At what age are avitars no longer considered to be "children"

[Sariayna Yuhara]

At what maturity level are avitars no longer considered to be "children" in relation to age?   In some states the age of concent is 16, and in some countaries it is lower but what does LL define as the age of a child who can not participate in sexual activities ( in human years, I understand this can be difficult with fairies and other races people are playing but in general?)   Are teenage avitars allowed to play sexual situations between eachother and just not adults provided everyone is age verified?  Sadly the rules get a little fuzzy when there is no clear age indicated as to what a "minor" is on the knowledge base and I don't know how to answer these questions!!

[KarenMichelle Lane]

The laws governing the age of consent in terms of contractual [and thus sexual] activity are taken from the laws of the land of the United States, and more specifically from the State of California as they apply to the definition of adults who can enter into and make binding agreements contractually with Linden Research. That age is 18 years old. Period.

This age defines an Adult in the eyes of LL.  This is why the age 18 as an Adult definition in the LL TOS is as it is.

Further, the portrayal of underage avatars and that avatar's activities may also be governed by the prevailing laws in the State of California as well as any applicable Federal Laws of the USA.

So basically if you are an adult account holder, and you create an underage looking avatar and use that avatar in sexual "age-play" situations, you are in violation of the LL TOS as well as several California Laws. If you are using this avatar to relive your youth, have fun minus the explicit sexual experiences you may have had in your real teenage life.

The notion of  "what happens in private is private" is not defined specifically in the TOS but the real clincher is that if you are observed participating in underage sexual age-play in SL that is the quickest way to have your account blocked & deleted for life.

If an underage person creates an account and participates in sexual age-play as either an underage avatar or as an adult avatar they are in violation of the LL TOS.  The honor system of specifying your real age when creating an account seems to be useless as a filter to prevent this kind of exposure to underage individuals intent on having access to Adult Faire.

However, seeing an account with some form of payment information on file tells you that at least at one time, a credit card of some financial activity was performed by the account holder. Most under 18yo's and in fact 18 yo's in the USA do not qualify for a VISA backed Bank card so you can take some comfort that you are most likely dealing with an "Adult" if looking to form a relationship with another here in SL. But it is still no guarantee.

 

[Sariayna Yuhara]

Thanks so much for the answer Karen, when trying to run an RP SIM that allows children and adults one of our biggest concerns was how to answer these questions correctly and accurately for our players and all of the above questions have been asked in the last month. We have stuck very strictly to the "if you are under 18 you are underage and MUST wear a titler to indicate this and no you can't have sex!" becuase we didn't want to break TOS but it is good to know we were correct! I just have one more question then becuase again it's been asked. Are the teens allowed to say in the story that it happened, as long as nothing explicit took place? Simular to a teen drama show with a fade to black moment? Or does this also break TOS?

[Lindal Kidd]

KarenMichelle's answer is perfect, but it might be a little confusing because there are two different possible situations.

1.  Real Life adult, child or child-like avatar.  It's against TOS to use child avatars for cyber-sex.  There is certainly a "gray area" in which one person might perceive an avatar as being a "child avatar" while another person would see them as a youthful adult.  My advice:  don't push the boundaries, the consequences are potentially dire.

2.  Real Life child, ANY avatar.  It's against TOS for anyone under 16 years of age in Real Life to use SL, except under certain controlled conditions (i.e., under the supervision of a recognized youth group on a restricted region.  In those cases, children as young as 13 may enter SL.)  It is against TOS for anyone under 18 years of age to be in a Moderate or Adult area, and cyber-sex is not allowed in General areas.  Result:  You must be 18 or older to have sex in SL.  Period.

It is extremely unwise to violate these rules, or even to appear to violate them.  If you are reported, LL will err on the side of caution.  You could very easily find yourself permanently banned from Second Life.

[KarenMichelle Lane]

So if I understand your follow-on question, can a real life teenager in an in-world role play situation, with adult and/or other teen account holders on a G rated region mention that they had a sexual liaison [like would be obvious while acting in a Shakespeare play in real life] to further a story line?

This is one of those wonderful Grey areas we all hate to contemplate. The safe answer is that in a G rated SL region, there is no such thing as sex. Babies still arrive via the stork. We all know that our teens know what sex is and how it works but the definition of age-play as governed by these [often idiotically implemented and interpreted moral] laws trumps any story line both in SL and in some cases on the high school stage as well.

So:

...as far as a real life teen participating in an Adult Role Play Story line, the answer is Don't.

...as far an adult representing a child or teen in an Adult Role Play Story line, the answer is Don't do this explicitly as you have already stated.

The perception of sexual age-play can be just as damning as is actual sexual age-play. Legally and morally it is considered abhorrent behavior in terms of the LL contract with all account holders.

In terms of how this policy seems to be implemented in SL, I think if a [adult in RL] character's story line history included a reference to "lost his/her virginity" as a child or teen and that was needed to set up that character for whatever sympathetic future RP storyline development was needed, it is probably OK. A detailed narrative of how that state of innocence was loss is probably not in this current climate. In all cases, if the avatar account is a teen in RL, Not!

Good luck walking this fine line.

P.S. as an amateur [non-published] fiction writer in my own real life, I find this an intriguing topic and the current Black/White no tolerance laws and policies I see in our Real lives are a failed attempt to regulate a difficult current reality.
.

[UlrichVonD]

This really is an interesting topic, and it is good to see some solid answers on the definition of what an adult playing a minor means and it truly is like walking a fine line when it comes to defining sexual age play in reference to a story as opposed to in reference to someone simply attempting to relive their childhood.

The biggest problem, however, that I am finding in running a mature SIM that allows both teen and child avatars played by adults is a level of vague paranoia and speculation about what the ToS actually says and how a "minor" is defined, or in this case, not defined, and what sexual age-play actually is. I feel like in the setting of a group of writers coming together to tell an engaging story it creates a level of fear that would not otherwise be there if there were clearer definitions. And that fear can lead to finger pointing, accusations and discrimination against entire groups of players in SL, who are for all intensive purposes adults behind their screens. (Not actual rl teens as they are not allowed on moderate regions).

In my experience people tend to have a whole range of ideas about sexual age-play, some considering it to be only sex on pose balls between an adult and a minor, while others consider it to be even the mention of anything sexual in casual conversation around and adult playing a minor avatar, and still others consider it to branch into anything even remotely adult being hinted at in the presence of a child avatar who is played by an adult. People are actually afraid to play with teenaged avatars in any capacity because of this. Personally I think that takes away a great many things from a SIM based on story or RP in any setting as our teenage years are the years that help define us. From the perspective of a writer and avid reader I couldn't imagine putting a moratorium on discussing teenagers and teenaged problems in literature or even on stage in a realistic manner.

It inspires people to consider different perspectives and to gain a greater understanding of not only the teens in their real lives but themselves as teenagers and who they have become since then. Asking questions digging deeper pushing people to understand or consider perspectives outside of their own is the very nature of story telling. And in SL you have a unique opportunity to tell a story with whole group of people that changes and becomes something you never anticipated.

Art, particularly art portraying life, is full of grey areas. I do understand that and I also understand that there is always a fine line both legally and morally when it comes to creating these definitions in a community. But I think if things like witch hunts, where players start accusing other players of violating the ToS by playing an 18 year old that isn't quite mature enough by their standards, or people avoiding anyone who might be considered not as mature looking or seeming then they want them to be (ie women playing cross dressers who don't have a significant amount of cleavage and are less stereotypically female, or men playing more gender neutral characters that can be perceived visually as less muscular or less stereotypically male) could be avoided if we have clearer more conscise definitions.

In my expirience the current idea of minors and age play interestingly enough is also branching off to isolate people who do not want to play traditional gender roles and is actually creating a stigma for them as well. Perhaps it is because so much of how we define gender is based on appearance in much the same well the ToS currently defines age, as looking or acting "mature" without really saying what mature is.

This is just some food for thought and something to consider in general I suppose, not specifically a question, unless someone of course is willing to define these things more acutely.