Teenagers don't belong in BDSM

You'd think a title to this blog post would be obvious, but sadly the BDSM community (at least online) is going through an epidemic. Minors (in particular teens and in some cases, pre-teens) are trying to force their way into the community, most of them taking on the title "underage little". Which is problematic for a multitude of reasons.

First, let's get into the law problems. There is the "Miller's Test", which was established during the 1970s. This test gives the courts guildlines for what is deemed as "obscene" material. Since just about everything in the BDSM community fits these guildlines, there is law problems with that. There is also the problem of potentially risque photos being seen as "child pornography". The exact definition of "child pornography" varies from area to area. Minors have gotten in trouble with the law for distributing what the law deemed as "child pornography" (posession, distribution, etc.). This can make someone register as a sex offender (which makes it incredibly difficult to obtain housing, secure employement, among other problems).

Let's be real: there are bad people in the BDSM community (as well as the vanilla/non-BDSM community). There are child molestors in the BDSM community. There are pedophiles in the BDSM community. There are human traffickers in the BDSM community. Advertising yourself as an "underage little" or explicitly stating your age in your profile, you might as well be hanging a neon sign above your head. Yes, the BDSM community tries to bar out these horrible human beings who would take advantage of these children, but it is impossible to catch every single bad person.

Thankfully, there are precautions taken when exploring BDSM in groups in person. Many clubs and gatherings in person require participants to show the group their ID (passport, driver's license, etc.) to show proof of their age. Many of these groups and gatherings require members to be twenty-one (21) years old or older to participate. This way, there is no risk of children being involved.

BDSM goes by age of majority, not age of consent. The age of majority is when someone is officially deemed "an adult" in the eyes of the law. In most places around the world, the minimum age for this is eighteen (18). In the United States, the minimum is eighteen, but some states have it as high as twenty-one. The age of consent is only the age when you can legally say "yes" to sex or sex-like activities (again, depends on the exact wording of the law).

BDSM is not inherently a sexual experience (at least by traditional definitions, if one considers sexuality only some type of penetration and/or activities resulting in an orgasm). However, many adults in general just do not feel comfortable interacting with minors. Many people discover the fact that they have some kind of kink or fetish at a young age, and this is fine. However, it is not safe to openly advertise you are interested in BDSM at such a young age.

Once these minors are of the age of majority, the adults will welcome them with open arms and be happy to educate them. However, when they are a teenager (or god forbid, younger)? It is not safe from any angle for said minor to be involved with BDSM. It is not safe for the adults. It is not safe for the children.