Something that has bugged me lately is the assumption that contact between children and adults is implicitly a dangerous breeding ground for grooming and needs to be surveiled and controlled. As someone who was once a kid, this does not track with my experiences at all.

My childhood was mainly enriched by having contact with adults, whether they were teachers, sports coaches, members of my church choir, or guild mates in World of Warcraft.

(1/?)

I have also had school teachers who, in hindsight, were creepy. One gym teacher would go into the girls' changing room on obviously made up little "errands". So, to protect kids, we need to abolish gym class, right?
Never mind that I had another gym teacher who changed my life for the better. His gentle approach, acceptance, humor and vulnerability got me from a place where I cut gym class most of the time, to getting a B as my final grade. An achievement for an ADHDer with dyspraxia!

(2/?)

Or take the priest who I got to know during my confirmation, who seemed happy to take the time to answer all of my teenage theological questions. He spoke to me as if I were an adult, and made me feel seen, and I still reap the benefits from his wisdom 20 years on.
Or the church choir leader, who was a beam of sunlight wherever he went.

I know a lot of children have awful experiences in church, so to protect children we should shut them all down, right?

(3/?)

Or let's look at World of Warcraft, that was where I found "my tribe" as a teen. Where I got to explore my true self behind an orc avatar, and no one had to think about whether my personality fit their prejudices about people who look like me. Where parents would sometimes join their children's guilds and hang out as poorly geared peaceful protectors.
And as an adult, I've enjoyed having under 18's in my guilds. Believe it or not, but they can be as fun as adults to hang out with!

(4/?)

All this to say that I feel like contact with adults enriched my childhood and teens. I don't want to see innocent contacts outlawed - I want to see actual perpetrators behind bars whether they abuse children irl or online!
I want children to be taught how to protect themselves from grooming, and I want account-wide and IP-wide "block" features. I don't want ID verification requirements to chat play games, any more than I want face scans to go for a swim in a lake or to sing in a choir.

(5/5)