Teens on the Main Grid: pre-emptive discussions

It seems fairly obvious that LL intends to merge the teen and main grids. There's little point to inworld age verification systems and moving the hardcore stuff to it's own continent if everyone in SL is over the age of 18.

Of course, everyone knows teens sneak onto the main grid, and I'd wager that the allowance of free, unverified accounts in SL has increased the number of teens on the adult grid significantly. But do we want to share the grid with teenagers *knowingly*?

Assuming this IS what's actually going to happen, what's your take? Will you continue in SL given certain conditions, or not at all?

As long as I can identify a teen, I don't mind them being here. But then, I live my slife pretty cleanly, so nothing I do would warp their little minds.

I honestly haven't decided yet. Initially, I was quite vehement about not sharing the grid with teens whatsoever, and my brain is still leaning in that direction. But, I might be enticed to stay if teens were at least identifiable.

What scares the bejesus out of me is some kids posing as something other than a teen, and getting into adult *ahem* ... "mature" situations with a grownup. That's really freaking scary to me. It's likely already happened ... but I see a difference between having profiles that make no distinction and LL not providing the means for one, and profiles that do but the teen has lied to gain access.

I don't want to share the grid with teens. I like SL being, at least theoretically, an adult environment, in the same way that I like to go to the pub and not have kids about.

I wouldn't let my kids on a mixed grid as I think it's unsafe. There WILL be predatory adults trying to make contact with teens for the wrong reasons.

I won't leave SL until something better comes along, though. I'll just stay and grumble, so I didn't know which way to vote.

ETA: I would vote for - Yes, as long as I can identify who is a teenager, I will stay, but I DO mind.

BUT...it shouldn't affect you, as you and Elora are together. Without intending to preach, if you are living a life that doesn't put you in jeopardy of having sex with a minor...why should anyone leave over it?

And trust me, the minors are among us already. Just take the usual precautions, and "listen". You can usually find them by listening

There's nothing I can add to this, it's exactly how I feel, *except* that, I am 'still' vehement, and will leave SL when (not if) that time comes. The idea of interacting unknowingly and inappropriately with teens in SL is not worth the stress it would cause me. My own peace of mind would make it imperative to leave.

We've always had teens on the main grid.

Always.

Good point. I guess I want to have the same freedoms as any other adult, even if I choose not to exercise many of them as I'm involved and monogamous with my hunny. To me, sitting in my favorite Dublin pub (where I'll be later today) talking to a young lass that turns out to be a bit TOO young is just as distasteful to me as taking her home for a poseball romp and discovering the truth. It's beyond not cool. I want to know I can go to a bar, or anywhere else, and deal with grownups only. I don't want to have to resort to a private room on Naughty Island, or whatever they end up calling it, for strictly grownups-only conversation.

Those pesky 18 and 19 year olds! Flaunting their teenness at us! *shakes fist, licks paw, falls asleep*

There will be nothing about Naughty Island that will make it any less likely that the person you are talking to is underage.

Nothing.

I have not deicded and await the results on how they can keep the teens safe from pedofiles lurking just waiting for this to happen.


I use SL for everything it has to offer, I am not jumping from sexball to sex ball with just anyone and feel safe and confident that I wont be doing it with a teen..

Now I have heard chatter online about LL possible moving all the adult sims to a specific area and not allowing teens in (confirmed) However, I am not about to have to redo all my established landmarks just to allow a teen to get on the main grid...
And if they even think of assigning a fee to this.......

I just dont get what benifits LL can see in merging the grids.

The first lawsuit thrown in their lap from angry parents will wipe out any profits from marging and possibly be the demise of the company, the alternitive is to remove any adult content period... which won't help because frankly who really needs poseballs.

Also, a lot of the teens feel a lot safer on the teen grid and know they wont be approached by a dirty old man......

I honestly dont know what I will do, but I will say for sure this.. If all adult content is taken away, and the ability to design, express and explore things of an adult nature is gone, so am I.

And BTW: adult content does not only include having sex, we are talking about erotic art, expressed art and so on. I really don't care how you live your SL life, pure and honest or naughty and decietful this will have more of an impact than just "sex"

Yes Pie, but there's a difference between not having any way to identify them officially, and having a way to identify them officially and staying on the grid with them anyway. That is a monstrously huge difference to me.

I'm married in RL and only build and explore in SL,However I believe that should the grids merge under 18's should be easily identifiable.

This is all true, however, I still have concerns and have not quite made up my mind.

While Ghosty and I are in no jeopardy personally of interacting in a way which would endanger us, it is a matter of freedom of speech and behavior in general I'm concerned about; not only for us but for our friends and the grid in general.

I too was quite vehement about leaving at first, however, there are reasons for staying which mainly have to do with my friends. If I found another platform which was stable, guaranteed adult access only and the majority of the people I knew were going to take flight over there, I probably would leave in a heartbeat. But you never know what you'd get there either so you're trading for an unknown.

While I realize teens have always been around, thus far I've been lucky enough to never have ran into any. Only once by proxy when Ghosty kind of started to friend one and quickly realized what was going on and asked me to come over and help him get rid of the person (kindly guide him to the teen grid was more like it).

My concern is HOW will we be advised who is who? Will we have to click on each and every ava we meet? How utterly annoying. Will I feel like I have to leave the Hangout if a teen ava enters and this makes me uncomfortable? That's going to piss me off but good. Or will the Cartel be a "mature" area where teens are not welcome? There are so many variables which are not clarified yet, so I suppose I owe it to myself to at the very least see what transpires before I hastily up and run.

But happy, I am not. Not at all. I'm a spicy little pixy at times, and want to keep it that way, even if I'm not doing any poseball humping. I believe adults deserve adult entertainment unhindered by children and would prefer they had kept them in their own private Idaho.

Consider the idea that there is no real way ever to verify whom you are speaking to on the internet, regardless of the information they've provided to access adult services.

Even if LL made you send a copy of your drivers license to adult verify... DNA samples, forensic evidence... everything can be faked, stolen and used.

Maybe we can get LL to webcam verify everyone, but some of those 16 yr olds sure do look like they're 25.

You can put legal devices in place to protect yourself legally. But without true physical verification, everything else is just for the lawyers.

You will never be able to verify everyone on the grid's age. All you can do is protect yourself legally.

So you are saying everyone should have their year of birth firmly implanted in their profile, unable to be altered by anyone other than LL?

There are people in the forum cartel group who are teenagers (legally in SL, but "teens".

Ok, I fixated on that teenness of 18/19. Quite frankly it depends, in my mind, with the individual. I do not know if I would have anything in common with a 20 year old, or a 50 year old. And yet I have both ages on my friend's list (also have an 18 year old on there).

Merging the grids would mean 13+ main grid. People mature at different rates. Personally I'd prefer the youngsters outside playing, not sucked up into a virtual world. Get off my lawn! (note to self: buy a lawn; second note: reread this post, it is gibberish, stop posting when you are too tired to think coherently. Ghosty is taking advantage of my tiredness! or something something *sleeps*)

I know for a fact that you have run into a teenager. Person lives in England. I could, of course, be wrong.

On the other thread on this issue, at some point in the thread, someone pointed out the following possibility:

Someone (a teen) sends you an 'object'. You don't know them so you decline it. However, it's non-transferrable, so it goes to your inventory anyway. You don't realize it's there, and it's sex related. Said teen, who sent you the object in the first place, gets mad at you because you declined it, and tells mommie/daddy dearest that your avatar on SL 'said something nasty' to them in voice chat. And then it's on. Mommy/daddy contact the rl police, who eventually locate you and subpoena LL; sure enough, there in your inventory is whatever the sex item is that the teen sent you; who has to prove it? Whose RL is a mess now? Yours, not theirs, the teen is snickering behind their hands, at having thrown your RL into chaos. It is just all so not worth it to me. I'll just have to find something else to do, somewhere else.

And there are adults that look perpetually young.

And there are telvision shows that have 30 year olds play high school students. But I'm moving away from topic.

I don't consider her a teen per se. She is of legal age here in the USA. When I think teen, I think under 18. (I do know who you speak of).

Edit: lol, not drinking age hehe

Oh, gad, no. Just a thing that says "18+ verified" or something.



I'm not talking about kid avas at all. That's a whole different can of worms. I'm talking strictly about RL people under the age of 18.



Well, I'm 50, and some of my closest friends are under 35. That sort of thing boils down to personal preference. AKAIC, 18+ is an adult for the purposes of this conversation. I have nothing against younger folks, I just want to know they're legally within their rights to behave in mature situations with myself and whoever else.



Not gibberish, you're doing very well. Now go take a catnap.

I joined SL because it is an Adults Only service. It is a recreation escape for me and I'd like it to remain an Adult venue. Two things that will cause me to leave for good are a mixed grid and or general corporate advertising and marketing on the mainland. If a "safe zone" were created where Teens and Adults can co mingle, fine. But on the grid as a whole, not for me. I could see lowering the Main grid to 17, but that's about it.

I have nothing against teenagers in RL, I just want my SL to be free of them.

With LL's push for virtual education, there eventually may be a number of cases where adults might be in an classroom type situation with 13-17yos should the grids merge .. for instance ESL classes or something like a building/scripting class. I'd prefer not to worry about it all but I think I'd be satisfied with having identifiable teenagers since I don't really partake in "adult" activities. I doubt very much that I would leave SL should it be eventually implemented.

You can put educational areas in their own locations,and allow mixed occupancy with no difficulty I would think.

I can't say it really bothers me as long as I can live my SL happily, harmlessly and creatively in a friendly environment. The general assumption seems to be that under-age people use the main grid anyway. I know there are the issues over PG, mature and possibly the new 'extra mature cheddar' categories, but other than that I see no problems.