I've always had more than a passing interest in the Model UN program, and thought it would be a brilliant idea to combine that interest with my interest in virtual worlds by creating a Model UN in Second Life, and specifically in Teen Second Life, to target the 13-17 year olds. I found out that it's a lot easier to come up with an idea than to actually implement it in the strange world of Teen Second Life
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The first hurdle is the background check. You need to set up an avatar to use only on the teen grid, because once it goes there, it can never return to the adult grid. Then, you apply for the background check online. Of course I passed with flying colors, but you have to pay the Lindens $40 and wait for the company they use to qualify you. That can take weeks.
Then, you need to volunteer for or propose a project to one of the adult owners of islands attached to the teen grid and get accepted. I didn't know this at first, but there are a lot of them, maybe hundreds, with more signing up every day, mostly schools and youth organizations. I chose the Eye4You Alliance island, run by Kelly Czarnecki, a teen librarian at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and supported by the Alliance Library in Illinois. Kelly is the indomitable force behind the island, a true innovator.
My teen grid avatar's name is Freda Fraina, don't ask me why. I was told that it was next to impossible to buy anything like clothes or hair so I should bring as much inventory as I could over when they moved the avatar over to the teen grid. Unfortunately, none of my inventory transferred over so I was stuck being the 'girl next door' avatar. Not an auspicious start at all!
Next: My introduction to the teens
