Omg They Did It!

yup I am over protective, yup its a crazy world. Right now I say no. I dont have all the facts from LL yet. I can make a more informed decision then. Beleive me I even talked with my teen at great length today about this very subject. I want his/her opinion and we discuss choices. I wish I could just let my kid outside and not worry like they did in the 50's sadly its not the same world. As a parent I am continualy faced with the tough choices and the fall out from them. 9/10 times my instinct was right.

I am sorry about your personal experience hugz you.

Cat

I'm glad that you're an active parent Cat. I can't tell you how many times I hear of parents that are so uninterested in what thier kids are doing. Being interested and active is key to proctecting them, I believe.

You're right about it not being the easy days of the '50s, and thats why I think it is important for adults, not just parents to be alert and watchful of children.

Thanks for the hugz! The experience was painful for my family and not something I'd wish for anyone. Ijust always wonder if another adult had seen something and could have helped out, but we'll never know.

It's a fine line between being alert and aware of what your teenager might experience but also letting him/her decide for themselves about things. You never know, they might make the right decision.

This sort of reminds me of the fight over teaching high school students about contraception. Ignorance doesn't get anyone anywhere.

This is not a personal attack on you, Catherine. I am happy that you take such an active interest in your child's well being.

Everyone is quite rightly concerned that adults should not be able to access the kiddiegrid. What about the children's parents? There are married paedophiles and its going to be so easy for them to get into the grid via their child's account. I hope LL are prepared for the consequences.

Latonia

True, but I would think there would be some different rules from the kid grid to the normal. Maybe filters and blockers. Remember this is a grid that we are not going to be on.

I did spoof on my post a bit.... Its legal in Texas at 17....

I was offline for a while and did not get a chance to answer your post Juro. I can simply say I concur with everything that Cat said. She effectively answered what you said to me and the sentiments she shared reflect my own.

I too am very sorry to hear of your families experience with this issue and will say a little prayer for them tonight. I sincerely hope that time and the love of those around y’all will heal those deep wounds.

I actually agree with you, Catherine, on most issues, but I honestly don't think things were safer in the 50's. People just didn't talk about abuse, nor did they report it. That's the only difference. I think we've learned as a society, that closing our eyes only helps the perpetrators.

I was grabbed 3 times in my youth. Once while walking 3 blocks to my girlfriend’s house at about 13 or 14 years of age. The guy gave up on me because I never came close to his car, like he tried to lure me, so he came after me, grabbed me, and I was petrified, truly petrified, couldn’t move, couldn’t scream, but he got scared, and decided to leave because it would have been to far a drag to his car.

Second, at a stupid dance hall with my parents for New Years. Around the 12 years of age (actually they all happened within a couple of years of each other) This “old guy’ asked m e to dance while I was sitting with my cousins and sister. I thought he was just being nice, to entertain us bored kids, so I accepted. On the dance floor, he was all over me. I was shocked. I APPOLOGISED! I said I had to go… and ran to my Mother who didn’t understand/ didn’t want to believe, whatever, I was glued to her side the rest of the night!

The last time, again so stupid, on a long hike around the lake, on our way back to camp, my lazy friend and I decided to take a couple of guys up on an offer to give us a lift. Thought they were just being nice! UGH! Well, we just happened to be camped along the road, and as we passed our tent, my sister was there. We screamed out the window, calling her, my friend was honking the horn, and we made such a fuss, and were so noticed, that they nearly pushed us out of the truck, hee hee hee, we scared them! (They weren’t slowing down and had no intention of taking the turn or stopping where we said we needed to go)

So, 3 close calls. Parents completely witless about it (They pretty much ignored/ didn’t have anything useful to say about any incident) and basically, in my opinion, had their heads in the sand because the thought of such dangers actually existing, frankly, scared the shit out of them. I KNOW they loved me dearly, that wasn’t the reason, it was that the thought of such horrors being real were beyond them.

I tell my kids these stories. I tell them, how they may not be able to move, how they can’t count on being able to protect themselves, and how to increase their chances of survival (like staying WAY back from ANYONE talking to them from a car.) and all the usual stuff. Over and over an over again. Of course my Mother thinks I’m ruining their childhood. I think I’m saving their lives. Another difference of opinion.

By the way, my mom was abducted when she was 51 years old! There she was, walking, I think her car broke down, anyway, a young guy asked her if she needed a ride. She thought he was just one of the young men from work who recognized her and offered to help. She said ‘sure” and got in the car with her. Next thing she knew he was touching her and not taking the turn he was supposed to take!! So she sees a policeman parked on the road and starts to scream out the window for help, and honked the horn, etc…. and freaked the guy out, so he (very familiar….) kicked her out of the car. The policeman comes over and asks what’s wrong, and she says something like, I accepted a ride from this guy, and he was going to kidnap me” and the policeman said “You should know not to speak or accept rides from strangers!!” and she was sooooo embarrassed.

No, life wasn’t safer, it was simply quieter. Much, much quieter.

That's what I ment. Maybe it would be better to allow adults, then, at least, the danger is more open. But neither way works. Only one way works, and that's for a parent to be there. But i guess parents normally aren't there... ??

Too bad, kids can't have any fun anymore.

Well-intentioned, but pointless, dialouge. LL is a company (a group of people organized with the goal of making a profit).

Regardless of morality, reality, or opinions expressed by members, they will squeeze every bit of publicity and profit possible out of this venture...until the day it comes to light that some child has been brutalized or killed as a direct result of participating in the pedophile grid.

Has the world already forgotten that this has happened in AOL chat rooms?

***Now, back to our regularly scheduled thread...

Is Disney's ToonTown a haven for pedophiles?

Just wondering.

LF

Some people take this game way to seriously. A game is a game if they want to play why should we care? And if they wanna do somethign wrong, let em do something wrong. Lindens havn't stoped enforcing the rules.

Live and let live, that's all there is to it.

And for people that can only speak of pedophile this and what not, this game isn't alla bout who can get as much cybering done in one day you know....

*Washes Wes' mouth out with lye soap*. NOW! Write on the board 100 billion times: SL is NOT a game, SL is NOT a game...

Again I joined SL because it was a game for adults only. For me that is the bottom line. Not only do I think this is a bad decision I also think its a premature one. LL does not have the resources right now to handle the work load. Opening another grid with a new set of problems will mean that there will be less resources to work on the current grid. Our grid.

Cat

There's no such thing as an adult only game..(at least that's what i think)

Minors will always be able to get in with daddy's or mommy's VISA/mastercard.

It's just a matter of warning the parents what kind of game they're about to let their minor sign up for.
And even then...
Some parents don't mind , and some would just do anything to stop their spouce from whinning around their head.


I've been babysitting 8-16 year olds...it's easy to shut them up..
You tell them to shut up and give them a playstation or let them play on the computer.
And just look and see how quiet they are , while they're in complete trance...




And now...

bussiness perspective : adults = money , minors = money from their parents
total = money

$$$ sigh

Would someone please answer my question?

Is Disney's ToonTown a haven for pedophiles?

If so, why?

If not, why are we worrying about Teen Life?

LF

If they open up a kiddie land your bug reports and lag issues get pushed on the back burner.

I tried ToonTown about 6 months ago (I was bored, damnit!).

The only chat you can send is set phrases disney give you.

And they aren't now?

I'm a builder; my bugs and requirements for a satisfactory environment are on the back burner due to 90% of the SL population wanting to hump and scrump in the parking lot of Club Pants.

I'm used to it.

I also realize that Linden Lab needs to make money in order to eventually get to my bugs. And I am confident that they will. Because Linden Labs are nice people.

Ergo, I have little concern for them opening up a teen grid. Indeed, I am looking forward to the shenanigans that are sure to spill out of that cesspool of hormones and bad grammar, if only for comedic effect.

LF

what is your monthly cost paying for there LF?

you wait im sick of waiting.

$15/month.

Not including the auction fee I paid to get into Grignano ($US 50), and the increasingly high prices I paid for all the land I currently own in Linden dollars (at least $US300 worth at the times of purchasing). Oh, and that $225 Lifetime fee. Oh, and all the monthly fees I paid before that.

I see this place as entertainment. The forums, the drama, the building, the friends, and so on. I pay the fees because I think this place is a bloody blast. It also doesn't hurt that I usually make enough in-world to pay for the fees; I've made a profit, in fact, all said and told, and that's without busting my ass.

As soon as it stops being fun, I'll be sure to be on the first bus out of this wreck.

You, however, seem to be a pendulum.. first you love SL, next you hate what it's become... then you love it, then you hate it... seems to happen every couple of months.

Which is it?

Stop the pendulum.

LF

LF over the past few weeks SL has centered everything around the all mighty buck. Hell no I dont find that fun. That is RL. Every couple of months they add crap that evolves around the US$ yeah that pisses me off, I'm sick to death of hearing it, I could give a shit less who is making money how much they are making and new ways to compensate those making the most money. $$$ if everyone would just STFU SL might be fun again.

TAXI!

EDIT: Moving this to your other thread ...

/120/4e/29832/1.html

Isn't there supposed to be a Town Hall meeting sometime this week about the TeenGrid?

When is it? I couldn't find any Linden announcements about it.

Thanks.

For what it's worth (and with the exception of "I am a builder, my bugs" part, as I haven't done enough sophisticated building yet to HAVE bugs) I totally agree with this post.