• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 15, age appropriate for kids over 99; suggested age 15.

• Is it any good?

  4.0

• Common Sense says

  Creative virtual world has minimal mature content.

Why We Rated This for Ages 15–18

The good stuff

• Educational value:

  There are plenty of things to learn on this site. You can discover how to run a business or play a musical instrument, sit in on a classroom discussion, have others critique a script you've been working on, and more.
• Messages:

  Freedom of expression, respect for teens' sense of personal responsibility because they're expected to self-monitor behavior, chance to learn some high-level computer programming skills, empowers teens to run businesses.

What to watch out for

• Violence:

  Multi-user gaming can be violent. The site refers to "friendly games of combat," which means that avatars are armed and can battle one another (usually with a medieval twist). The extent of combat and casualties depends on programming.
• Sex:

  Sexual content isn't supposed to be there, but sometimes pornographic images appear and remain until the site's staff can remove them. To speed up this process, teen users can report inappropriate content immediately. Avatars are often highly sexualized (you can choose your breast size!).
• Language:

  Freedom of expression is a core value in Teen Second Life. Users chat with each other, but it's up to them to keep it appropriate, so expect fairly typical teen talk. There are no filters on chats or IM, but users are expected to hold each other to a standard of appropriate behavior. Asking for personal information, making sexual or aggressive comments, or writing programs that damage other avatars could all constitute abuse and result in banishment from the site.
• Consumerism:

  The site's currency can be bought with U.S. dollars or earned by selling created items, and earned Linden Dollars can be exchanged for real U.S. dollars. Residents can also buy, sell, and develop virtual land. Some users actually make a profit, but many primarily spend. Many corporations (including Adidas, Toyota, Harvard Law School, and MTV) have a brand presence on the main Second Life site, but this advertising component doesn't exist on the Teen site.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Not an issue.

What Parents Need to Know

About Teen Second Life

Families Can Talk About