The Congressman Weiner drama, begs the question, how do Adults and children interact. Is it acceptable for adults to engage minors in chat rooms, Forums, IM and email.
Adults and Minors
- Thread starter griz bear
- Start date
depends how you define "engage"
We have one very mature "minor" who has been posting here for ages, we all love him.:dunno
It's acceptable in environments such as this where everything is monitored and there are buttons to report anything offensive. Most places don't have those abilities.
It all depends on what is the topics.
It's acceptable for me if it stays within the boundaries of normal conversation. And not having the Adult coerce or instigate more sexual conversation with this minor.
It's acceptable when there are no ill-intentions. I don't believe that no adult should ever converse w/ a juvenile b/c something COULD be taken the wrong way. What about celebrities and fans??? The media would be raising hell if a celebrity refused to converse w/ a fan, no matter what the age.
It really depends. A 50 year old man talking to a 9 year old girl looks far worse than 1 24 year old man talking to a 17 year old girl. And it depends where you live - our minors can give sexual consent from age 16, some countries have it even lower, some countries higher.
Not to mention the ability of people on either end to lie. Yes adults can lie about their ages to make children more comfortable but kids can do the same thing - a 15 year old girl might tell a guy she's two years older because she knows he'll stop emailing her if he knows how young she is. Is it then okay that he could get labeled as a pervert if someone finds out?
It's a difficult issue because while we can try and draw a line in the sand and say 'here is where you become an adult', some people will still be immature past that point, and some people will be capable of adult behaviour and decisions before that point. I think any adult over a certain age who talks to people that they know are around the age of consent with sexual intent should take a good look at themselves, but some situations are far less easy to point fingers at.
Not to mention the ability of people on either end to lie. Yes adults can lie about their ages to make children more comfortable but kids can do the same thing - a 15 year old girl might tell a guy she's two years older because she knows he'll stop emailing her if he knows how young she is. Is it then okay that he could get labeled as a pervert if someone finds out?
It's a difficult issue because while we can try and draw a line in the sand and say 'here is where you become an adult', some people will still be immature past that point, and some people will be capable of adult behaviour and decisions before that point. I think any adult over a certain age who talks to people that they know are around the age of consent with sexual intent should take a good look at themselves, but some situations are far less easy to point fingers at.
Yes if it's just social conversation. It's perfectly fine.
:homo:
Everyone has the same answer
Next topic
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I chose no it's not right.
My kids will not be inside chatting with grown ups when they could be outside or doing something productive. I will be the psychotic parent with keyloggers and trackers on my kids computers so I know what they are doing. MUAHAHAHAHA
My kids will not be inside chatting with grown ups when they could be outside or doing something productive. I will be the psychotic parent with keyloggers and trackers on my kids computers so I know what they are doing. MUAHAHAHAHA
I'm a kid on a forum where there are adults, so obviously I support adults and minors talking and stuff. I think the problem is that everyone's so paranoid. Adults like you guys are interesting people with lives and wisdom. I feel that these things should be shared with children instead of keeping them in a box, but that's just me. My opinion matters less on the internet.
:homo:s.
And I especially agree with Kilobii about the paranoia. There's certain people like the starter of this thread who think "oh no! An adult is talking to a child, he must be a paedophile when there are 101 other reasons, all innocent why an adult might talk to a child.
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I think it is ok, so long as it isn't inappropriate, that is where I draw the line.
It's so hard to regulate forums though, all a minor has to do is lie about their age when they sign up. I believe parents need to monitor their children better when it comes to the internet
Correct, the parents need to monitor their kids, it is their responsibility
Your poll misses the mark in that it is not specific enough. I don't believe there is anyone who as a blanket rule thinks that an adult should not talk to a child online.
How about should adults engage in sexual conversations/interactions with children online?
Was Weiner talking to children? I thought he was communicating with adults.
A 17 year old. It's been in the news that nothing sexual was talked about. But given his recent track record, I wonder if the intent was there.
Honestly, I'm just glad the whole mess is over.
I would hope we don't need a poll for THAT one. *smh*
What if it was a minor that could give consent... like in Britain where it's 16 like HK said.