Why do people not report underage operating on the grid?

Ageism is not in play here.

Godwin! Where's Lindal?

Agism is law when real kids are in tow. Deal with it. I sure as heck did when I was a kid/teen. (^_^)y

/me waves her tail instead untill lindal gets around to wave her pants in salute

I don't want to keep beating this to death, so I'll try to be brief.

I think the risk of a kid (or, for that matter, even an adult) in SL doing something harmful to themselves as a result of what happens in SL is much higher than the risk of SL being shut down or some other user being sued because someone chose not to file an AR. It's the "protect SL" and "parents will sue" and "your life will be ruined because of a suit" argument that is the real appeal to emotion.


I can't speak for others, but for me, yes, just the extreme cases.


Perhaps my real point is to not treat it as an instantaneous decision with only one chance to get it right. The goal is to do what's best for the other person, which will be different for each person, and which will change from day to day.

Ultimately it's the difference between "Here's a help line phone number, I'm filing an AR" (which is more than they get from most ARs) and "Look, you've gotten to know me well enough to know that I don't want you to get hurt. Promise me that you'll call this help line, because you really shouldn't be in SL anymore."


Do you really believe that some kid who came into SL to talk sex isn't going to be able to find it, either in SL or elsewhere, because of one SL ban?


I'm not saying that mine is superior to yours. As long as you put some thought into it, and take seriously the question of what's really best for the other person, I'll respect that. It's the "protect SL, forget about the kid" mentality or the "I don't need to know anything at all about some troubled teen to know that filing an AR immediately is always the best thing I could do for him" mentality that I don't respect. I can even live with "I'm not sure if it's the best thing for the kid, but I'm filing the AR anyway because I believe it protects other adult SL users" - at least it's honest.

I'd AR anyone who did that on Help Island, regardless of age.

Yes. I generally like this.

At issue is, how does one get to know enough about the "troubled teen" to be able to judge whether an AR is the "right thing"?

"Why do people not report underage operating on the grid?"

well i know it sick and all but about this its not my job to worry about other Alt
i come here to have fun and build and enjoy my SL not to have to be fileing a AR every time i see a kid alt runing around if LL want it be safe for every one they could work at that job or ban kids alt all together. that easy

punctuation is your friend.

Where is Pep when he is actually NEEDED?

I like this guy.

Hmmm.

Except for maybe the "its not my job to worry about other Alt" thing . . . Nothing I like better than abrogating ethical responsibility. ("Did you see someone walking on the railroad tracks? I sure didn't . . ."

That's precisely the point, and it's why the "oh but he's troubled, I need to shelter him" argument is a shallow pretense, in my opinion, and doesn't hold any water. If you have established enough rapport and friendship with a real kid that you're able to determine this particular underager lives a troubled life and Second Life is his "only hope", your actual decision not to AR, and indeed to even get close and friendly with the kid, was obviously made a little while back - and obviously not for that reason. It's a post-hoc justification.

Well, I never liked that LL deputized us to find adfarmers, bots and gambling. LL is in a better position to see these things than we are. But I AR kids when they pop up. Every summer it is like Whack-A-Mole on the mainland.

Well, let me start by saying that I disapprove (of course) of all forms of child abuse.

But . . .

LMAO!!

I think the principle of responding on a case by case basis is ALWAYS a good one. But, I don't see how it is really possible to make an intelligent determination about this.

I also don't quite understand what SL can offer an underage child that isn't outweighed by the perils of being here . . .

I've been assuming that one would get to know them before knowing their age. The sort of kids who just volunteer their age right away aren't the ones I worry about.

Ah, ok. I sort of take your point then.

I can see liking and trusting someone you've got to know enough that you are reluctant to AR them. I still wonder, though, if leaving them be would be the "right" thing to do, even if it were the understandable response.

LOL!

Kids *are* banned all together from the SL main grid - you have to be at least 18 to be allowed there. The problem is, that it is almost impossible to make sure that nobody below this age can actually log on to SL MG.



Hm, what perils of being here? Encountering pixelated nudity, sex, violance? Quite honestly I would be much more worried about the perils of myspace, facebook or flickr - heck, even a simple google search will show up more "dangerous" material than a walk through SL. Also, those preying on kids usually will go to places where their victims are widely and openly available - not to a place where a) they are officially forbidden and therefore if they make it there mostly hidden and b) the chance that the kid (avatar) they stumble over infact isn't a kid at all. So if you want to protect kids/youth from all this, there is only one solution: ban them from the internet completely.

Interestingly, according to a recent study, the dangers for kids on the internet (to see unsuitable material, to be encountered and put into RL danger by pedofiles and so on) are widely overrated. That doesn't mean that they are non-existent, and that there is no need to watch out. But there also is no need for an "OMG SAVE THE KIDS!" hysteria, that (like all hysteria) does more harm than good, because it usually means that the brain gots shut off and only the heart makes decisions. Decisions that definitely are well meant - but the outcome often isn't the best solution.

This presumes that all pedophiles do on the internet is look for kids. There's likely just as many pedophiles on SL as there are on facebook or myspace; didn't come here to troll for kids I'm sure, but if they happen to meet one, they're not exactly going to be running away I think. Much as Lias might grossly overexaggerate their presence and activities here, they are around - and you can bet they won't be ARing the underaged either.

Oh, I don't deny that at all. I deny the need for hysteria and turning off the brain instead of a rational approach to the existing problems. Personally I think that even the worst that can be seen in SL is "kindergarten like" compared what can be found just next door.

Some time ago I was in a women only meeting place, and enjoying the spa. A short av engaged me in conversation. While mine runs a generous 2m + height, petite women avs ( down to 1.3m) are fine by me as long as the body also appears adult. This av was a bit taller than that, with all the requisite characteristics in bosom and hips, then she changed shapes to a definite prepubescent female. I felt shocked, literally, heart rate up, shivers, eye-widening and the whole-'oh sh-t, this person has got to be out of whatever mind they currently occupy.' I TPed out, sans clothes and with a very squigdy feeling.

I know SL offers all sorts of interaction with avs of unlimited by the imagination shapes, sizes, species, leg-count, artificial instruments, hybrids, etc, but no f-ing way do I ever want that sort of encounter again. Playing a childlike rp--as an adult av in a school uniform, etc, fine--but actually as a child av? No way, and I do wonder now, was this a goof, or a serious interaction, and iof the altter, I don't think I even want to know why.

As far as 'sexual assault' in SL there isn't even an issue because there is no 'body' for one to touch, pixels aside. Ever time you hit a dance ball, a pose, are tagged by hug/kiss/ vampire or lycan request--you have to give permission. If you're a serious RPer in dungeon sub & dom/me mode, again RLV is activated from the sub's side to whatever level and control given to the dom/me. While the dom/me may lock the sub in a place or pose for next log-on, nothing says you can't bring on an alt with free will.

Responsibility for the player in SL is the player.

Its sad it happens.
WhY i do not report underaged people?

- Easy, I am not their parent.
If their kids are on SL, who I am to betray them and get them banned?
Honestly, I know people who are on SL with 1 goal only.

* Report as many people as you can.

They TP to sims, chat, socialize with people, to finally report them to LL.
I think that is silly - if a kid is on SL, its the responsibility of the parents, we should not report them, that is none of our business, neither is sexual contact with this child.

I DO report people that harass me, or are rude to me.
If this 'child' is nothing but nice, and tells me he or she is a 13, I won't report.

So.....at what point does it become your business? WHen their mommy comes in and finds the little darling having sex with you, (or any adult) gets LL involved, gets RL authorities involved, gets the media involved and subpoenas you as John/Jane Doe, forces LL to release whatever info they have on you so that you can be prosecuted for having sex with a virtual child, and your RL is forever impacted......then is it your business? I'm all for adults doing anything they feel like doing but when it's a kid impacting my SL, and I find out, he's leaving. Now. True I am not a babysitter as you say, but I need to protect myself, as I have no control over their parents watching them, but I do have control over who I interact with, if I indeed am aware of it.