Also known as A.T.P.A.S. or ATPAS.
A newsgroup and part of the alt hierarchy on USENET.
As the name implies, its main purpose is, or has come to be, to provide a means for teenagers to discuss poetry and other types of creative writing, predominantly that written by the participants themselves. The aim for most of the regular participants is to encourage qualitative writing by giving constructive criticism, as requested by announcing that one desires C&C, comments and criticism, when posting a piece.
Most of the regular participants agree that it is not intended to be a place for teens with angst to vent their clichés, yet the newsgroup is often visited by newbies who have not read the FAQ. For this reason, the place is not for the faint of heart, whether one is a teen with angst or if one is annoyed by this sort of personality trait.
One can only speculate as to why a hierarchically erroneous newsgroup like ATPAS (it needlessly extends the hierarchy three levels from alt.teens) has managed to survive the wrath of the alt.config gods for so many years, but it might be its popularity, or perhaps personal threats against said gods from the newsgroup participants, some of who claim to be vicious 'Nam veterans capable of MacGyveresque inventions of harmful devices.