Real cases
A case · you decide
Ada and the first overdraw
Ada — a teen designing the rules for a school garden's shared water tank
Week two of the garden, and one plot drew three days of water in one afternoon. The group chat wants blood.
Ada has read how real communities keep shared resources going. Elinor Ostrom's studies found that long-lived commons use graduated sanctions: small first, stronger if it happens again.
A huge first penalty tends to make people hide overuse or quit the garden, and that breaks the commons too.
What rule should the garden adopt for a first overdraw?
The garden posts its water log on the shed door. By August, overdraws are rare and nobody has been banned.
A case · you decide
Ada and Boaz take the appeal
Boaz & Ada — a moderation-appeals reviewer working with the rules designer
A student appeals: she was penalized for an overdraw on the day the tank's gauge was broken.
Ada wrote the rule; Boaz reviews appeals. The rule was fair on paper, but the evidence it relied on was faulty that day.
There is no single correct call here, only trade-offs the community has to own.
How should Boaz rule on the appeal?
The garden picks the manual-check fix. Boaz writes one line for the rulebook: a rule is only as fair as the measurement behind it.
A case · you decide
Oriel and the unchecked meter
Oriel — a teen on the committee that runs a school garden's water tank
The garden has a quota, but nobody checks the tank log, and overdraws keep creeping up. Someone proposes tripling the fine.
Oriel has run the simulation and read the field studies: what moves behaviour is how likely people think they are to be caught, far more than the size of the penalty.
A huge fine that is almost never used mostly teaches people that the rule is not enforced.
What change will cut overdraws most?
A rule that is watched does not need to be harsh.
A case · you decide
Casimir sets the quota by the refill
Casimir — a teen modelling the garden tank's refill rate for the committee
The rain barrel feeding the tank refills about 40 litres a day in an ordinary week. Eight plots share it, and everyone wants 8 litres a day.
Casimir's rule: the whole group can safely take what comes back each day. Take more and the level falls every day until it runs out.
Eight plots at 8 litres is 64 litres a day, well over the 40 that comes back.
What daily quota should the committee set per plot?
The resource sets the limit. The rules only decide how it is shared.
A case · you decide
Casimir and Oriel in the dry spell
Casimir & Oriel — a teen on the garden committee during a two-week heatwave
The heatwave has cut the refill from 40 litres a day to about 16. Casimir says the per-plot quota must drop to 2 litres. The committee worries nobody will stick to it.
Casimir's arithmetic is not negotiable: 16 litres a day shared by eight plots is 2 litres each.
Oriel's point is about behaviour. A sudden cut is exactly when people are tempted to take a bit extra, so checking matters most now.
How should the committee bring in the cut?
The refill decides the number. Being watched decides whether people keep to it.