Underage RPers/cybering

[veronica_rich]

There's a pretty englightening discussion on fandomsecrets about a macro secret involving underage people RPing/cybering with adults. Specifically, this thread (warning: slow loading, image heavy), which has its little share of wank, but is surprisingly conducive to good conversations about the rights of adults versus the needs of teenagers to explore their sexuality in a safe (i.e., NOT skin-to-skin) manner; whether an adult can be charged with a crime if it is learned the RP partner is underage; what can happen to underage people engaging in distribution of pornographic materials to other underage or even overage people online.

We didn't have the Internet back in the cave I grew up in - I'll be 37 later this year. In fact, I didn't even have Internet access until oh, about 11 years ago, and it was a 28.8 KB connection, LOL. I didn't have sex until I was 19 years old. But I read romance novels, sneaked looks into my dad's Hustler and Playboy collection, etc. stuff without a sex partner. My sister, so far as I know, was reading fanfic when she was about 14 or 15, but not getting into doing anything until she was a legal adult. (She'll have to speak for herself if she wishes, beyond that.)

My point is, what do you think of underage people cybering with overage people? Do you think it's OK so long as they don't give their real age and seem mature? Or do you think there should be some measure (such as ...?) requiring they give notice of their age first, to protect a possible conviction against an adult who isn't really a pedophile and doesn't want to have to register as a sex offender for the rest of their life?

Comments

[a-silver-rose.livejournal.com]

fwiw, whether it's cyber or real life, sexual interraction should not involve minors, whether they admit their true age or not. And if you are cybering with someone and find out the'ye underage, stop any and all contact. I've done my share of heavy flirting when I was south of legal voting age (by phone rather than internet, and certainly not in real life), so I'm not going to say it's not going to happen, but nowadays, there's too many legal and moral quagmires involved. Best to give any such situation a *wide* berth.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

That's what I think, too. Heavy flirting is one thing - you expect that from someone under 18, and I don't think there's anything wrong with indulging it to a point. (Not that I have, but then again, I can't think of much more boring than most men under the age of 35, LOL.) I jut feel sort of sorry for people who think they're dealing with another adult and find out they're not - IF they ever find out, that is.