJ by increasing the amount of scammer posts.
Procedure:
This will mainly center on advertisining in AJ and by word-of-mouth/chat.

Ex. Go in the most popular server (aka Aldan), and type something along the lines of      "Are you interested in making Jamaa a better place? Check out Animal Jam Scam Watchers'  Society and tell your friends!"

Or you can conduct an interview for agents at your den (I'm not sure how Cerise did it). Once everyone has seen this post, we can decide on something.
 
Additional Notes:
-It should be best if 3 CMs (or 2 other CMs) are present during the interview, so they can compare notes and thoughts
-We should make a post once recruitment is open
-We must have some rules in place
 Rules;
1. Must be 10 (can decided on age) and above to join
2. Must have a Gmail/Blogger account

Pros:Allows us to get new agents faster
May enable the amount of posts to go up

Cons:
May have too many agents; too less active agents
May create rifts between those who got chosen and those who weren't

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SWS Academy


I personally think that SWSA is a great asset, as it can not only train agents, but also raise public awareness. As Nelson Mandela once said, 'Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.'

Aim & Benefits
To educate the public about scammers and their techniques, as well as train agents to catch these perpetrators. This will hopefully reduce the amount of scammers seen.
Procedure
Some changes will be made;


Courses:
Courses should last about 3-4 months, if we follow a weekly lesson plan. So that's about 12 lessons in total, plus one final exam that takes place a WEEK after the last lesson. Each course takes place at same time, so an entire semester should only be the duration of the course. There should be a break of 1-2 months between each semester, so teachers can rest and plan out lessons.
Course Suggestions:
Scam Catching & Confrontation
History
Etiquette

Classes:
These 'classes' will actually be weekly posts (on their page) with information. We can designate a date for the lessons (ex. History posts every Monday, Etiquette posts every Wednesday, etc). Questions will be asked in comments. There is a limit of 20 agents per class.
I think that have weekly classes are beneficial because it doesn't overload the viewers with information, gives time to finish assignments, while not being too infrequent/slow.

Lessons:
Lessons should be about over a page long (500 words), and include some sort of assessment (exams are exempt). The assessment should be finished by the next lesson. All of the information and assessments should be planned before the start of the course, in order to give those who cannot attend a lesson a chance to complete it before.
Lessons should be posted on the lesson page, with the date of the post. Reminders can be posted on the Home page.

Assessments:
Tests, quizzes, and the like will be conducted with questionnaire sites, preferably formatted with a time limit and/or due date. If the task is not completed, the agent gets a zero. There should be no retakes on any assessment, UNLESS the teacher is notified a week in advance with a valid reason (ex. family emergency, vacation, etc). However, everything should be finished by the end of the course (by the end, I mean the end of the last lesson day, not when the final takes place).
I don't think that projects will be necessary, unless it involves something like 'catch _ amount of scammers in _ amount of time', or 'record the _ tactics of _ amount of scammers that you caught'. 
I think that the final grade should be weighed; something like 50% for all tests/quizzes, 40% for projects, and 10% for the final exam.
The final takes place a week after the last lesson.
I suggest that a final passing grade should be 90% or up (in total), but re-taking courses are allowed.

Teachers
Teachers should be agents or council members with a YEAR (preferably more!) of experience in scam catching, as well as 6 MONTHS (preferably more!) in SWS, and no 'criminal' record. They should be over the age of 12.
Each teacher should be interviewed with ALL of the CMs, as well as submit a resume and cover letter (more on that later) (yes, CMs have to be interviewed and submit applications as well). 

Pros
Better assessments
More awareness is raised

Cons
May take up too much time
May not to practical (each course only has 1 or 2 agents enrolled, not worth the time)

Additonal Notes:
-The students don't have to be agents! Everyone is free to join.
-Every agent should retake SWSA once it is finished
-Sign-ups for courses should be up for a week or so, based on popularity


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Records 

I have been keeping a log of SWS posts; I would be really grateful if a CM can help me out (it's really behind; link is down below). I will also be making a graph of the amount of scammers, and see if I can spot a trend.

An update on the agent log would be great, as well

SWS Record (still editing it): AJSWS History Report/Log


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Oh my goodness, this is finally finished. I probably spent more than 4 hours on this. Anyways, thanks for reading of it, though you might want to re-read it if you were rushing.
Here's a picture to make you feel better.



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