How Secure is the Teen Grid

Hi - we are a local authority in Scotland. We are considering setting up a virtual campus for one of our Secondary Schools (pupils aged between 12 -16). We intend to allow only pupils and teachers of the school on the Island so it will be closed.

Is there any likelihood that unwanted visitors could find their way onto the Island.

Thanks for your comments in advice.

If you're an adult wanting to do anything, like ANYTHING AT ALL, with the teen grid, you should really be talking to Linden Lab, not to us...

The teen & adult areas don't really mix so I'm not sure that you'll be able to do what you're planning.

Blue Linden might be a good one to talk to. Check out his office hours (or anybody else that mentions the teen grid) which can be found here: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Office_Hours .

Good luck with your project!

I know of one adult that is permitted to use the teen grid for educational purposes. A lot of information was required, including references from neighbors, criminal history, and tons of other legal butt-covering. And, in the end, this person's access is limited to a single protected region. Not to say it's impossible, but, expect a challenge ahead in making arrangements. (^_^)

And, yeah, I think Blue is a good person to start with as well. (^_^)y

If you are creating your own private region you'll be able to control who can access it.

Likely you'll just be buying a "company package" of an island plus a custom surname, so you can register your own accounts. That way, you can give a unique surname to everyone from your school, so that anyone who hasn't registered that way instantly sticks out like a light.

As I understand it, adults are only officially allowed on the teen grid if they can produce documentation to show they are bone fide educators, and even then, they are restricted to the single private island they own. I am not sure how LL would run things is several adults (ie. 2+) from the same educational establishment wanted to be online at the same time on their teengrid island. And it would appear that, given the rules, educators from different institutions would never be able to meet each other in the teengrid, although IM conversations would be possible.

A more relevant question is how easy is it for a "bad" adult to pose as a teen in order to gain access to the teen grid. For this, I have no answer.

If monetary transactions and interconnectivity with the rest of the SL world, or the world generally, is not a requirement, it may be worth considering using one of the alternatives to SL, such as the various Open Life grids. Server costs would be much lower, and I believe it would be possible to set it up so only people you authorise can enter, or even communicate through IMs.