Adults Preying on Children for Cybersex in TSO? Stratics Board Discussion Heats Up
by Alphaville Herald on 14/01/04 at 12:04 am
by The Phantom
With a strongly worded and impassioned initial post, eyeseenoone has opened a topic on the stratics board entitled SENSITIVE AND SHAMEFUL which raises the uncomfortable yet pressing issue of adults engaging in cybersex with children in TSO. In the opening post, eyeseenoone offers a long thoughtful and tightly argued post on the scope of the problem, beginning with these remarks:
“I am going to attempt to attack this issue carefully. I don’t know what if anything maxis can do about it and it won’t do any good to ask the sim users to do anything about it because its the sims who are causing the situation to escalate and grow out of control. What am I talking about, I’m talking about the sick and perverted ability of adult sims to engage in sexual activities with minors (some as young as 8 and 9). now I would like to hear some INTELLIGENT and INFORMATIVE solutions on how we can nip this in the bud both from parents who play this game (single or otherwise,), from single sim users who [deplore] this kind of activity, and from maxis moderator like tigger in how we can eliminate or minimize this type of activity. “
Responses thus far have been thoughtful and the discussion productive. I urge all interested parties to visit this site and read it before Stratics kills the thread.
JC Soprano
Jan 14th, 2004
It’s sad that this is even having to be discussed.
JC Soprano
http://www.thesimmafia.com
Darksoul
Jan 14th, 2004
As a concerned TSO player, immediately sending EA info if we think this is happening. If My chldern were of age to play TSO, monitoring of gametime, or if needed…a keylogger.
Tory
Jan 14th, 2004
“…before Stratics kills the thread.”
Seeing how this thread has been in existance for 5 days, with 87 responces and well over 1000 views. Why would you make it sound so conspiratorial about this?
The only thing that would get this thread locked is if the people who post over there stoop to the flaming and trolling antics that happen in the AVH comments sections. I suggest if you want to ensure this disucssion stays open, to encourage your readers to not post to this thread – at least not with their usual style.
TJ
toy
Jan 14th, 2004
toy read 2 pages of the posts at stratics on this…. (toy couldnt reply to it herself due to being banned on stratics hehehe) it becomes very apparent after reading only one page that the overwhelming response is… ‘parents be aware!’
it makes toy wonder…… do parents really care? do they think of the internet as a ‘baby sitter’ freeing up more time for themselves? no matter how concerned anyone is until parents wake up it will continue…. there can end up being thousands and thousands of posts exclaiming
the same thing over and over but, until parents actually do something its basically just rants, and back slapping and making one feel they have ‘done their part’ in solving something only the parent can solve.
toy
Lphntschld
Jan 14th, 2004
It’s really sad that you have parents like that Toy. Fortunately a lot of kids DO have parents that care. When they see people threaten their childrens well being beyond reason in a place that was designated as “safe”, and arrogant about it to boot they do something about it.
We parents take care of our own too and have no “tolerance” for those who openly prey on our children.
Maria LaVeaux
Jan 14th, 2004
I have known first hand of one case of an adult knowingly stalking a minor in the TSO community. The reaction it gained from our community was Furious Outrage to put it mildly. To my Knowledge Every possible step was taken by various members of our community including reports to Maxis and Local and state authorities. (I have no direct knowledge on how the perpetrators RL identity was established, but i am confident that it was.)
For all we know, s/he may still be out there, but s/he dares not make her/himself known to any of her/his former friends or associates. All have pledged to expose her/him again if contact is made, make on line life very uncomfortable for her/him.
I know of no sure protection for children on line and that saddens me. I may be gulty of many “Sins” in my life but i for one will NEVER stand by and allow a child to be harmed.
If we, as an on line community, and i don’t just refer to my own neighborhood, but ALL of TSO Can Work together, Agree to cooperate on this one issue, Maybe we have a chance, If not stamping it out, At least making it very, VERY difficult for that sort of Preditor to hunt here.
Maria.
Maria LaVeaux
Jan 14th, 2004
Lphntschld:
First,, My toy is nearly 20, and able to make her own way in life.
Second, SHE comes from one of those Loving homes where, Until she was of age, her parents DID monitor her closely for her protection.
Third,
“When they see people threaten their childrens well being beyond reason in a place that was designated as “safe”, and arrogant about it to boot they do something about it.
”
What an Naive outlook. Websites can “Designate” themselves any way they want to It won’t stop the preditors from stalking those sites. Parents MUST stop expecting the whole world to Raise their children for them and start taking a hand themselves.
Parents have to be PROACTIVE. Waiting until the damage has been done and then beating their chests over it is NOT protecting their children.
Think about what you are saying before you say it.
Maria.
Nicholas
Jan 14th, 2004
It is rather sad that this is having to be talked about. I am a father of a teenager and as protection to him, I have added a program to prevent certain sites from being accessed. Is this the only procaution that I take? No. Why? Because kids today for one, no how to work around it a lot of the time. Second, as was said previously, a site can list as being safe for children and teens, but a predator can and will find away around that. The only way to protect a child online is for the parents to be aware of where the child/teen is surfing. One way is to have the computer out where can be seen. Don’t let your child/teen have a computer in their bedroom that has internet access. Also, periodically, walk by and see what is on the screen. Sure I get a lot of “Dad, this is personal!” whine, but as I have told him, I am only making sure you’re protected against the online predator. Tell your child to never give out personal information. Make sure that your child follows this. Also, the age limit on the game starts at 13, but there is no way in hell that I’d ever let a 13, 14 nor 15 year old play this game. My opinion. My son is 16 and I am just now letting him begin playing. He knows that I do have the option of deciding whether or not to look and see what he’s done. Also that I can revoke this privilege at any point and time so therefore he is behaving. I have also raised my son with manners which seems to be so lacking in a lot of children/teens today. So, parents do your part. Take a interest in what your child is doing and talk to them. Ask questions. The internet is NOT a baby-sitter. The internet is a gateway to the world. Treat is as such.
toy
Jan 14th, 2004
toy doesnt remember saying anything at all about how this girl was raised…
quoting Lphntschld: “It’s really sad that you have parents like that Toy. ”
toy wishes most kids were raised as well as this girl….. toy wont gnash her teeth and go into rants about what is right and what is wrong but at the same time toy has been taught to think everything through carefully and logically….
first, pedophilia is a concern of everyone, or it should be… but… nothing will be done about it until parents take control, before the fact, not after its happened….
secondly… toy feels many posts concerning it are done simply to salve ones consience and nothing more…. lets face it.. posting will NOT
solve the problem, only parents can.
toy is simply stating facts……. assuming that toy has had a horrible childhood simply because she can speak her mind and point out her own ideas and thoughts.
toy will gladly listen to opposing views but also, toy was raised not to assume someone is bad, or done something wrong or raised wrong simply because this girls views dont match what another thinks.
be well, toy
snoops
Jan 14th, 2004
I have a younger cousin who occasionally plays a sim of mine.I put on the “profanity” filter and STAY IN THE ROOM the whole time.Really, it is up to the parents to pay attention to such issues.The internet is a wonderful toy;one to be used with caution.Adults must weigh the risks carefully and take the necessarey steps to insure their childs safety.
Dyerbrook
Jan 14th, 2004
By her own admission, Toy got into this lifestyle *while still a teenager*. That suggests that a) those who brought her into this lifestyle cared not a whit about her underage status, and b) that her parents were looking the other way, or worse.
I, for one, won’t stand by and pretend we’re all joined together in a civic do-gooder committee together with BDSM practioners, who claim they care oh, so much, about little kiddies. NFW. And Urizenus’ Rodney Kingisms be damned, along with his weepy calls about slaying that whatsis dragon. There is no joint civic venture that I or any other sane parent is going to get going with practitioners of BDSM. Why? Because as Lpntschld pointed out earlier, they engage in lewd behavior throughout the game and create a permissive climate for child abuse, *even if they can’t be caught in the act of performing it*. We’re informed by a major newspaper that Maxis itself has a spokesman saying that they do not tolerate “sexual content” in the game. Now naturally, this is one for the media, their lawyers, the ERSB, player, etc. to determine, what such “content” is. But we all know what it is. And we know that it is fired and generated largely by BDSM on its 30 out of 100 romance lots and counting, with its hundreds of adherents, and not by some kids.
I’m not going to rehearse all the extensive argument I’ve made about why BDSM is wrong, why it does not belong in this game, why it is an offense in at least 2-3 ways against the TOS. Instead, what I’d like to do is sum up “what we now know” about BDSM and why they cannot be “trusted partners” in the community effort of making the game safe for the teens and children it says can come in the game, and *why players should petition against them in the game* if they do not move to a separate city or get the game company to make a separate server.
1. BDSMers are willing to call teenagers and children the seductive sluts in the game, and turn the spotlight away from their own obscene actions. That’s just frankly appalling. That the majority of kids in the game are nothing like the few griefers who IM “wanna f**k” doesn’t matter to them. *They have mischaracterized the children in this game, they do not ascribe to the notion that they are innocents as a class of people, and therefore their claimed intentions to protect them are bogus.*
2. Many BDSM practitioners brag that they first came to “the lifestyle” as teens. So they are their own worst advertisement for the notion of the protection of youth. The very worst.
3. BDSMers are willing to make obscene and lurid lot and sim profiles, and parade around the game, regardless of whether there are kids in the room or not. A parent who has bought a teen-rated game, and sat next to their child as he went around the game, keeping a careful eye on their interactions, and put the filter on even, is suddenly entrapped into being an unwilling party to their child seeing lurid descriptions of BDSM lifestyles, or worse, be picked up by a BDSMer who starts out with an operating premise, as we have seen, that teens are sluts. The BDSMers show absolutely no willingness to show restraint in this matter.
4. The BDSMers have tacitly acknowledged that there is a huge problem, because they write “You must be 21″ on their lot profiles and try to weed out kids on the basis of bad spelling, in ability to give their birth year quickly, or other facile tips, but they can’t catch everyone. Why, as we well know, they are precisely the folks who are telling how impossible it is to police a game, how impossible it is to use Paypal verification, how impossible it is to keep conniving, wily, ostensibly slut-like kids from getting into over-21 games. OK, then *HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THEY AREN’T ON YOUR LOT DUH???* I can drive a Mack truck through that hole in your argument. You say we can’t have an adult server because it’s technically not feasible or enforceable. *And yet you want me to entrust the self-management and screening of your lots under those circumstances.* Are you mad???
5. BDSMers ask us to trust their judgement. But why on earth should we do that? We’ve seen on these boards, thanks to my provocative posts that have flushed them out, what abominable creatures they are, what methods they use, how low they stoop, how relentless they are, how they fit all the classic profiles of griefers. They twist every word, they taunt, they tease, they make personal attacks, they use specious arguments, they use every Bolshevik rhetorical trick in the book. They spell out in lurid detail all the base things that they do. THESE are the people we’re supposed to trust in screening out kids from their bestial lots and THESE are the people we are to trust to use restraint? Hardly. So let that be a lesson to you Lord Cougar, in how poorly was your gamble that an offensive world work — and yes, I’ve certainly noticed if no one else has that for being an acknowledged mastermind of this community, you’ve been strangely absent from this discussion, so as to lurk and bide your time. Your days are numbered.
6. Assault, battery, kidnapping, enslavement, systematic mental cruelty — these are all crimes. Consent is not an acceptable legal defense. Rather than merely plead for freedom from prosecution if they “mind their own business,” BDSMers go to extreme lengths to try to turn logic on its ear, to say black is white, to distract from their criminal activity by blaming football players, George Bush going to Iraq, dentists, wife abusers, war game manufacturers, and every other target of PC attack rather than look at their own deeds. Frankly, it’s straight from hell. This kind of specious, whining, silly argument on your part is the greatest feature of your being discredited on these boards — many see it, and they are not persuaded by your arguments for tolerance because of it.
7. Liberals such as myself who are willing to tolerate BDSM private activity on private lots, have suggested that they go to a separate server or even look for a game without such young kids in it, and to restrain themselves. But they have a conscious plan of attack, and are making absolutely no concessions – the creation of Rose and Petals was the moral equivalent of “Shock and Awe”. Indeed, such liberals who don’t call for banning BDSM from the game outright, but merely for some restraint and manners — the kind of manners we vanillas are always told to mind — are called bigots, haters, Nazis, book-burners, witch-hunters, and asked if they’d like to have separate servers for whites, Christians, etc. and if they’d lock out gays or blacks. It’s sick. What they didn’t count on is that their initial parry, calling me a bigot and an intolerant jerk, will not intimidate me, or indeed anyone who is thoughtful about the very real problem of TSO becoming so “seamy”, but will only make more and more people mad.
8. The lurid display on these boards, with the prancing and mincing of impudent hounds of hell, with the trance-like chanting of Gorean words and the sordid details of nipple-piercing and blood-letting in cat-fights, should provide ample materials for all the Cynical Psychologists out there who want to make careers and money off the sickness of this game. But if Urizenus has the guts to leave it up, or at least archived, it will also prove fodder for a whole range of actors, whether Congressmen, the FBI, or various religious groups, not to mention the media, to heavily question this form of entertainment in our society, if it comes to this. And there will be an inevitable backlash.
toy
Jan 14th, 2004
yes toy was a teen…… 18 to be exact.. and Your constant spouting the same things over and over and over ad nauseum dyerbrook…. just Who assigned You as over seer of this girl? my god You cant even control Yourself. Now how would You expect any reasonble and logic person react to You……. toy reacts to You with treating You as a complete non-entity.. like a dirty CD playing the same line over and over……. it gets tiring
toy is 19 now. and feels she knows more about life than You can ever hope to learn so will add ‘pity’ to her non-entity status of You
falara kajira toy
rest well Dyerbrook, toy always does
RB
Jan 14th, 2004
18 is not teen. 13-18 is teen. once you tick over to 18 you are by all physical aspects an adult. However it’s what’s inside your head that counts tho.
- RB
Lphntschld
Jan 15th, 2004
As I said in another post, sexual misconduct with a minor is a crime punishable by law. The FBI has a division set up to protect children on the internet and to enforce the law. In addition to reporting the incident to Maxis the FBI should also be notified.
Lphntschld
Jan 15th, 2004
Also…it is not the responsibility of a minor to violate TOS and safe internet practice by revealing personal information such as age to accomodate those who are too irresponsible to to know and follow the applicable laws and terms of agreement in a teen rated game. Anyone who chooses to do so has run the risk of punishment by law. That’s their choice. Not the childs, not Maxis, or anyone elses.
Darksoul
Jan 15th, 2004
Quotes dyerbrook
“Liberals such as myself”
/end quote
If that isn’t the most ridiculous statement I’ve seen yet on this blog OMG ROFLMAO. Please, someone help Me before I laugh Myself into hyperventilation.
“Puritanism – the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”
lphntschld
Jan 16th, 2004
Or just type online enticement of children for sexual acts into a search engine and pick your favorite agency to report these people
anon
Jan 18th, 2004
“18 is not teen. 13-18 is teen. ”
Let’s see… eightTEEN, nineTEEN… yeah, I’d say 18 and 19 is still a teen, whether you are willing to admit it or not.
toy
Jan 18th, 2004
yes in the language sense 18 and 19 are still teens but in a legal sense we are considered adults
toy