[Brinniel]

I have to say that my experience on the BD as a teenager has been overall an excellent one. I know there are many parents out there who are afraid of letting their children get involved with online forums, but when it's something like the BD, being involved online can be good for the child.

After reading RPGs that I have taken part in, I've noticed how tremendously I've improved in my creative writing skills over a year's time. I spent hours on those RPGs, using a thesaurus to perfect my writing, and refusing to stop perfecting it until I reached my high standards of what I hoped would be a professional quality of writing. And it paid off. Not only have I noticed improvements in writing stories, but I can now write poetry real well (something I used to hate).

Not only has the BD improved my creative writing, but also the quality of my essay writing, particularly persuasive. Anytime I wanted to argue an issue, I wrote carefully, supporting each of my opinions with facts, something that is essential to essay writing.

Obviously, the BD improved my overall knowledge of Tolkien's works. Reading different topics in the forum have helped me understand many details of his books better than before and I've learned to appreciate all Tolkien's hard work and effort he put into these books.

And lastly, BD has improved my self-esteem. Being active in something online that's actually eduactional, has made me feel quite good about myself. I'm able to converse with people I normally would never meet about something I love.

My parents have never been bothered by the fact that I enjoy taking part in online forums, though my mom has threatened to ban me several times simply because my constant visits to the BD (visits that were hours at a time) began to affect my schoolwork, especially during those months when my teachers gave ridiculous amounts of homework along with my dance team competitions (which is why, unfortunately, I was forced to give up RPGing completely).

So, in summary, the BD is a healthy experience for anyone of any age, as long as you don't become so involved, it affects your real life.