why do i need to be 18 to access "moderate" material? shouldn't you be allowed to at 13 years of age

[Amethyst Jetaime]

That is your opinion.  Most parents would disagree.   There are adult things that do happen on moderate sims, including SL sex and violence.  Although these things have to be behind closed doors, people can still cam in and watch.  Also bars are on Moderate sims and no one under 18 should be in a bar. 

Most adults don't want to be around teens on these sims.  They don't want to have to guard what they say or do.  Many come in to SL to have time away from RL and their responsibilities to kids.

 

[Amethyst Jetaime]

That is your opinion.  Most parents would disagree.   There are adult things that do happen on moderate sims, including SL sex and violence.  Although these things have to be behind closed doors, people can still cam in and watch.  Also bars are on Moderate sims and no one under 18 should be in a bar. 

Most adults don't want to be around teens on these sims.  They don't want to have to guard what they say or do.  Many come in to SL to have time away from RL and their responsibilities to kids.

 

[Rolig Loon]

Because that's the rule >>> http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Teens_in_Second_Life

[Syo Emerald]

The simple answer would be: Because Linden Lab decieded to handle it this way, long ago.

The more complex answer is, that this rating system has grown over years. We had a time, where you had to make an extra verification that you were 18+ to enter the "adult" regions. We also had, at one time, teens almost totally seperated from the normal Second Life. All of that is kind of confusing, I guess.

The best way to understand the different ratings is reading the FAQ about adult content: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Adult_Content_FAQ

Moderate is for those, who want to have a mature environment, but who don't want to be confronted with the sometimes very explicit nature of adult regions.

[Innula Zenovka]

The history behind this is that originally (or at least back when I started in 2007) there were two grids, the Main Grid, which was for people 18+ and had PG and Mature content,  and the Teen Grid which was for people under 18 (there was a miniumum age, but I can't remember what it was).    There was no communication at all between the two grids (even though, I think, the "Teen Grid" was, in fact, simply a hidden area on the main grid).    The Teen Grid was, as I understand it, supposed to be PG content only. 

PG on the main grid meant pretty much what it does today, and Mature meant everything else.

Some years later, LL decided to change the "Maturity ratings" for the Main grid to General, Moderate and Adult, which is what we have today.   This didn't affect the Teen Grid, which was still a separate area, sealed off from the Main Grid.

Some years later still, LL decided they no longer wanted to keep the two grids separate and, instead, combined them, but kept the same ratings and also kept under 18s confined to General.

As to the future, I am pretty certain that LL will be unwilling to change things since they'll remember the almighty row there was when they (and we) had to divide Mature content and regions into Moderate and Adult, and will be very unwilling to repeat the experience by trying to divide Moderate into "Moderate suitable for under 16s" and "Moderate suitable for 16+".

[Lindal Kidd]

Kids who are 13 - 15 can't get into SL at all, unless they do so on a restricted region and under the supervision of a recognized youth organization, such as the Girl Scouts or a church youth group.

If you're 16-17, you can only access General regions.

If you are 18 or older, you can access Moderate and Adult regions.