hardblackrock Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 I don't know if it's been posted before, but it is quite a controversial topic that I've discussed on some other boards I've previously been on. Basically, what is your take on neopet users lying about their age so they can have access to more features? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane for Wax Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 I think it's a bit of a gamble. On my old account I did though. But I always did. lol but I think now it's a really big gamble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler. Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 I thought about doing it. But didn't. even though I used to regret it. I'm fine now. I know someone who did. Well, it's not like it's punishable by law. If someone gets away with it fine be it by me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotgeorge Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 its very easy to argue -- as a child -- that your parents ordered you to fake your age to protect your identity online. Since much of neopets is structured to protect their users' identities, it's very difficult for TNT to argue and punish that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardblackrock Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 Since much of neopets is structured to protect their users' identities, it's very difficult for TNT to argue and punish that. That is an invalid argument, since Neopets does not give out birthdays. If they did, then asking a user who has not logged on in a while for his or her birthday would be pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotgeorge Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Tell that to parents! haha. To this day I still don't put down my social security number on membership forms and stuff. Even though they say they don't give it out, you can never guarantee the security of that information 100%. The issue becomes more sensitive when it comes to parents protecting their kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane for Wax Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 It's still a weak argument considering the law of averages and such like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midookami Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I think you should never give out your real birth date and year on-line (or any personal information). It just doesn't seem safe. I think it's much better for children to have a birthday that's for on-line only. If the kid wants to say they're older than they are, why not? It's not like neopets is an inappropriate site... :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane for Wax Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 We have COPPA for a reason. Some sites can get in trouble if they allow kids to lie about their age with zero consequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viridian Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I did... I was 12 and couldnt get access to everything until I was 13... Therefore my account iriskuppen is 1 year older than I actually am. However, if anyone asks my age they'll get my actual age. I don't care about neopets' age rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quit Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I don't really care if they lie about their age, I always did, and still do for some sites in case they have it set for 21 instead of 18. And I hate that COPPA stuff, if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have had to lie a lot of the time. I actually think pre-teens/teens should lie about their age online, it's ridiculous to adhere to someone else's belief about what content is appropriate for you based on your age. Everyone's life circumstances are different. I think you should never give out your real birth date and year on-line (or any personal information). It just doesn't seem safe. People worry way too much about that now. It's just because of irrational fear and arrogance. Especially parents, they're way too overprotective and babying. Like they think if their kid even just logs onto the internet all of a sudden everyone will be after them. I never had parental controls or someone looking over my shoulder all the time, and I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with giving your birth date out online (or even your name), no one can find you or steal your identity with that alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masaryk Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Just to look at this from another perspective... There are some adults who would like to avoid contact with children and teens, not because they don't like children, but because even so much as an accusation of inappropriate contact with minors could completely ruin their professional reputation. There are some professions, such as teaching or health care, that are very strict about behaviour outside of work, and they will revoke the memberships of people convicted of crimes against minors. Sometimes, people have their careers and marriages destroyed by mere accusations. Even when proven innocent, society still remembers them as someone who was accused of being a bad person. I, personally, belong to two such professions. I'm both a Registered Massage Therapist and a substitute teacher. I also work as a research assistant in a high-security government building. Someday, it is my dream to become a doctor. Accusations concerning inappropriate communication with minors could take all of that away from me. As a result, I am very wary of all contact with minors. That doesn't mean that I avoid all contact with children outside of work, but I always have to be careful. On the internet, I don't know who I'm talking to. I have to choose between blindly trusting people or having no communication with strangers whatsoever. Often, I avoid communications, just because it's easier. I don't participate in social networking sites, and I avoid most forums. I'm even afraid that posting this information about myself will get used against me someday. But, if I avoided all interactions, I'd never get to meet new people. There are lots of interesting people in the world, and I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to talk to some of them. I don't think that hiding under a rock is the right answer. TDN is the only forum I post in where I am likely to have contact with minors. The TDN community is so wonderful that I don't want to avoid being an active member here, but I still feel like I have to be cautious about who I talk to, where, and why. I try to avoid direct communication with people under 16 (yes, I do check ages on peoples' profiles). It's too easy for someone to take something the wrong way. I don't want to be accused of something inappropriate because of a misunderstanding. This is meant to be a fun place where people can talk about and help each other out with a common hobby. I think, given the circumstances, that it is understandable that I feel better about people being honest about their ages. It really helps me to make choices that are safer for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrtbrk Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 The rules are there for a reason: safety. Follow it. There's a user here who posted about being scammed. TNT even lowered their age back to what it was supposed to be - to protect them. If he had put the correct age in, he wouldn't have been scammed and he'd be rolling in his neopoints and items. Of course, it's not just scammers, they're protecting you from but internet predators and all of that. Don't lie about your age. It doesn't make you more mature. its very easy to argue -- as a child -- that your parents ordered you to fake your age to protect your identity online. Since much of neopets is structured to protect their users' identities, it's very difficult for TNT to argue and punish that. That argument would never ever in a million years work on Neopets. As a parent, you should be monitoring what your child should be a) viewing online b ) signing up for. If you read through the TOS, you'd see that it benefits your child to give their correct age rather than lie about it. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Well, alot of underage users can't get access to some pages that are deemed too "mature" for them to handle. I thought that this doesn't work (esp since many children are already expose to gambling; and it doesn't mean they'd become horrible gamblers when they grow up and lose all their money), but I suppose it is "right" from an adult's point of view. Ah well, I might be seeing this from the point of view I had when I was 10 and I was playing neo. I actually had to fax something to TNT with a parent's signature just so that I could access the forums! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica :) Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I lied about my age when first joining, but I was also 9 years old.. and my mom was too busy to send in the forms! So my old accounts were always listed with random birthdays.. I don't really see an issue with it, I have always tended to stay away from the neoboards, I just didn't like the idea that I couldn't use them if I wanted to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane for Wax Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 I'm almost 21 years old. I am not a babysitter, I do not want to have to babysit other peoples' children. I try not to use innuendos or anything like that in my speech, but it happens. I am NOT going to get in trouble and be called something I'm not because a child lied about their age to me or to the site overall. Yes, I have friends who are 13 but I curb my conversation to fit their age. I always try to fit my posting style so that people can understand me. It is no one's responsibility but the parent's to be sure their kid is safe. But y'know what, parents have decided to unload that responsibility so now we DO have COPPA. The age restriction is there for a reason. You can wait a couple of years or so to see the rest of the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticheavens Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 I do not really see a problem with lying about ages on Neopets actually. Sure there are some instances during which you maybe expose to things which are slightly less appropriate, but with all the filters and rules on the neoboards, I don't find it to be much of an issue even for younger kids. I was around 10 when I first started playing Neopets and well, to get access to other features I did lie about my age. I didn't really bump into too shady a user or come across topics or conversations in which the contents are too 'mature' or whatnot. Of course, I was soon bored of the Neoboards but I did enjoy neomailing my real life friends though. It was more of wanting to 'grow up' sooner and get full access to the site than anything else (not to mention my parents were not too keen on faxing TNT just to allow me to access forums...) As long as parents monitor what their children surf online, I'm sure it wouldn't be much of an issue even with them lying about their ages if the websites they are getting access to are appropriate for their age. I'm convinced that Neopets is one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsewini Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 When I made my first neopets account, I was 8 and put in my real age. It was a year or two later when I made a new one (can't remember why) and I put in that I was 15... On my newest one, I put in my real age and I only just got access legitimately to the boards...:D I think if you can get away with it then it doesn't affect other players so it doesn't matter. :\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphy the Swamp Witch Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I never did this myself, but I can sort of understand anyone who does it. Access to the neoboards isn't the only thing that under-thirteens are restricted from. You can't set an active avatar, you can't send neogreetings, you can't send bug reports, you can't customise your userlookup/shop/petpage/petlookup, you can't send items, you can't have neofriends, you can't send neomails, you can't make a NeoAdventure, and you don't have an email address attached to your account so if you're scammed/CGed/whatever you have about zilch chance of getting the account back...the list goes on and on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whethalar Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I personally don't see why under-thirteens can't do so many things. I was nine or eight when I made my first neopets account and I put my real age and I didn't like it D: Then some years later, I made one for my sister when she was the same age as me and they had this new neopets junior thing, restricting access to a lot of flash games. and many more features. So it sucks. And I would put a fake age if I had to make an account again at eight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardblackrock Posted November 27, 2009 Author Share Posted November 27, 2009 Many of the kids don't understand that it's for their own protection. Everyone wonders why people become victims of sexual predators. Like that one myspace scandal a couple years ago. If the idiot teenage girls had put their real age, they would never have gone in contact with the predator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassie Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 I don't see a problem with it, moslty because I did it when I was younger. I understand that it is in the best interest of the child to be safe, and by using their correct age. But I really think that it is the parents' responsibility to ensure that their child is safe. Neopets tries their hardest, but with all the warnings and such on there, how can a parent argue that it is Neopets' fault if anything were to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardblackrock Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 Neopets tries their hardest, but with all the warnings and such on there, how can a parent argue that it is Neopets' fault if anything were to happen? How about successful law suits? I'm sure Neopets wouldn't want [another] one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassie Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Lawsuits are just another way of someone trying to make the most money out of a situation. But really, there isn't any way for Neopets to prove or disprove that the age on the account is the real deal. So why blame them? that is why I find the law suits silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1998zachary1998 Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 How about successful law suits?I'm sure Neopets wouldn't want [another] one of those. Neopets had a lawsuit against them what happened? I'm almost 21 years old. I am not a babysitter, I do not want to have to babysit other peoples' children. I try not to use innuendos or anything like that in my speech, but it happens. Innuendos, I have seen that word before but I don't know what it means? What does it mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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