Playing outside with friends and visiting Muggle cities are two very different things, and boarding schools and private schools aren't really that uncommon..

I think the problem is that it's not realistic for 11-year-olds to be running freely around the outside world..

For future reference, this should probably be classified as a Question not a Bug, since you were asking if it was supposed to happen. Glad it got resolved though!!

As an AT on the US site, I have noticed there is quite the need for a proof reader. In fact, I would say it goes beyond just fixing mistakes around the website. There are a finite number of those mistakes, and the position would eventually become moot. However, there are many occasions during which a proof reader would be of great use, and that is when notices and important owls are being sent by Management. A Keeper of Keys and Grounds could help to rephrase any awkward structuring and keep everything grammatically sound before final sending. Obviously some things are contingent on being delivered swiftly, but many things could wait to be given a once over by someone qualified to do so. The Keeper of Keys and Grounds would likely need to be an upper Management position due to reviewing sensitive information if need be, but it would increase the professionalism of our administration and improve how they are perceived by the WoP community.

There are actually several similar ideas already floating out there along those same tracks but with a bit of a different spin. The different schools idea (see http://feedback.worldofpotter.eu/topics/168-different-schools-for-different-sites/) was declined for the reasons shown on it, but I highlighted views in a topic of my own about server flexibility (see http://feedback.worldofpotter.eu/topics/166-character-transferring/). I hope you find them useful.

This would be a really cute addition! I love that!

Well, but if this is a site-suggested idea then clearly they are considering changing the ruling. I can't imagine there wouldn't still be plenty of open topics, and it's becoming more common for people to ask others in chat if they want to role play. I would think that would still offer new users opportunities aplenty to get involved with other students.

Would prefects have automatic access to these closes topics then? Or would they be private like owls are unless a situation arises for them to be investigated

There's only one email per account so if someone is using your email, I would use the forgot password tool and change the password so they can't continue using that account with your email

The main problem I think you would have here is the Hogwarts site being more popular than many of the others, as well as people being upset that the sites are already very firmly based as Hogwarts.