VGSynergy Guidelines

VGSynergy is the Spartan Synergy Network. Ask the hall a question, answer what you know, and mark what helped. It also carries the practical stuff: splitting a ride home, finding the jacket you left in the gym.

These rules are on top of the community guidelines, which apply everywhere on the platform. Read those first. The section below on rides matters most, because that is the one that puts you in a car with another person.

Circles

A circle is a room for one subject. Post in the circle that fits, and if your post fits two of them, pick one instead of posting it twice.

Anyone can propose a circle. Staff get theirs immediately, and a student circle opens once enough people back it or an admin approves it. That gate exists because a circle nobody posts in is worse than no circle at all.

If you run a circle, you set the topic and you are expected to keep it on topic. You do not get to run it as your own space: the platform rules apply inside your circle, and you cannot use it to exclude people you personally dislike.

Asking and answering

Ask a real question. Say what you already tried. A question with context gets answered, and “does anyone know about the chem homework” does not.

Mark the answer that solved it. That is the whole point of the accepted-answer mark, and it is how the next person with your problem finds the answer instead of asking again.

When you answer:

• Answer the question that was asked. If you think they are asking the wrong question, say so once and then answer anyway.
• Not knowing something is not stupid. Somebody asking what a syllabus word means is doing the right thing by asking.
• Do not answer to score points. A wrong answer stated confidently costs somebody a grade.

Upvote what is useful, downvote what is wrong. Downvoting is for answers that are incorrect or unhelpful, not for people you have a problem with. Organizing other people to vote something up or down is not allowed, and lifesaver is for the answer that genuinely got you out of trouble, so spend it like it means something.

Homework help and where it becomes cheating

This is a school platform, so the line matters and it is not always obvious. Here is where it sits.

Fine to post:

• How do I approach this kind of problem?
• I got this answer and the key says otherwise, where did I go wrong?
• Can somebody explain what the teacher meant by this?
• Does anyone have notes from the day I was out?

Not allowed:

• The questions from a test or quiz, before or after you took it. Posting them after does not make it fine, because other periods have not sat it yet.
• Your completed assignment posted so other people can copy it.
• Asking someone to do the assignment for you, and doing it for them when asked.
• Anything from an exam that is still being given, including a photo of a page.

If a teacher said the work is individual, then it is individual, and this platform does not override that. Cheating gets the content removed and the school told.

Rides

Ride posts are for getting home, getting to a game, and splitting gas. Some ground rules.

The driver has to be licensed and driving legally, with the restrictions on their license actually followed. Arranging the ride here does not suspend any of them.

Worth knowing, because most student drivers at this school are under them: for the first six months of an Arizona graduated (Class G) license, or until the driver turns 18, they cannot carry more than one passenger under 18 unless those passengers are their siblings or a licensed parent or guardian is in the front seat. They also cannot drive between midnight and 5 a.m., with exceptions that include driving home from a school-sponsored activity or from work. Check the current rules with the driver rather than taking a post’s word for it.

That first restriction is the one a ride post breaks most easily. Four people splitting a ride home from a game is a citation for the driver, not a favor.

Tell a parent or guardian who you are riding with before you get in a car. Every time. If you are the driver, expect a passenger’s parent to want to know who you are, and do not take that as an insult.

Splitting gas is fine. Charging a fare is not, because at that point you are running a taxi without any of the things a taxi is required to have.

Do not post a ride to somewhere you are not supposed to be, and do not use a ride post to arrange something else.

Lost and found

Describe what you lost. If you found something, describe it in general terms and let the owner name the detail you left out. Posting a clear photo of a found phone or wallet is how it gets claimed by the wrong person.

Turn in anything valuable to the front office. A post is for the things that would sit in a lost and found bin for a year.

Claiming something that is not yours is theft, and it is a lot more traceable here than you might think.

Contact details

The contact field on a post is visible to every signed-in student. Put in the least you need. A first name and a way to message you is enough, and your phone number, your address, and your class schedule are not.

Never send a photo of yourself to someone because they asked, and never let anyone pressure you into moving the conversation somewhere private. If somebody on here makes you uncomfortable, report the post and tell an adult you trust. You will not get in trouble for reporting it, and you will not be the only one.