"Second Life" May Give New Life To Predators
"Second Life" May Give New Life To Predators
According to a recent Internet Safety workshop I attended in April, the three most popular chat rooms are MySpace, Yahoo!Chat, and Facebook. These social networking sites are places where people congregate online to share messages, music, pictures, files and more. These anonymous sites allow the user to assume any identity and chat with individuals worldwide.
While most of the visitors are of no real concern to children, a recent FBI sting identified 29,000 registered sexual offenders who had active MySpace accounts (using their own names). The number of anonymous sex offenders remains unknown, as registration on these sites is based on the "honor" system. This is disturbing, as a 2006 University of New Hampshire study showed that 1 in 7 children were sexually solicited online, and 1 in 33 were aggressively solicited in a sexual nature.
A relatively new entrant into the "virtual world" of social networking is a website known as Second Life. With nearly 13 million online users, this is one of the fastest growing virtual community sites in the world. According to their website, Second Life is a 3-D virtual world created by its residents. It has been open to "residents" since 2003 and is "inhabited" by millions from around the world. Stunning graphics allow users to discover a vast digital continent, where they interact with people, enjoying and sharing entertainment, experiences, and opportunities along the way.
Virtual residents can buy land, build a home, start a business, and interact in a unique way with others. Residents retain the intellectual property rights to their digital creations, allowing them to buy, sell and trade with other residents. Some Second Life users make a significant part of the "real life" income from their Second Life businesses.
But there is a dark side to Second Life, and this poses an emerging danger to youth who gain access to the adult sections of the Second Life virtual world. Users of Second Life assume their own identity, using characters known as avatars, and live vicariously through the life of this digital person. Avatars can play, date, and do business in this 3-D world, including engaging in sexually explicit material and services available within the community. The adult section of Second Life includes pornography stores, nightclubs, virtual date rooms, and drug dens.
The parent company, Linden Lab, has two virtual districts, one for people 18 and older and another for users 13-17. (There is currently NO district for children under the age of 13.) While there are safeguards, the company has acknowledged it is possible for adults to enter the "teen" district, and for children to enter the "adult" district (as it relies on the "honor" system to verify age). Children who lie about their age and register as adults can access a broad array of explicit and violent material in Second Life's adult district, exposing them to a dangerous lifestyle.
Parents, when asked, have at least heard about MySpace, Yahoo, MSN, and Facebook. Yet few have heard of Second Life. The nature of this virtual world and ease at which children and adults can enter what should be segregated districts make the potential for sexual exploitation of children a real threat. Predators don't play by the rules, and children who are curious often don't either. The coupling of curiosity and intent can lead to potentially dangerous consequences as predators befriend children in the virtual world, then seek to extend the friendship in the real world.
US Representative Mark Kirk (R-Ill) has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission requesting a consumer alert warning about the dangers posed by Second Life. Other law enforcement and "kid-safe" organizations are also voicing concerns and seeking to raise public awareness of the virtual world of Second Life. As a Kid-Safe advocate, I echo these comments and issue a warning to parents to know where their children are going online, and who they are interacting with.
Filtering systems may not well work within a "virtual world" site like Second Look, so a child may be able to access adult content in a virtual world like Second Life. Thus the burden of oversight and protection falls on parents, educators, and others who provide children with Internet access. Parents need to also understand that many game consoles (XBox, Sony, etc...) also provide Internet access, allowing users to access content online through their game console.
Second Life provides an alternate reality to its users, allowing them to live out their fantasies in a digital world. Many of these fantasies are harmless, and Second Life does offer some interesting content and allows its users to share life experiences with others around the world. But some of these fantasies bring out the very worst in society, as is the case in any community (real or virtual).
Parents would not normally permit their children to visit nightclubs, drug dens, pornography stores, and similar questionable places in the real world. Society has laws that are designed to protect children from exploitation. However, in a virtual world, these protections are much easier to circumvent. Second Life may give new life to predators (and others who would take advantage of children), as it provides but another convenient way to identify and attract potential victims for future exploitation and personal pleasure.
With 13 million anonymous users and growing, chances are good that many parents are unaware their children do in fact have a "Second Life" that is far different from the life they live in the real world.
The Kid-Safe Network is a proactive non-profit groups that offers a number of educational workshops and s
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