This is the second half of my two-part series on integrating Teens into the Main Grid. I wrote this part in a different style than the other, and it contains a lot of the same information, but explained in a better way. I added a few parts that some friends asked me to include. This may also be published in an edition of the Metaverse Messenger, though I haven’t gotten word back on it as of this writing.
Second Life, I think it’s time we talk about a Grid Merge.
We teens do not wish to greatly disturb the current residents of the Main Grid, some of whom may feel that they do not want to be bothered by the teens, or think that it may be unsafe for teens to come in to their world. We think that people are good, and that any predators can be dealt with easily enough. Lindens have seen, and others have heard of how Main Grid Residents quickly report any underage users, and how maturely they handle the situations that arise. We believe that this culture of maturity and service will meld easily with self-policing, where Residents keep themselves and the teens safe, and teach the teens how to maturely handle and report any malicious users who may wish them harm. TSL Residents have proven to be smart. Teaching internet safety could be encouraged, and this tech-savvy generation could quickly learn how to protect themselves against any who could wish them harm. One must remember that the great majority of people would not try to harm teens, and we are protecting against a small but terrible minority. Teens are more at risk of being harmed walking down the street in the real world than they are on the computer, especially in places like Second Life, where those that could mean harm can be reported and dealt with quickly.
We believe that we can integrate teens into the regular grid in a safe manner with minimal impact on the current residents. Previous movements looked force adults into Mature simulators and let kids roam free in the PG ones. We have found that it is wrong to force people out of the PG simulators, and think that two additions to the sim classification system would make this more fair – Teens Only, and Adults Only. These are both essentially PG sims, but the Teens Only would allow – you guessed it – only teens in, keeping out adults. This would be the classification given to all current TSL Mainland Simulators. Adults Only would be a PG sim that would only allow in Adults ages 18 and up, and would be an option for all sim owners on the current Main Grid. PG would become an open classification where Teens and Adults could mingle.
We also seek to make sure that parents are not overlooked in this situation. An effective option would be to only allow teens to go into sims that have non-Approved adults after having a permission form signed by their parents. This would inform the parents of the potential dangers and the safety measures in effect to keep their children safe, as well as a disclaimer of some kind. To deter teens from forging their parents signatures, an email would have to be included with the form, either written on the form or submitted in a text box when the form is scanned in to the computer. This email would have to be different from the teens email, and would bounce back a message to the parents account to confirm that they had signed the form. It would also enable parents to terminate the permission later.
Some adults are fearful that they will be accused of crimes that they did not commit if they accidentally upset a teen. They must be shown that there is not a reason to be afraid, and that they would not be unduly punished without having claims looked into. Current support holds that a chatlog and/or screenshots/an item being identified must be provided, along with specifics to back up any claim. This should be emphasized to adults.
We believe that cooperation is the key to bringing together two cultures, and look forwards to a bright future, without fear, hate, or prejudice. We want all ages to be able to collaborate as they do in the real world, and build a better future for all of us.
To make all of this happen, we will need help. We are trying to make the transition as easy as possible, and to not take much time in the already turbulent SL culture. Lindens have their hands full, and we sympathize with this, especially with the Openspace issues that are causing so many people to become upset and protest. Even with this, we beg that our issues are paid attention to, and we are taken seriously, and put high on the priorities list. We will no longer be ignored, especially when we are being reasonable. We have dealt with these problems long enough.
APPROVED ADULTS AND LINDENS! We need your help! Many of you have seen the flaws in TSL, and are also frustrated with them, and want to help kids. Many of you wish teens could experience the rest of the grid in a safe manner. If you wish to seriously assist us, we need your feedback and support. You can contact the writer, Arwyn Quandry, or any other teen involved in the project, such as Daniel Voyager or Alexander9 Carver to show your support or give feedback and additions. Or, contact the Lindens directly and tell them what you think. You have seen the Main Grid, and you know the issues with teens going over there. If you have ideas for how to integrate teens safely, tell the teens involved in the project or a Linden. You are one of our greatest supporters and sources of information, and have influence. Constructive criticism and additions are helpful to us.
BLOGGERS! Write your side of the story! Tell the world what you think about this, and blog your hearts out with your opinions. Every post counts as we try to create change. Tell us what is good or bad, what is wrong or right, and why you support or don’t support the Merge. Your opinions count to us.
Peter Miller [SL: Graham Mills] said,
November 28, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Do you think the education community can help here? It’s certainly an issue that’s been discussed on the SLED list so I’ve taken the liberty of posting this URL to it.
arwynquandry said,
November 28, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I think that they certianly could do some good. They’re greatly involved in the TG, and haven’t abandoned us yet. It’s just a matter of getting them motivated and interested in it. Thanks for the link.
Birdie Newcomb said,
November 29, 2008 at 3:46 am
Keep pushing. Linden Lab isn’t going to do it on their own; they have no reason to. It protects them from any possible legal action. Although it creates a deep divide in the social fabric, and an awkward expulsion at age 18, LL is safe.
Speaking as an educator who has seen the TG and interacted with some of the precocious inhabitants, Second Life’s vision of the freedom to do anything, build anything, go anywhere cannot be fulfilled without an accommodation of the teens. IMHO.
Carol Rainbow said,
November 29, 2008 at 10:08 am
I think that you are absolutely right in wanting the grids to merge, that is my dream too, but fear that with the amount of bad press in some countries (the UK being one) it may cause problems for teachers to be able to use SL as a learning / teaching resource.
My constant mantra is – we need to educate children and young people to manage what they find and see on the web, be critical of the content, deal with what they do not like, dismiss the bad, learn from the good and enjoy the social networking etc.
This is probably many teachers’ dream.
Unfortunately, we know that for some teens and young people, particularly at difficult times, this is not what happens. At a time when they are very vulnerable they may be confronted with sites that are able to persuade them undesirable things are better than what they already have in life so we get a huge spate of teen suicides here in the UK, where nineteen or thereabouts of our most vulnerable young could not see past their current situations and ended their lives. We have had young people born and raised here suddenly adopting the idealist theories of other nations possibly leading to terrorist activities. These are extremely sad and almost certainly nothing to do with Second Life, but events such as these do cloud people’s perceptions. As Second Life already has a pretty poor reputation, based on news headlines such as Second Life wrecked my marriage / Terrorists are trained in Second Life / Second Life couple divorce etc., and the fact that it is known that paedophiles “groom children” even though many of us think the children are adults acting as children in Second Life, make it pretty difficult for adults responsible for the safeguarding and education of young people to take the chance of their pupils encountering anything that harmful.
Also – as you are shortly to find out – Second Life for some people is not about education, but having a good time, sex, clubs and shopping etc. Shops selling sex beds, sexy clothes, sex toys and other such dubious delights are all over the place. You can walk from a perfect teaching and learning environment straight into a sex shop and I have done on many occasions
The notions of keeping our young people safe, encouraging them to develop loving relationships and all the rest of the educational ideals are severely tested by the equally wonderful, very educational, cartoon world of Second Life. To merge the two is likely to remain a dream, and for some of us to use Second Life as an educational resource at all, even for adults remains a pretty remote possibility.
Jackie Gerstein said,
November 29, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Thanks for your articulate proposal. I actually feel the loss of not being able to interact with teens and see their processes and products on Second Life – teen grid. I teach upper elementary gifted students who have demonstrated responsible behavior within the virtual worlds geared to their age level. They have a similar dilemma in that they cannot go to any of the SL landmarks – neither on teen grid or the main grid. I think they (and the teens) are loosing out by not being able to experience such rich immersive exhibits like those developed by NASA and the Exploritorium. Your proposal for PG sites is a great one. I hope others will help with your initiative!
Tiberius Reign said,
November 30, 2008 at 1:29 am
Perhaps the hardest part about proposing a merge is dealing with the massive legal threat to Linden Labs. They are a business, and therefore are concerned first and foremost with the protection of their source of revenue. Any and all plans to initiate any kind of Grid Merge must have within a mechanism that allows LL to disclaim ANY liability whatsoever. Any proposal without such a clause, will ultimately, fail. Remember, that a business is ultimately about money. Provide LL with a way to make MORE money, and give it to them in a package that provides them with an airtight legal framework to prevent lawsuits, and you’ve got yourself a proposal they can’t refuse.
Peter Miller [SL: Graham Mills] said,
November 30, 2008 at 9:51 am
Are there compromises that might be identified as useful interim solutions, e.g. cloning of educational sims onto the TG, admission of teens onto closed sims on the main grid in the presence of approved adults? While the proximity factor argues against unfettered access to the main grid, many educational sims are island-based so much easier to manage/control. I appreciate that these ideas aren’t readily scalable in the way that yours are but I suspect they are actually addressing RL issues that teachers may have running classes inworld (I was 17 when I went to university), and have some traction in so far as many colleges and universities would probably like to promote their main grid activities to prospective future students. And yes, education in eSafety is important and could be factored into this.
arwynquandry said,
November 30, 2008 at 7:10 pm
It would be an interesting temporary solution, Peter, though it wouldn’t address the real issue and the needs of the TG, and knowing LL, they would say “Okay, we did something, leave us alone”, and would refuse to take any more steps. I think this will be an all or nothing situation. The issue isn’t just bringing a few kids onto an MG island for education (which may lead other teens to resent those few and protest, or the few to become angry that they couldn’t go anywhere but that one island), but for a full-scale operation of integration. There are still a few teens that greatly resent the educators as well, thinking that there should be no adults at all (besides Lindens) on the TG, and that feel like they are treated as labrats by the educators.
Peter Miller [SL: Graham Mills] said,
November 30, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Fair comment and point taken. I am just thinking that LL is supposedly highlighting education as one of its priority areas so the proposals might have some value in terms of engaging them. I’m neither an approved teacher nor an SL researcher so, as stated on the SLED list, have no axe to grind.
arwynquandry said,
November 30, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Could you give me the link to the SLED list?
Peter Miller [SL: Graham Mills] said,
November 30, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Um, it’s easily found via Google or, indeed, the SL Home Page but I hope you won’t be offended if I say that it’s primarily intended for educators.
Rudi Rieko said,
December 1, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I think the “young” have a great deal to offer the “old”. It would benefit all involved in Second Life to have the two worlds merge. From the research I have read regarding what the teens are doing on their grid, they have surpassed those in the more “mature” world. No matter where one goes, trials and tribulations follow…It is all a learning curve. If we accept responsibility for our actions…It will work. As an educator…I say Merge!