system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: The world would be a better place if we could see everyone's age online.

It is my belief that the simple presence of children in online conversation has a deleterious effect on our civilization. In a very real way we have created a "Lord of the Flies" situation where ignorant children have an undue say in how our nations are run, due to the fact that they age-anonymously participate in the majority of conversations happening online.

We are quite literally trying to have a debate about how we should run our world at the kid's table, but whenever anyone speaks no one knows if it's a kid or an adult.

The negative outcomes from this, I believe, are manifest: any type of important discourse quickly deteriorates because each side of a debate will end up engaging with the other side's kids without anyone realizing that's happened. This bleeds through from the internet into popular society because there is little distinction between the two now. We simply cannot have a serious discussion anywhere because there are kids everywhere.

This is not to cast aspersions on any individual under the age of 18 for taking an interest in their world. In fact, I contend that by making everyone's age visible online it would be better for those children who use the biology of their developing brains to notice things those of us who have stopped growing our brains may miss.

Put simply, the value in knowing if it's a 10 year old commenting versus a 50 year old is greater than what is lost by removing age anonymity.

P.S. I realize this is the most boomer thing I have ever said, thanks.
gpt
It seems like this would be great for child predators. It helps you figure out who to target and groom online. Or for cyberbullying. It sure would help adults bully children for example.

The internet isn’t actually the place for serious policy debate (that’s what real life, or heck, the Federal Register is for), but bypassing that, if you are really concerned about online discourse, why not just age gate areas of the internet? Require access by something like an unique identifier number (for example a drivers license number).