Ban Child Avatars Being Used for Sexual Purposes

I can guarantee you that they don't dress like Romper Room Refugees.

Of course there are. But they are already breaking the rules, so I don't feel we need to make any more rules to protect them. By that logic, nobody should be able to buy beer, tobaco, or pornography because kids lie about their age and use fake IDs.

Why?

This is one of the most disgusting generalizations I have ever seen, and is so petty, and not surprisingly, childish (the fear is the wish!). Talk about belittling the abuse of children. I have spoke out about this out of concern about the people role playing as adults wanting to have sex with a child, not about child avatars. How dare you claim that anyone concerned about this is doing so to cover up their own attractions. That is sickening, and I consider it a personal attack of the lowest order. I am sorry for what happened to you, but that in no way gives you the right to malign other people who are acting out of concern for protecting real children. SL does not exist in a vacuum. The same people role playing daddy fucking his 8 year old exists in the world outside of SL too, with those same attractions and fantasies.

I am not asking for the behavior to be banned, I don't have an answer to it and you are right that it is a slippery slope to define. I can certainly express the opinion that any adult getting aroused by pretending to have sex with a child has major issues, and that often this behavior leads further to actual victimization of real children.

What I do know is that your statement is one of the most insulting and patently absurd that I have ever seen in the forums.

No, they are working as escorts at Club [insert name here], which is even worse.

exactly

You really want to be on the side of defending the validity of child porn?

Which I would be willing to support action against, even if I think a lot of the "minors" are probably 16-17 and nowhere near as innocent as people like to believe.

But that is not even loosely related to the topic at hand.

By your argument, sex with children should not be illegal at all. In fact, none of our laws should exist. Murder is wrong, we have defined that as a society. Stealing too. Oh, and sex with children. All defined as being wrong for various reasons. It is wrong is a valid argument, and life is not devoid of emotion, whether you are or not.

I'm on the side of "Just because you find <insert fetish here> icky doesn't mean you have the right to declare it taboo for everyone".

I'm absolutely against harming children.

No children are involved in what is being discussed, however.

So while it's icky to me, I will NOT jump on the "OMGWTFBBQ CHILD PR0N BAN BAN BAN!" bandwagon that seems to be trying to form here.

Nor will I let you, or anyone else, push me onto that bandwagon by virtue of backhanded methods like "Do you REALLY want to be seen as defending this?". Yes, yes I do - If we're going to have a book-burning party, I will gladly pull the nasty books from the fire too.

Ultimately, the topic at hand is the victimization of children. It comes in a variety of forms. You are right that it is a side issue, but something that goes on in SL. Age play itself is not about the direct victimization of children, it is just part of a pattern, which is why it is troubling. Again, it is not about the people playing the child - they are generally working out their own sexual issues separate of things. It is not about those with child avatars having nothing to do whatsoever with sex. It is about those people role playing having sex with children and getting off on that. That is a dangerous sexual proclivity that demostrably leads to the abuse of children. Do you have to wait until someone has actually abused a child to intervene?

All of which harm people. Do lasting damage. And, in most cases, are targed upon an unwilling (By virtue of ignorance or innocence, if nothing else) victim.

What two adults do, willingly, by rubbing pixels, is not anywhere near the same thing, and, as I've said before, you trivialize those crimes by suggesting such is the case.

do not misunderstand me, the problem to me is someone thata rgue this or that is wrong and can't put a valid argument behind, sure child molestation is a very evil thing, aswell as torture and murdering, however playing a killing game isnt since nobody is killed, aswell as playing a child in whatever twisted scenario you might have since, as iit has been said over and over , there is no child really molested or abused or anything.

Because it troubles you is not reason to ban it, however.

And no, I reject that ageplay, as a whole, causes pedophilia. You would have to show me some VERY conclusive statistics to convince me otherwise.

Linked to it, maybe - but linked to is not cause. Confusion of cause and effect is a common logical fallacy.

However...



Do you support jailing people to prevent a crime they may commit?

Poll time:

/108/4c/96318/1.html

First off...if you had even READ my post...you would know I don't take part in ageplay of any type or in any way in SL or IRL. So referring to this statement directed at me: "You can run around in a child avatar working out whatever sexual issues you have all you want to." is is invalid and as much an attack as you say mine was. You are trying to intentionally lessen my position by saying I am a participant in the behaviour when I am not and never have been.

As for you ASSUMING my statement about repressed sexual desires for children was addressed to you...you were incorrect. I was referring to those who seem to have an utterly irrational and self-righteous position in this thread that is not even remotely backed up by any thoughtful or valid arguements...such as the original poster and the poster I was responding and speaking to specifically. I was making a retort to an individual not to everyone in SL. If my wording was unclear or I offended people I did not mean to...forgive me. But I DO get that very impression from the original poster...sorry but I do.

Trying to falsely accuse me of taking part in this behaviour to belittle my opinion on it is excatly the sort of witchhunt hysteria I refer to and worry about however. I think you validated that point well for me.

EDIT: But your finding the concept absurd does not change the fact that it IS a widely understood and accepted psychological theory. Those who protest the most often are those with the guilty concious. Does apply to everyone? Of course not. Does it hold true for many however? Yes it has and does. The woman hater often has latent isues of abandoment and desire for women, the gay-basher often has latent homosexual feelings. Its called transference.

I was responding to this:



There was no witch hunting on my part, and I did not say you took part in age play. I was saying that having a child avatar is not the issue here. It is the adults getting off on sexualized children. I was not diminishing your opinion at all. I should have been more clear about my meaning, instead I responded in anger to your blanket statement about people concerned about this problem.

No, I but I also recognize problems occuring before they blow up into a larger issue. Did I say jail them? No. However, just sitting by and idly watching while they may or may not harm a child isn't an answer either. There has to be something that can be done.

I had a friend who was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. He would follow her around, show up where she was, and always make her uncomfortable. It got to the point where she actually hired a private security guard because the police would do nothing to help her. One day her security escort was late to meet her to walk her to class, and the boyfriend was waiting in the bushes and shot her to death.

Prior to that happening, you could see the pattern of increased menace, but nothing could be done because "no crime" had been committed. She lost her life because no one could intervene to stop him because technically hadn't done anything. The point is this stuff starts somewhere.

Again, if this type of behavior did not lead to the molestation of children time and time again, I would be as "live and let live" as you are about it. This is something different though.

If you took that statement to think I took part in ageplay, I feel the staement total was missed by you.

I do NOT play a child avatar and never have. I do have a short avatar. I was acknowledging that I myself may have latent issues with my own childhood because of my abuse...and admitting I don't fully understand my own reasons for preferring small representations of myself in games but that it was psychologically possible it stemmed from my abuse.

In other words...I was trying to be honest.

I have not however EVER played a child avatar in SL or elsewhere and have never taken part in ageplay of any kind. It would not be a wise thing for me to do as it would likely trigger some rather nasty memories and my depression is bad enough thank you.

You did however ignore all my other staements where I expressely said I did NOT play a child avatar and did not take part in ageplay to hone in on that reference and use it to imply I did. It is typical witch hunt behaviour to make people guilty by association and to assume anyone that does not agree with you is FOR the other side.

I do not take part in Ageplay...I do not condone or particularly want to see people roleplaying child sex in SL. I am not FOR this behaviour. I AM however angry at certain people like the original poster and the person I was responding to for what I see as belittling of the real issues and was offended that they could EVER equate what two adults do here to REAL child abuse. THAT is what I was speaking to...

If you took that statement to think I took part in ageplay, I feel the staement total was missed by you.

I do NOT play a child avatar and never have. I do have a short avatar. I was acknowledging that I myself may have latent issues with my own childhood because of my abuse...and admitting I don't fully understand my own reasons for preferring small representations of myself in games but that it was psychologically possible it stemmed from my abuse.

In other words...I was trying to be honest.

I have not however EVER played a child avatar in SL or elsewhere and have never taken part in ageplay of any kind. It would not be a wise thing for me to do as it would likely trigger some rather nasty memories and my depression is bad enough thank you.

You did however ignore all my other staements where I expressely said I did NOT play a child avatar and did not take part in ageplay to hone in on that reference and use it to imply I did. It is typical witch hunt behaviour to make people guilty by association and to assume anyone that does not agree with you is FOR the other side.

I do not take part in Ageplay...I do not condone or particularly want to see people roleplaying child sex in SL. I am not FOR this behaviour. I AM however angry at certain people like the original poster and the person I was responding to for what I see as belittling of the real issues and was offended that they could EVER equate what two adults do here to REAL child abuse. THAT is what I was speaking to...

It is not a cause of pedophilia, it is a symptom of it. There are very conclusive studies about the consumption of child pornography by pedophiles leading ultimately to sexual molestation of children. Hell, I don't even have to read a study I can watch the news here. Every time a sexual predator is arrested (many times after having murdered the child they just had sex with), it seems one of the common denominators is they find child pornography in the suspects home.

I did not use it to imply that you did. My point about all of this is that it is not about those playing children - age play or not. That is not the concern at all. As I also said, I was responding to you out of anger so I was not as clear as I should have been in my statement, and I apologize for that.

A lot of other people, however, have suggested it, by virtue of "contact the local authorities" and suchwhat.

Ok, rephrase: Do you suggest banning everyone who wears black and has a gun, because many of them turn out to be griefers?



Tragic. Also, not related to the issue at hand.



Show me that it '...lead to..." this type of behavior, and we can talk. I'll wager dollars to dougnuts you can't, however. What you might be able to do is show that a number of pedophiles ALSO engage in such behavior - but correlation does not imply causation.

do not misunderstand me, the problem to me is someone thata rgue this or that is wrong and can't put a valid argument behind, sure child molestation is a very evil thing, aswell as torture and murdering, however playing a killing game isnt since nobody is killed, aswell as playing a child in whatever twisted scenario you might have since, as iit has been said over and over , there is no child really molested or abused or anything.

Again, correlation does not imply causation. I'm not denying the correlation. I deny the causation.