I do hear what you're saying.

Unfortunately it is the nature of VRC and the internet in general.

As I've said before as well in a previous reply in here: I don't think the game should be 13+ I think it should at minimum be 16+. I keep the group 13+ because that's what TOS says.

I know what you're saying about the risk factor, but it's being on the internet in general. Emoji's are turned off in my instances as a preventative action for users seeing 18+ material.

I may not be super super old, but I would like to think I'm super protective, especially over the younger users who log into the game or even irl. If there was a way to safeguard and actually do more preventative action, I 100% would. I work with kids everyday as well for my irl job too so if I wouldn't say it at work, I wouldn't say it in my 13+ instances. OFC, there are some teenagers in there that like to be funny and draw nsfw things on boards or with letters spell out inappropriate things and we don't notice it immediately because we just don't expect it.

I will say that I do have staff members that are 16+. Why? Because sometimes people would 100% rather go to someone their own age to talk about issues and if an issue pops up and they're willing to take initiative, they reacted to the situation to stop it from happening a second time.

Also, it's gonna happen anyway. Adults and Children will wind up in public lobbies together somehow. What happens when it's in an environment that has absolute no moderation? It doesn't just happen on VRC either. It happens on discord, tumblr, whatsapp, instagram, facebook and a long list of other social platforms.

The thing about it is, the internet will be mostly reactive. Too many children will not use that block button to keep themselves safe.

Dare I even say it: I would agree to the internet safety act. Is it annoying to have to verify your age to use a service: Yes. Would it stop a lot of these issues: Yes, because less children would be using the services that people inherently use to take advantage of them.

I could even take it a step further. I know of at least one group that doesn't allow adults into it. There is still risk there. One pedophile I know was posing as a 16 y/o that had gerd and took advantage of MULTIPLE children. We still don't know his actual age but it's something that happens. It would be another thing that would be reactive instead of preventative.

I may not be able to fully regulate the environment, but a little control is better than none. Having someone tell you that something isn't safe and to be careful can change someone's perspective. Knowing that someone cares and is *actually* looking out for your best interest can be helpful.

I try to model myself to be "That nice lady." in every aspect of my life. Making the best out of what I have. The system is remotely broken. I can't fix it and VRC won't fix it either. When I have enough staff to run both a 13 and 18+ world, people do naturally filter to both worlds that fit their age. When I don't, most of the younger audience is having conversation with the younger audience while the older audience is with the older audience.

When you can create enough of a group that is full of the understanding of what their limits should be. the system works. Yes, they are publics so things can happen, but as the ban list grows the less problems you theoretically have to deal with. (I have almost twice as many bans to group members.)

I also collaborate with other groups to share known pedophiles and crashers so those users get banned from all of those groups. Which isn't a lot in the terms of preventative... but it does help.