how to file an underage abuse report (and should I?)

[CalebJenks]

yeah, the title says it all. I roleplay a teenager, and I met a girl today. I was almost positive from the moment I met her that she was younger. Eventually, I asked her how old she was in real life, and she said 15. I know that you're not supposed to let younger people roam around (once you're aware) so what do i do? she wasn't doing anything wrong, we're in a family based RP and apparently that is what she sticks to, but I am not quite sure if I should report her or not? She also told me her birthday was in 4 months, and she is almost 16... but after researching, I can't tell if LL did merge the grid and 16 yr olds can be on the main grid or not.

wow, help is much appreciated. x

[CalebJenks]

yeah, the title says it all. I roleplay a teenager, and I met a girl today. I was almost positive from the moment I met her that she was younger. Eventually, I asked her how old she was in real life, and she said 15. I know that you're not supposed to let younger people roam around (once you're aware) so what do i do? she wasn't doing anything wrong, we're in a family based RP and apparently that is what she sticks to, but I am not quite sure if I should report her or not? She also told me her birthday was in 4 months, and she is almost 16... but after researching, I can't tell if LL did merge the grid and 16 yr olds can be on the main grid or not.

wow, help is much appreciated. x

[Griffin Ceawlin]

How to report an underage Resident

The Second Life Terms of Service require all Residents be at least 16 years old, with the exception of 13-15 year old Residents restricted to the estate of a sponsoring institution. For more information, see Teens in Second Life.

If you find someone under 16 years of age outside the estate of a sponsoring institution, here's what to do:

1. Make sure the person has actually admitted underage status in his or her own words in inworld chat (for example by saying, "I'm fourteen"). We cannot accept hearsay, rumors, or admissions made on external instant messaging programs or any areas outside of Second Life.
2. Inworld, use Help > Report Abuse to bring up the abuse report tool.
3. Click Select category and choose Age.
4. Enter the required information as indicated, and please be specific. If you recently heard an underage admission in chat, copy-and-paste the snippet into the Details field. If it happened earlier and you don't have a chat record, just recite as much as you remember to help us understand what to look for.
5. Click the Report Abuse button and our Abuse Team will investigate it and take appropriate action. Thanks for your help.

If the report is valid, Linden Lab puts the account in question on hold and requests age verification by email.

To get the account off hold, provide a legible copy of a government-issued identification document (state ID, driver's license, passport, military ID, birth certificate) that clearly indicates the account holder's name and date of birth. This is the only type of identification acceptable for establishing age eligibility. You may send your ID via a support case, fax, or postal mail.

The age verification process is usually resolved within a week. We do what we can to keep your accounts active in Second Life.

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Filing-an-abuse-report/ta-p/700065#Section_.3

[Syo Emerald]

16 year olds are allowed on the grid, but only allowed to enter G rated sims. Everyone under the age of 16 isn't allowed to own a normal Second Life account. Because she seems to give a false birthdate at account registration, she might enter mature or even adult sims as well, if nothing happens....depending on what birthdate she entered instead of her real one.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Definitely report her.  Just because it seems that you she only sticks with G places doesn't make it so.  She lied about her age.  People that do that generally give a DOB that makes them 18 or older.  She could be going to adult sims for all you know.

Not only is this not a good thing for her, but it isn't a good thing for adults either. It puts them in jeopardy of being banned for age play if she is doing things she shouldn't and not being honest with others. 

Minors younger than 16 should not be tolerated on the grid at all other than those that are restricted to a sponsoring organizations estate and are supervised.  Even if she is only a few months from being 16, a lot can happen during that time and you shouldn't take her word for anything since she lied to begin with.

[Iyoba Tarantal]

I am fully aware of the rules, but a friend of mine in "real life" who had also been a county attorney once told me that most laws are selectively enforced. I think selective enforcement when it comes to under-age players in Second Life is a very, good idea, especially in the case of the original poster.

In this case, the person who says they are fifteen, has been a colleague and a fellow role player. She has not been in any way a nuiscence but instead an other wise law abiding member of her community. She could also be an adult in character. It seems extremely mean spirited to at best put this woman through the hassle of proving her age (and the worst case of having her lose her account and inventory) for a slip of the tongue or a slip too far into character.

I have no problem with reporting under age players who are nuiscences, begging, spamming, abusing resources, but then again if they are in the last category, I can report them for what they do rather than whom they claim to be.

 

[Griffin Ceawlin]

So what you're really saying is that the main grid should be open to players of all ages, as long as they "behave"?

Nope. Sorry.

[Kenbro Utu]

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Iyoba Tarantal wrote:

 

I have no problem with reporting under age players who are nuiscences, begging, spamming, abusing resources, but then again if they are in the last category, I can report them for what they do rather than whom they claim to be.

 

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This is not the problem with underage players.  The problem is the liability from an underage player being in the presence of adults engaged in adult activities, no matter how polite or well behaved they are.  

[Iyoba Tarantal]

We all ready have a de facto grid that is open to all ages as long as they behave. The twelve year old on Dance Island is not going to cause a problem for any one, and she probably will fly successfully under the radar. The thirteen year old who asks how to link prims together in the sandbox, is likewise not a problem. You may never know her age.

If you are afraid you are cybering real life jail bait, then break off the relationship. Indiscrete kids give off all kinds of cues that they are underage.  Some of them are soft cues, linguistic quirks that older players do not use. Linguistic cues are not enough evidence to report, but the level to report and the level that screams "caution!"  are very different. 

Some kids show the worst behavior of a person with no money (and who has never paid a rent check)  in the face of monetization. Most teens I know from writing role play fiction, would adjust their age upward beyond the legal threshhold and would stick to the lie as part of the fun. What red blooded fourteen year old wants to be just sixteen when she could be eighteen to twenty-one?

I think the biggest problem with teens is really them laughing at us "old farts" behind our backs in front of the screen. Nobody likes to be gawked or laughed at, but most of us would have done the same thing at their age and maybe did. Karma pays itself back in strange ways.

[Marigold Devin]

With no hesitation, Caleb, I would have submitted an abuse report to Linden Lab, and let them have the ball in their court. As a responsibility to the girl, and a responsibility to yourself and other users of Second Life, and as clearly stated in the Second Life Terms of Service/Community Standards already beautifully quoted earlier in this thread.

I hope you're clear now on what you should do.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

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Iyoba Tarantal wrote:

We all ready have a de facto grid that is open to all ages...

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Yep, and it's a joke. I think LL should have gone with the third-party verification that never made it out of beta. So much for "ensur[ing] that minors are not accessing Second Life or inappropriate content" ...

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If you are afraid you are cybering real life jail bait, then break off the relationship.

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I don't cyber, but...

By that time, it could be too late, couldn't it? Mommy gets curious about what her sweet, innocent daughter/son is spending so much time doing online and starts snooping and... Oooops!

The next thing you know the police are involved, warrants are issued, computers are seized, etc., etc, etc. They may find that the adult had absolutely no knowledge that he/she was interacting with a minor and end any investigation with no charges filed, but that's quite an intrusion, isn't it? One that, despite a finding of innocence on the part of the adult, might be difficult to recover from?

And all through no fault of the adult other than, perhaps, poor judgment and/or naïveté.

[Syo Emerald]

So you say everyone who claims to be somewhat around 18-21 is suspicious? Good that I verified my age in the days where you had to give LL your ID....

[wesleytron]

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CalebJenks wrote:

yeah, the title says it all. I roleplay a teenager, and I met a girl today. I was almost positive from the moment I met her that she was younger. Eventually, I asked her how old she was in real life...

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I personally don’t quite understand why, having presumably found and gone to the teen RP sim you were hoping to find (as stated in your other two previous posts in these forums), while roleplaying.. say... a 15 year old, you meet another person playing a 15 year old – and when this person acts like.... well... lo and behold… a 15 year old, you feel you need to ask them what their real age is? Why? They were roleplaying a 15 year old. How did you expect them to behave?

 

Look at it from their point of view: A new person arrives in her little corner of SL where she likes to immerse herself as a teenager on a RP sim, free from the obnoxiousness of the “how old u? Have you got RL pic? Do you do voice?” mentality to be experienced in other areas of SL. Then a new guy shows up and, within 5 minutes, he's asking her for her RL age.

 

Her mistake was to probably just not say that her RL age is nobody's business.

[steph Arnott]

Are they 15 or just keeping to RP? Could be 30 for all i know.

[Iyoba Tarantal]

Syo, you probably won't say you are 18-21, if you really are. You might say:

 

• I'm a student.
  
• I'm an adult.
  
• I'm "legal," slang for old enough to purchase alcohol.
  
• I'm an "INSERT DECADE child."
  
• I'm a member of the INSERT generation or generation INSERT VALUE.
  
• I do X, Y, or Z for a living or work in X, Y, or Z.

For adults, using a number to discuss age is meaningless. There is not that much difference between someone who is eighteen and someone who is nineteen, or someone who is thirty-one and forty-one. For adolescents, it's a whole other ball game. A fourteen year old in any jurisdiction can not drive a car. A sixteen year old in some places in the United States can. An eighteen year old can vote and be drafted. A seventeen year old can't.

There are a few exceptions to the no age as a number rule. One might be an adult role playing a teen. The other is a very short avie, like me. Though I try to dress may avie maturely, smaller women who like bright colors tend to wear "cute" clothes. My profile states my real life year of birth (not my age though you can figure that out) and the fact that my avie is ten years my junior. I also describe my avie as short, dumpy, middle aged, and old school.

In short a person who insists "I am 18" is either role playing someone younger or actually is younger. By the way, I'm not sure how much of this age-talk holds beyond speakers of U.S. English. Other cultures, however, may view child avies, teen avies, and teen players very differently.

 

 

[Griffin Ceawlin]

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Iyoba Tarantal wrote:

In short a person who insists "I am

18

" is either role playing someone younger or actually is younger.

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Even the eighteen-year-olds, huh?

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By the way, I'm not sure how much of this age-talk holds beyond speakers of U.S. English. Other cultures, however, may view child avies, teen avies, and teen players very differently.

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It doesn't matter how other cultures view them. What matters is how LL views them, and LL doesn't want players younger than 16 on the main grid. Neither, I would venture to guess, would the vast majority of residents, even those who don't cyber.

[Crim Mip]

I'd report them in a heartbeat. It's bad enough we have teens on the grid at all, but somebody who flat out lied to get in is probably lying about staying in G areas too. I don't care how otherwise nice they are. Report them anyway. They can come back when they are 16 with a poperly limited account which will keep them in the areas teens are allowed.