Addendum to age survey

[rynne]

Because many people were answering the "depends" question with it depends on maturity, I've added this. Original survey is here, for those who haven't seen it yet.

[Poll #388571]

Go here for the poll on RPGs.

EDIT: And because I keep forgetting about RPGs...

Poll #72 More on age/maturity

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 0

View Respondents

Would you feel differently about underage people roleplaying R/NC17 rated material?

View Answers

Yes
0 (0.0%)

No
0 (0.0%)

Does it depend on maturity, age, or both?

View Answers

Maturity
0 (0.0%)

Age
0 (0.0%)

Both
0 (0.0%)

How old is "old enough" for RPGs with explicit material?

View Answers

12 and under
0 (0.0%)

13
0 (0.0%)

14
0 (0.0%)

15
0 (0.0%)

16
0 (0.0%)

17
0 (0.0%)

...Okay, poll's not working. Answer in comments, if you like.

Comments

[red_squared]

Hey there,

I don't know how helpful my answers will be... I wasn't able to answer a lot of the questions in the first part of this survey, so I ended up not answering any of them. I've never had to lie about my age online, because I only had access to the internet and to email once I started University.

However, I do lie about my age online, not for "of age" reasons, but because if something requires my birthdate, I'm reluctant to hand it over - I don't want that kind of information about me being collected or stored outside of my control - especially if I think it's none of the other person's business anyway (eg, when applying for a password or logon for an age restricted site).

I lie about my age in real life all the time, and am continuing to do so even after I turned 18, because I tend to be the youngest in everything I do (at Uni, at work, everything) so I add a couple of years (all of the people I work with have kids that are older than me) so that I don't get treated like someone's daughter.

Hope this helps,
Esinde

[latentfunction.livejournal.com]

I didn't answer the last question. I remember being younger and just sort of figuring out sex on my own (I never got The Talk from my mom, and I missed it in school because we were moving). I had a friend who was on a BDSM mailing list when we were in the 8th grade, and we'd read porn to each other after school. I read It (Stephen King) in 7th grade, which has some fairly graphic scenes, I guess. I thought they were the most explicit things on earth when I read it the first time, and when I read it this summer, thought they were tame as anything (but that's fandom talking, I know). I found a box of my mom's tampons when I was ten and stared at the direction paper, confused and scared (me: You want me to put that WHERE?) for about an hour. I got out the encyclopedias and looked up sex, which sent me to reproduction, in the fourth grade. That summer, I found a sex ed book next to my godmother's bed (which, now that I think about it, is a weird place to keep it o.O). Hell, in the second grade, I'd figured out the basic idea of what went where on my own. When I was four and my brother was two, I think we figured it out as well in the tub one night. The parts just *shrugs* lined up, I guess, and we put two and two together. (Not that I should need to say this, but yeah, we didn't actually test our ideas. Because we were FOUR AND TWO.)

I'm getting old enough that I sometimes forget that kids don't know what sex is, and then I have to remind myself that I've pretty much always known what sex is. I can understand people not wanting kids to run across porn online, but they're going to run across it somewhere. They're going to pick up a book from their classroom, or they're going to get bored with a friend one day when they're home alone, or they're going to watch a miniseries on network TV. They'll find out somehow. It's the law, but it's sort of a silly law, and it's easy to get around.

[moonwitch.livejournal.com]

RPG Poll answers:

Would you feel differently about underage people roleplaying R/NC17 rated material?
Yes

Does it depend on maturity, age, or both?
Both

How old is "old enough" for RPGs with explicit material?
16

I'd go more in-depth, but do not have the time currently.

[deirdre-riordan.livejournal.com]

Erm, well, I still kind of have to give you a "depends" on this one. I said fifteen because that was when I think I was mature enough. But no two fifteen-year-olds are alike.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I've never lied about my age in my life and never will. I'm 44 and I've *earned* these gray hairs...:)

[http://users.livejournal.com/ari_/]

Underage kids will always find a way to the explicit stuff, if they really want it. And honestly, fanfiction is a *lot* tamer than what they can easily find in alt.sex.stories, or the various porn sites.

If they're old enough to be interested, they're old enough to look.

That said, it'd be really neat if they had adults they could go to who would then show them the kind of explicit material they'd like to see/read. My mother gave me Penthouse when I was 13 and wanted to know what porn magazines were like. I read 2 or 3, went 'ok', and that was it. That was a much nicer introduction to (semi-explicit, but still) porn than the couple of hardcore pictures that started circling in class when I was about 14/15.

(I *do* have a problem with violence. I'm European. *g*)

[jedi-penguin.livejournal.com]

it'd be really neat if they had adults they could go to who would then show them the kind of explicit material they'd like to see/read.

I agree with this. I didn't answer all the questions on this poll because for me, the "depends" isn't an age issue but whether their parents know and approve of what their reading. And yes, I do see this as being tied to maturity. If kids are reading porn so they can giggle and say, "Hee! My parents don't know I'm reading this! I'm such a rebel!" then they really are too immature to read it. If they are mature enough to go to their parents, tell them about their reading choices AND justify them, then I have no problem at all.

[alazysod.livejournal.com]

I didn't answer the last question because it entirely depends on the person. For example, I was given a book on sex when I was nine by my parents, and I feel comfortable talking to them about sex and just about anything. But some people don't learn about sex until they get to school, which is not where you should learn it. (I mean, I'm fifteen, and there's a girl my age who doesn't know what herpes is.)

[sailorsimba.livejournal.com]

I chose 13 on the last question, because that was how old I was when I started reading NC-17 stuff, and I'd feel more than a little hypocritical if I chose 14, which seems more right to me. There is a difference between 13 and 14 year olds, I think, even if they're both rather immature (in most cases).

[(Anonymous)]

i don't know how immature people are supposed to become mature when real life is being held from them.

i also don't understand how reading about gay men having sex would be so traumatizing. or eighteen transexuals knifing eachother sexually either.

i was dirtier at twelve than i am now. i consider myself a not-very-screwed-up person. i am (and was) very thankful that the internet was there to educate me about things my parents wouldn't dare speak to me about.

i remember being confused when i read my first slash. i wondered how people could be so interested in something so strange. and i've grown to oh so love it!

hooray for success stories