Teen Second Life is officially no more.
What does this mean? Well, it means that those ages 13 to 15, and who are affiliated with an educational / sponsoring organisation will be able to access sims operated by the organisation; 16 and 17 year olds will be free to travel within PG-rated sims; some of those over 17 will continue to have major conniptions and possible fainting spells whenever the word “teenager” is whispered within their earshot – and the rest of us will go about the majority of our business just as we have always done.
To be sure, there are risks involved in having teenagers – or rather “minors”, to use the legal phrase – mixing with “adults” on the Main Grid, and Tateru Nino points them out very well; I still have concerns about the perceptions of those outside of SL as to what is going on with “minors” and “adults” apparently mixing so freely. But neither the risks nor the concerns of external perceptions are in any way a reason to come down so cuttingly on teens themselves – which is precisely what some residents have done.
Indeed, it is fair to stay that there have been many instances where the adult reaction has been nothing short of petulant, childish foot stomping, when all that is required is the implementation of a modicum of common sense on that part of adults the grid over. As such, it has been fascinating to compare the degree of stroppiness shown by self-confessed “adults” in the forums with the sheer considered, thoughtful and mature posts made by teens themselves.
At the end of the day as I’ve mentioned, and given the numbers involved, unless someone from outside SL does get their pants in a paddy over the merger (the parents of Tateru’s “Little Suzy”, for example, or certain right-wing American senators who seem to have a – if I might use the phrase I heard so vividly on the TV the other night – “serious weed up their ass” when it comes to SL) life on the Main Grid will continue much as before. No-one will be the subject of a witch hunt; the sky won’t fall in anywhere, and Chicken Little will start hunting for the next crisis that can be turned into a drama.
In the meantime, I’ll join the likes of Daniel Voyager (who has encapsulated a nice little history of the merger) and others in extending a welcome to the newest residents of Second Life.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 