Story Search Engine · a Not Rest Inc. product

Safety & age ratings

Bands

all-ages · 13+ · 16+ (the ceiling) · refused (an absolute exclusion fired).

Per-theme thresholds

For each theme, the highest band any element triggers sets the story's band. Above 16+ ⇒ refused (never generated).

Theme	all-ages	13+	16+ (ceiling)	refused (above)
Violence / conflict	none or cartoon-level	historical/news violence described, not dwelt on	war, atrocity, torture described soberly & factually	gratuitous gore; how-to for harm
Death / grief	mentioned	real death, illness, disaster as documentary	mass death, genocide, sober first-person loss	—
Sexuality	none	biology/health, relationships in factual terms	mature historical/social context (no description of acts)	any pornographic or eroticised content; any sexualisation of minors
Substances	none	mention in a health/history context	addiction, overdose, drug history treated factually	how-to (synthesis, sourcing, dosing to get high)
Crime	none	crime as history/social issue	serious crime, abuse, trafficking documented soberly	how-to for serious crime; glorification
Self-harm / suicide / EDs	n/a	brief, contextual, with no method detail	sober documentary context, no method detail ever	any instruction or encouragement
Hate / harassment	none	bias/discrimination as a documented social topic	atrocity rooted in hatred, documented	content promoting hatred or harassment of a protected group
Frightening / disturbing	mild	real-world peril, suspense	disturbing real events handled with care	shock-for-shock's-sake
Language	none	mild, in quotation/context	strong language in a documentary quote	slurs used gratuitously (not as documented quotation)

Absolute exclusions (the floor — never produced)

Pornography / sexualisation of minors (CSAM) · suicide/self-harm/eating-disorder instruction or encouragement · weapons / violence / serious-crime how-to · doxxing or private-individual exposure · content promoting hatred or harassment of protected groups.

Living individuals

Stories are about public subjects, history, science, and ideas — not private individuals. Material about a living, identifiable person gets extra care (accuracy, sourcing, and a right of reply) and never includes private or contact details.

Calibration & output

We rate in the spirit of Common Sense Media's age guidance, for parent- and teacher-legibility — their framework as a reference, not a trademark or endorsement claim. Roughly: all-ages ≈ "good for all ages / age 7+", 13+ ≈ "good for age 13+", 16+ ≈ "good for age 16+" (the ceiling).
Each rating decision, and the themes behind it, are logged internally for accountability.
Every published story shows its band as a visible rating.
Borderline cases resolve down (toward refusal), and seeded "founding" stories get human review before publication.