Do We Really Want Teens in Main Grid?

Okay I am gonna open a new thread.
But I sense today that a certain "feeling" is getting noted.
Do we REALLY WANT kids and teens on the main grid??
I dont.
I dont want to baby sit for parents/teachers while the kid/teens lollygag around SL. I joined SL (and pay my dues) to avoid a reality that contains kids.
I think the process of age verifying is actually not RESTRICTING people but will open floodgate to kids who will NOT require verification to over-populate and interfere with a creatively ADULT world in PG/adult regions - like the art galleries and other places I haunt.
Comments? And yeah - I DONT have children in the REAL world.

How will the age verification process bring MORE teens in than are already coming in now? As far as I can tell, it will restrict them from mature areas that they have free access to right now. It won't change what's happening on PG land one way or the other.

I don't think any of us want kids or teens on the adult grid.

Technically, if a teen gets caught on the main grid after verification starts, the same thing should happen as is supposed to happen now. They get their wrist slapped and get sent back to the G-rated teen grid to play.

Personally, I think that rather than being as restrictive as that have been of late on the Adult grid, they should just open the Teen Grid as a "G-Rated SL Grid" for those people of any age who insist they want nothing to do with the adult aspects of SL. The teen grid supposedly is already free of porn and is completely seperate from the adult activities that the majority of the people who play in SL seem to like spending at least some of their time participating in.

Same here.

I don't have children either, by choice. (Before a flame war starts, please don't confuse me not *choosing* to have children as *not liking* children.)

That being said...I would like "someplace" on SL when I venture out of my home that I don't get hit on by teens or spammed with l33t speak.

Will be interesting to see what transpires.

I completely agree with Ceera Murakami.

I love SL as an adult only playground - both for adult PG and adult Mature. The teen grid should be open to adults as well. I'd love to be on Teen SL with my son, building things and writing scripts together.

No, I definitely don't want teens on the main grid. I didn't sign into this world to do double baby sitting duty and I use SL as a way to get away from the children around me and to talk with other adults from time to time.

In other words, "All kids out of the pool, it's time for adult swim!"

prolly more teens on the grid then u think, just count the griefers and devide it by 2...

I think the way the grids are divided should be reversed.

The main grid should be the one for everyone, teens, adults, mainstream commercial ventures, and anything else that falls within guidelines such as the PG-13 standard for movies in the U. S.

The separate grid should be the adult grid, with both R and NC-17 (formerly X) rated parcels, only the latter requiring adult verification.

In order to solve things like the art gallery example, where the content might be G rated but the goal is to have an adult atmosphere, there need to be many more features for parcel control, better camera security, soundproofing parcels, soundproof objects, etc. So, even on a PG sim, it should be possible to have a parcel that is limited to verfied adults (but the content must still be PG).

Conceivably, there might still be a need for a teen grid or teen-only parcels, to allow for activities that are shielded from predators.

[For those unfamiliar with the U. S. film rating system, see http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp ]

Thanks all of you - but let's keep comments coming so maybe Linden will take note.
I am gonna mow my lawn (sun out for first time in days) but will be back in a while. In the real world, I mean.
And yeah me too - I have chosen not to have children. Not anti-kids (unless they touch my precious First Editions and artwork).

It might surprise some, but I'm with ya on dat. I dun want the teens here neither.

Butcha know they're gonna be on here, cuz I tink we all see the writing on the wall. Teen Grid will 'ventually go bye bye, an we'll all be one 'big happy family.' It makes tons of sense from an SL perspective, cuz gettin the teens to go look at Comcastic! Island or Dell, or IBM, or AOL Pointe is all part of doin business. Plus it means not having to run a two-grid system, or hafta deal with the headaches of havin em both around.

The day it happens - an it will happen - will be a day when all of SL changes. An not really for the better.I'm not sayin all teens is bad, cuz I know there's lotsa good ones. But I also know a lot of troubles will come up with adults versus teens, there will likely be an increase in griefing, an all sorts of other difficulities.

Meanwhile, it will be a "motivator" for people to ave verify, which is also a point for LL on dis. I see dat ;ventually bein more of a mandatory ting down the line, I bet, at least for new sign-ups.

Not sayin' I like it. Jes reading' what it says on the prim walls.

Mari

No, no, no, and no. Absolutely not, for a wide variety of reasons, including many of the ones the original poster listed. One of the things I love about SL is that it's a place to get *away* from the teen/child-heavy webwide world. One place where I don't have to assume that the person I'm talking to is probably nearer to 14 than to 40. Please, for the love of all that does not suck, leave the teens on the teen grid where they belong.

I'd really hate for SL to go the way of most other online games, in this respect.

Dan Linden does

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2642394922604088000

at 1:12 he explains why Teens will be on the grid eventually

at 1:15 he outlines what he thinks the Real Parcel restrictions will evolve into.

Yeah that's what the parents really want. A place where their kids can wander about the pg sims along with all the other unverified ADULTS... Ones who are completely unidentifiable due to the fact that they didn't register with Integrity. Won't stop those adults from talking to them and identifying themselves to the little kiddies, telling them where they live, what their hobbies are... That's what we're working towards now ain't it?

Yes - especially since at 24:30 -he says how the restrictions against Disclosure will be going away. He didnt even give the tone that it was a good idea to have ever had it.

Basically he doesnt feel SL should have any more restrictions in non Adult flagged areas than WOW.

Of course this also is the same problem MySpace is facing now.

So SL will become not the place where the deeds are carried out, just where the initial meeting can take place.

I dont know

I understand the whole "the Metaverse/3d Internet wont be 18+" stuff

But I think they are deluded if they think Second Life is the "Metaverse/3D internet" at this time.

They are speaking about running like the Flash before they can even walk.

They arent even crawling yet - they just learned how to roll over.

If they want to turn SL into "the new internet" then they'll have to integrate the Teen and main grids sometime. It's a dangerous prospect both legally and community-wise.

I personally don't have a problem with having parts of the teen and main grids connect. There are kids out there that live far away from one or both of their parents and having somewhere where they could "hang out" would be a good thing IMO. There should also be areas where only teens can go and only adults can go.

I also wouldn't mind being able to shoot some of them in combat sims!

However, the fact remains (as acknowledged by Daniel in his video) that there's really nothing keeping anyone from going anywhere on the internet. With that and the whole sexual-ageplay situation SL has had to deal with there's a potentially VERY dangerous scenario that could come of merging the grids. Not to mention griefing...although it has been said and I would agree that there are already a lot more teens on the main grid than many think.

They'll really have to be careful once they implement it. It's not like other new features where they can be buggy and not work right but can be fixed after the situation arises.

If something bad happens then that could be it!!

the whole griefing thing is the least of our worries.

People are simply too paranoid about griefers.

Then to use the words of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings when he saw the Norman Knights come charging up the hill: "Lads, we're buggered!"

Well some don't define griefing as only sim crashing and lag inducing...some consider it annoying people through saying stupid things, bling or other bad avs or attachments.

We'd be sure to get plenty of that with a flood of teens...but there are some out there that are pretty damn creative and could benefit from some "seasoned" inspiration as well as add to the overall SL experience.

My former roommate's kid actually introduced me and my roommate to SL. My roommate lived about 4 hours away from her son and couldn't spend as much time with him as she liked so she would go on the teen grid to hang out with him.

Against the rules, I know, but it was a great thing for them.

This kid picks up scripting pretty quick and has done a couple things for his mom's property.

If there was a merge of the grids and this kid was annoying me or someone I knew, I could just IM his older brother to go into the other room and punch him! I know he'd do it!!

Some sort of neutral ground where adults and kids can share SL if they want to is fine, for some reasons posted here already. But there has to be areas for each where the other is not permitted.

The main benefit for LL of combining the two grids would seem to be financial. It would save them a bunch of money - which they would then need to pay for all the lawsuits and criminal prosecutions that would spring from making it easier for predators to troll for kids in SL. Some benefit.

I don't really mean to be flippant here. Money is damn important. So is cutting costs. But there are some costs that shouldn't be cut, because when you cut them you cut your own throat.

I agree...it's going to be a VERY hard transition to make that might leave SL bankrupt and closed down. I think they're aware of it, too, which is why it's only been vaguely hinted at at this point.

I just hope they open source the server side before they go for it!

I don't want teens on the main grid. Everything would need to be PG rated if kids were here. Art would be under scrutiny for a start, gambling would be out.

Then you have the issues of predators being actively encouraged to mix with 13 year old kids, if you think the publicity is bad now imagine how it will be when some perv arranges to meet a 13 year old kid whom they've been chatting to via SL. Myspace is an example of why this sort of thing is a very bad idea.