FTC Youth Safety Review Checks

This skill defines content appropriateness checks for FTC marketplace skills. FTC participants are students ages 12-18, so all content should be appropriate for that audience.

Important: These checks flag items for human review. They do not auto-reject content because context matters. A mentor or maintainer should review flagged items.

Acceptable FTC Terms

These terms are ALLOWED despite potentially triggering filters:

Language Checks (Warnings)

Flag for human review if detected in:

• Variable names
• Function/method names
• Class names
• Comments
• String literals
• File names

Profanity Detection

• No profanity in variable names
• No profanity in comments
• No profanity in string literals
• No l33tspeak variations of profanity

Inappropriate Naming

• Variable names don’t contain inappropriate content
• Function names are professional
• Class names are appropriate

Insensitive Language

• No racial or ethnic slurs
• No gender-based insults
• No disability-related slurs
• No religious insults

Comment Review (Warnings)

Tone and Content

• Comments don’t contain personal attacks
• Comments don’t contain exclusionary language
• Comments don’t reference inappropriate content
• TODO comments don’t contain frustration venting

Humor

• Jokes are appropriate for all ages
• Sarcasm doesn’t cross into inappropriate territory
• Pop culture references are age-appropriate

Personal Information (Errors)

These must be fixed – privacy is important.

Student Information

• No real student names in examples
• No student photos or identifying information
• No birth dates or ages

School Information

• No school names in examples (use “Team 12345” format)
• No school addresses
• No teacher/mentor names

Contact Information

• No email addresses in code or examples
• No phone numbers
• No social media handles (Twitter/X, Instagram, etc.)

Content Appropriateness (Warnings)

Topics to Avoid

• No references to alcohol or drugs
• No gambling references
• No dating/relationship content inappropriate for youth
• No violent content beyond game mechanics
• No political or religious advocacy

Example Content

• Examples use neutral/robot-related naming
• Sample data doesn’t contain inappropriate content
• Test cases use appropriate test values

Severity Levels

Review Process

When flagging items:

1. Quote the specific content – Show exactly what was flagged
2. Explain why – What rule does it potentially violate
3. Suggest alternative – Offer appropriate replacement
4. Request human review – A mentor should make final call

Example Flags

Flagged (Context Review Needed)

// Variable name flagged
double killer_shot_power = 0.8;  // "killer" flagged - is this game context?

Recommendation: Rename to scoring_shot_power for clarity.

Acceptable (No Flag)

// Game mechanic - acceptable
void scoreInHighBasket() { ... }

// Dead reckoning - acceptable
void driveByDeadReckoning() { ... }

Must Fix (Error)

// Personal information - must remove
// Created by John Smith, Central High School
String studentEmail = "john@school.edu";

Required: Remove personal information.

Running This Review

/review <skill-name> --type youth

Or as part of full review:

/review <skill-name>

See Also

• FIRST Youth Protection Program
• FIRST Code of Conduct