May 8th, 2008
Second Life is the latest reason our kids are doomed
I’m kidding of course, but U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) apparently isn’t. According to the Chicago Tribune,
Kirk sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission requesting a consumer-alert warning about its dangers….Kirk said he knew of no cases in which children were targeted by sexual predators on Second Life, but he said he considers the virtual world an emerging danger.
Ars Technica provides a nice counterpoint, however:
First up, Kirk is running for reelection in a hotly-contested district, and using technology as a scare tactic to get parents on your side is an easy move. Second, Second Life has age-verification technology in place that meets, and in some cases, exceeds the legal requirements. Third, and perhaps the most importantly, there are far easier ways for predators to find teens in much greater numbers.
I’m inclined to agree. MySpace has roughly 110 million users. Facebook has 60 million. Neither is as tough on age verification and, unlike Second Life, neither provides a teen area off limits to adults. The age limitations can be circumvented, but are relatively robust, as are the algorithms for detecting whether youngsters are using the adult Second Life area.
Do we need to keep our kids safe online? Of course, but chances are, by the time they hit college, they’ll be taking a class or two in a virtual world like Second Life. Perhaps Representative Kirk could take some time and think about funding online safety education or technology integration in schools so that kids learn responsible use of the Internet, rather than targeting a convenient and sexy scapegoat.
Follow Chris Dawson on Twitter! Christopher Dawson is the technology director for the Athol-Royalston School District in northern Massachusetts and a member of the Internet Press Guild. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations, but always keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his daytime employer, even if he talks incessantly about his day job.
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