I know how to take care of myself

Skypeland, similar to many other places on the internet, can be accessed by underage children. In a room about learning English, one young man announced proudly that he was 14 years old. At this point, conversation pretty much ground to a halt. I asked if his parents knew he was on the internet and in Skypeland in particular. He indicated that they did not, but that he knew how to take care of himself since he was Jewish. In particular, he said he was a Lubavitcher, a variety of Hasidic Jew, so he was even more able to take care of himself than other kids. This sounded particularly doubtful to me, but I did not ask more about this.

His parents were nonreligious, but he had "decided" to not only be religious, but to become one of the Hasidim. I asked if it was true that his sect did not support Israel. He said that it was not true that they opposed Israel, only that they were against Israel. Ah...I see... This kid has a great future as a politician I think.

At any rate, even though he tried valiantly get people to continue to talk, people's appetite for discussion had pretty much evaporated. It is a bit difficult to have a free-wheeling discussion about politics, or even an intellectual discussion about language and linguistics with children in the room. And so the room died. And I left...