Do We Really Want Teens in Main Grid?

What's ironic is that other than griefing all the concerns people have voiced about teens on the main grid are things that are issues with the regular internet and don't seem to be such major issues these days...

...or maybe 14 year old girls meeting 40 year old guys IRL after chatting in vampire chatrooms isn't news anymore.

I think it is inevitable BUT it will perhaps offer an opportunity to a company MORE in tune with adult creativity and artistic endeavour to start a reality of its own. Once teens come in, we will be really compromised. The young avs I have met (I know a SL young woman who is 19 - and who I support) are super - BUT I dont want 13 or 14 year olds roaming around and being juvenile - and I dont want to teach ANY of them "life experience". If any parents are out there thinking of letting their teens visit "Auntie Jig" .. tell them to stay away.

As long as the crawling and rolling over doesn't involve ageplay...

Mari

This is the point where "Philips dream" comes unstuck.

Right now, nobody "owns" the internet. Therefore, if there's a dodgy site of some description that gets raided by the authorities, it's shut down, removed from the internet, and everything else just plods along nicely.

But Linden Lab *are* the whole "metaverse" right now; they'll be the target of any and all lawsuits about dodgy goings-on and content, and if they are shut down, the whole kit and caboodle shuts down.

It's not even a question really as to whether the two grids should be merged - because it's inevitable. The question is simply down to liability for what goes on. Once the servers go open sourced and everyone can, if they want, have their own "space on the grid" with Linden Lab serving merely as a registration service, the threats should at least theoretically greatly reduce.

Broccoli

Actually, open source may prove to be the answer in the end.

Down the road, when LL's business model is mainly owning the grid and collecting "tier" from people who attach their own servers to it, and LL maintains the grid and age-verifies new Residents (or doesn't!), doesn't it become the problem of the owner of the server what happens or doesn't happen on his "land?" In which case, LL's liability largely ends and what the legal minor sees or does on the Attached Server presumably stays on the Attached Server. Would probably need some lawsuits and criminal case-law precedents to determine that law-enforcement has to go after the server owner and not LL, but sounds like that would be money well spent.

In the meantime, however, Houston...We have a problem.

A unified "PG" grid would be a groomer's paradise and put more young people at *real* risk from those predators.

Yep I doubt the teens want to share a grid with us oldies either, and how many will get preyed on by older people. which is one of the main reasons for a teen grid, protection.

So I suspect we need General Rated areas, Mature rated areas and Adult Areas
Maybe 17yos can access Mature....

LOL they want to share the main grid with us NOW - becuase of the mischief they can get into

and all the sexual content.

Soon as they find out they cant have either - then they wont want to be able to be in the main grid after all.

lol

Good point. teens don't want to hang around us in RL, why do it in SL? While some I guess truly do want to be involved in the creative aspect, a lot more just want to see the "Good Stuff".

No, but they're gonna sneak in anyway. Make something verboten and the first thing they'll to is try to get at it. Just keep shipping 'em back to the Teen Grid whenever you find 'em. That's what I do.

or do the good stuff with each other,

Im sure MANY teens want to be able to have SL pixel/cyber sex with each other as one of their motives for wanting to be on the main grid. (skins, prim parts, animations, etc)

While im personally not opposed to two 15 year olds doing such - the world doesnt work that way, and the trouble that people would get into is unlimited.

I assume at some point along the pipeline, a 15 year old isn't going to be able to enter a shop on a mature sim, tagged adult for the content they sell, buy 'parts' and pose balls or scripted furniture to take back to their bought/rented property again on a mature sim...

... but then .. that is making a *lot* of assumptions.

I dunno watching that video - it sure sounds that way to me Bilbo

Course .. that leads to a weird Beer Run type of scenario

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Two teens standing outside a store they cant get into

"PSSST - hey Mister can you buy us some excite parts? weve got the money .."

Remember the scene in American Grafitti..when Terry the Toad tries to buy booze?
"I'll have a pack of Gum, some shoelaces, a comb, a pint of whiskey,..."

Personally, and I nearly said this earlier, I have little problem with sharing the grid with teens.

I was an uncle at the nearly-ripe age of 10. I accummulated nephews and nieces annually for the next decade and a half. My first job was at the school I'd just taken my exams in. I moved to a college. My nephews and nieces are now all with one exception, parents. I have never been far away from the young. I think they're great. At the end of the day, they are all we leave behind us. Hell, even my fiancee is a grandmother!!

If I don't want to be near children there are places I can go. This will probably be true in SL as well as RL. Not all Mature sites are red light districts. I built my little house and garden in a mature sim. Like others have posted, Mature was all that was available at the time.

Some of the brightest and imaginative minds are among the young. I'm willing to give it a try.

I agree, Colette....Imho sharing the grid with teens will only cause more problems and tighter rules plus a complete revision of the TOS and CS. Being 15 or 16 is all about the interest in the opposite sex (or sex in general) I'm 22 irl and I remember that very well LOL.

Mandy C

I am so glad this is generating so many replies and ideas.
I am quite happy to share the grid with over 18 year olds - I am NOT that old myself - but perish the thought that I am goin to be a "role model"/teacher/friend of kids that can easily - yes, easily - enter my PRIVATE world here.
Okay, here's another comment ...
I dont mean to be rude but, for some, I really think they see SL as some kinda starry place where we wil all share great philosophies and spread the word of creatvity amongst ourselves. I think we are moving that way to some extent (slowly) in the arts BUT I DONT WANT to have to 'explain" or "share" my creative world (which I am trying to make for myself here) with teenagers. Let them have their own world (pimples, acne and Teen Angst combined). I did my growing up - they can do theirs as far away from me as possible.
Am I right ... or am I right??

people are talking like kids need to actually access verified areas to get a hold of objects. surely they will create them themselves?

NO!

but it will happen as stated over and over again above tio be the web3D it will and must, but we should have a way to set our land up like any site on the web now.)

I hope that I can get some way to truly block my house. I dont want any kids testing out my toys!

.. but they will need 'mature' areas to *use* them or be AR-ed/ejected/banned?

Ok since i am Month new to Sl
I figure i would give my advice.

Could Each indvidual Sim owner Setup a rating for their land or store etc.
So then age verification is hard coded to your user accounts.
So lets say ia teen TP to an club, its listed as a nc-17 club, it would then check your verification and then bounce you back to the orginal spot, and tell you you are not allowed on that sim or area.
Basically creating restricted areas based off of "age"

But this still doesn't help the "sexual predator" in SL.
Much like myspace or LJ or any other.
Its the adult down playing their age to go after the kids.

And when a Teen or anyone starts talking to me in the text msg speak I ask them nicely to speak to me normally. Type out what they wish to say.


Just my 2 cents

where has this been stated? all the talk has been about people needing verification to access adult parcels, and parcel owners needing to 'use judgement' when it comes to flagging. i havent seen it stated anywhere that people will need to be verified to use genital attachments and whatnot or to use sexgen furniture and the like. and if a kid does rez a sexbed on his own property for his own personal and private use is it sl law that he has to flag himself off his own land?

according to the Video Presentation by Dan L, Mature Area's days are numbered.



Only safe for 13, and adult flagged areas will remain.

That's not at all what I got out of his video. He stated that the current system was going to be reworked to include "adult content" as a rating...which is no surprise. There are things out there that aren't PG but aren't "mature"...such as the ability to cuss without having any sex or nudity available.

I'm not sure where you're getting your information. Perhaps you're just misinterpreting things.

Start Watching around 1:12

What he says is this:

He does not see why Secondlife should remain 18+ he thinks teens should be able to freely merge like in other places on the Internet - Like WOW

He says there are a "few ways" to handle integrating them.

He says that SL will probably always have to be 13+ becuase of US regulations (he mentions the acronym)

He makes a comment that he doesnt like how the teen grid was implimented- Dislikes all the walls that were set up, does not liek how content does not freely flow

He calls PG and Mature a Legacy System, Says they will be going away from it.

He says controls on content will be decided on a Parcel Level.

He says that there will always be some space for adult content on the grid.

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Add those things to what we know about the Adult Flag and verification thats coming (which totally jives with the above statements)


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Maybe I just dont live in Squeezeone land and I am capable of forming my own opinions when presented with information.

I have encouraged people to watch the video and make up their own minds.