An idea that I have thought about

[Gromet]

Here's the guidelines from the writers guide for the site for underage story content:

What type of stories don't you use?
Any stories containing:

• Paedophilia, sex, abuse, incest or eroticism involving children under 18.
• Underage-Descriptions or depictions of child sexual abuse or any other exploitative or offensive descriptions or depictions involving a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18 years-

But I've seen some stories containing this?

• There are NO stories containing pedophilia, sexual abuse or eroticism involving children, if do you see any please let me know.
• The legal age for all characters on the Plaza will now be 18 years, stories that use characters younger than this will now be rejected or requested that the author rewrite those scenes.
• I will allow memories of childhood bondage to be used, as long as it's between similar age groups. And as long as it's clearly established that the adult character is remembering their early experiences and it's only a background to the main story.

No stories that are already on the plaza are going to be taken down unless by the authors request, those stories have been in the public view for a while now and I have received no objections from readers.

We have all had experiences as children/teenagers of a sexual nature, it's part of growing up and understanding our sexuality, so to deny that part where it adds background to a story would be wrong, we all want to know how the characters in a story came to the way they live now in the story, what caused them to become bondage junkies, slaves or of a different sexual orientation from the supposed accepted norm of M/F.

The age of consent varies from country to country, some it's 15, 16 or 18, just look at a map and you can see the majority of the westernized world is 16; USA is 16-18 depending where you live; Australia it's 16; Europe 14-15. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent#/media/File:Age_of_Consent_-_Global.svg)
Though you can't get a beer afterwards - you have to be 18-21 LOL

18 is the age of majority - whereby you are deemed to be an adult - though I know people a lot older that still act as kids.

Wiki describes the age of consent as:
The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts, and is thus the minimum age of a person with whom another person is legally permitted to engage in sexual activity. (Wikipedia)

I have allowed stories that have content of younger characters exploring their first sexual/bondage/crossdressing experiences if that adds to the story itself, not one that is the story alone. I have changed schools to colleges in some stories to change the age content, others have been changed from 16 to 17/18.

In fact after looking at the stats for the age of consent I think i'm going to change the rules to allow content for 16 years rather than 18, let me know your thoughts on the matter.

Just so you know the site is based in Sweden & Germany, that's where the servers are, the server company allows adult content only.
"At Servage.net we believe in freedom of speech and do not censor customer content in any way. However, we do not allow illegal content on our servers - no exceptions."

[64Fordman]

Hi Gromet,

An American politician once said, “I can’t tell you what pornography is, but I know it when I see it.” This open-to-interpretation mentality can take wide swings depending on who’s in charge and what special interest group is writing the largest checks.

In my opinion 16 or 18 does not materially impact the story, therefore keeping it 18 does not run afoul of individual country’s laws or their varying application. Google has had its problems with China over censorship for example, and although their issues are over political content it’s not hard to envision a government blocking access for other reasons, especially if elected officials think they can raise money from it or need to create a scandal to cover up another scandal.

Of course you can allow leeway as you see fit, but keeping the official guideline at 18 won’t bring unnecessary or unwanted attention. I personally doubt there are many visitors to Gromet’s Plaza who don’t return because the characters in the stories aren’t young enough, and those few readers wouldn’t find what they were looking for even with the change. Again in my opinion, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

[Lobo De la Sombra]

Personally, I think age of consent should be based on mental and emotional age, not physical.  Then again, if that were the case, I know of people my age who wouldn't be considered adults.  No story should involve sexual activity that includes children, but, as we've seen, the definition of "child" varies from place to place.  If you have a story that feels like it might be crossing a line, or even blurring it, send it to Gromet and ask him.  The Plaza is his creation, his baby, and only he knows for sure what he does and doesn't feel comfortable posting.

[jackierabbit1]

I'm not a fan at all of under eighteen, call me old fashion if you must, but in a risk vs reward way of thinking I fail to see the advantage for the Plaza, Jackie.

[A Pensive Pen]

It sounds like you (Gromet) could justify this legally, and there's certainly an argument to be made that based on cultural differences (mainly the West is being discussed here) that 16 is an acceptable age. I personally would keep the age at 18, since ours is a subject matter with particularly high involvement with the discussion of and reflection upon acceptable sexual behavior, and some boundaries should not only be left intact, but given sufficient berth.

But such an age restriction is still, as we're discussing it here, a little arbitrary. So to further the discussion I think some questions are worth asking:

- Why this, why now?

- Is there a crowd of stories featuring 16-17 year old characters flooding the submission queue?

- What would the new stories, the ones that would have been rejected before but wouldn't under the new rule, bring to the table that can't be accomplished otherwise? The default answer that we can now have more coming-of-age, sexual awakening stories is not especially convincing to me, as I see no specific reason that the character of such a story MUST be 16 or 17.

- What are the risks of such a change? Legal risks, human risks, moral risks, risks to reputation, etc. If we are to discuss what might be gained from this change, we must also discuss what might be lost. If any of the writers here have not received creepy or unsettling comments, publicly or privately, in response to posting their stories online, I have. I personally make sure to think not just how I might respond to my stories, but how others might engage with them as well. Which is why I personally won't ever grapple with the 18 age line, even with a clearly villainous character.

[Arkane]

In my opinion the law (of the country where the server is, but are we sure the admin doesn't risk anything from the authorities in HIS country?) should be respected without taking any chances.

Maybe a majority of people here is uncomfortable with any under 18 material, too.

Still, I think we should be judged by what we actually do and not by our fantasies. So, any person of legal age should read and watch wathever material that is produced without breaking anyone's rights (obviously, porn with underage actors can't be in this cathegory).

Anyway there're places (elsewhere) where this kind of stories are posted.

[TeaSer]

Please let me raise my hand voting for a continuation of the 18 year limit - unless.....

There may be good reasons to include sexual descriptions of minors (and for those I still thing 15 is appropriate) but only for the purpose Gromet mentioned.

Unless of course someone recollects on pure abuse in the childhood - and if so it shall be clear as an abuse! And I don't advocate for such content (in fact it would ruin my reading).

TeaSer