How can I become a Guardian and what does this entail?
Updated
The following are requirements for Guardians, and Senior Guardians (site moderators):
Guardians
- Demonstrated contributions to the Khan Academy community in the form of answering questions, contributing to discussions, and high-quality comments. This ensures that incoming Guardians are familiar with the Khan Academy platform and community, and have experience contributing great answers and feedback.
- At least 16 years of age. The role of Guardian is an important one within the community, and we take their contributions and actions very seriously. Because helping keep the community active and safe requires a certain level of maturity and judgment, we do require a minimum age of sixteen.
- A record free of any bans or repeated bad behavior, such as plagiarism, vote soliciting or spamming for at least 12 months. Khan Academy Guardians are role models to the community, and as role models, they should have a record clear of any recent bad behavior. People make mistakes, but good learners grow and learn from their mistakes. This shouldn’t discourage community members who have received messages from Guardians in the past for different behavior; what matters is that the guidance was heeded and better behavior followed.
- Ideologically neutral username and bio that is absent of any overt political, religious, or otherwise controversial affiliation. The role of a Guardian is focused on community moderation and enhancing the educational experience, and the presence of political, religious, or otherwise controversial profiles can be distracting to the content and situations at hand.
- Demonstrated ability to handle potential conflicts between community members in a diplomatic, nurturing, and firm manner. As with any online community, there can be situations where community members are in conflict with each other or in need of real help (for safety reasons or otherwise). Guardians are one of the first lines of help in these situations, so the ability to evaluate and handle difficult situations in a mature and supportive way is a key component of Guardianship.
Senior Guardians (currently inactive)
This is a senior volunteer role for existing Guardians who have exemplified leadership and wish to take an expanded role in supporting the community.
- A strong record of excellent judgement in moderating the Khan Academy community as a Guardian for at least 6 months. Senior Guardians need to have demonstrated leadership and excellent judgment in their time as a Guardian.
- At least 18 years of age. The role of Senior Guardian is a stronger leadership role within the community, and we take their contributions and actions very seriously. Because helping keep the community active and safe requires a certain level of maturity and judgment, we do require a minimum age of eighteen.
- Ability to pass a background check. Senior Moderator Guardians have access to additional tools that require a higher level of trust.
- A record free of any banning or repeated bad behavior, such as plagiarism, vote soliciting or spamming for at least 24 months. Our Guardians are role models to the community, and as role models, they should have a record clear of any recent bad behavior for a significant amount of time.
Guardians are expected to:
- Regularly review, take action on, and empty the flagged content queue (at least 20 posts per month).
- Edit content when necessary. If a post is useful but in all caps or has spelling mistakes or a dozen question marks, we correct it. If it is useful but asking for votes, we remove the part that asks for votes. You can also reword questions to make them better.
- Generally, keep an eye out for and take action on negative behavioral trends.
- Message users who have been participating in a discussion but have made off-topic posts, such as chit-chat, repeated vote/badge seeking, or homework questions.
- Maintain communications with fellow Guardians and Khan Academy staff and respond to their inquiries, where relevant.
- Ban users in extreme cases.
Application Process
Apply via the Khan Academy Guardian Application so we can follow up with you about your interest in helping the Khan Academy community.