The optional age restriction.

"A. Age restriction on this debate site is to allow other debaters the choice of what category of debaters they would like to debate. The age restriction is not mandatory, it simply provides debaters with another choice." I am arguing it's not necessary and counterintuitive. "1. I agree with my opponent that older debaters can also be as mature as younger debaters, however the age restriction focuses more on experience rather than maturity. I know my opponents argument would be that some younger debaters are more experienced than older debaters, however in many points this is not the case. Yes there are exceptions and that is why the age restriction is optional, not mandatory. Also if the person being restricted from debating were to send the person offering the debate a personal message, than in most cases I'm sure the debater being challenged would extend another debate from the debater that is being restricted age-wise. If in some cases the debater were to ignore the challenge than it should be obvious that its the debaters choice not to debate this person." Define experience. If you mean experience in life affairs, I fear you are making an illogical point. Experience can be supplemented with knowledge. For example, I have no experiences on Mars, but I have quite a bit of knowledge about Mars. Younger as well as older debaters can get this experience. "2. Also a humans brain is not fully developed with rational decision making skills until the person reaches the age of 23. Therefore it is understandable that debaters with the fully developed brain capacity would not want to have an unfair advantage." Note that the top percentile of debaters includes almost exclusively people under the age limit. "1. Experience on this site may not be relevant if a person has a majority of outside experience. Although there are some exceptions, for the most part, the older you are the more experience you have debating. In these cases you are more likely to find a more experienced debater and avoid younger inexperienced ones by implementing an age restriction." Debate experience can mean a number of things. For example, I am on a formal high school debate team. By definition I have much more experience in formal debating than any adult who has never formally debated. However, if you mean dinner party discussions, I would like to point out that these aren't really debates so much as talking. Debating requires preparation, research, and often leaving one's own views behind. So you see, debate experience can mean numerous things. "2. Also if it is shown that a debater has much experience but cannot debate a member simply due to age, a personal message requesting to debate the person will in most cases obtain your admittance, if it doesn't than the person in question would obviously not want to debate the younger opponent." Ah, yes, that is true. Also, the younger debater could lie about his or her age. However, this restriction still discourages younger debaters from debating such subjects. "3. Additionally factoring in the more recent developments of this site, it is understandable that one would not want to debate an opponent who is involved in immature practices. Although not wanting to bring in outside personal issues, I think it only relevant to the "maturity" issue of this debate to note that some of its younger members have been involved in immature practices none of which I care to go into detail about." Adult members have been involved as well in controversial issues regarding maturity. One exclude them. A final point: If one is concerned about getting a quality, mature partner, one can simply challenge a member that meets their criteria.