It sucks when you’re suffering from Baby-Face Syndrome. You always need to show your ID when buying booze, you have trouble getting into R-rated movies, and your boss might ask you to go on dates with child predators. Clarissa found out about that last part after she joined R.AGE, the youth desk for The Star – Malaysia’s largest English newspaper.
In 2016, the paper conducted an investigation where they had their reporters pretend to be underage girls on popular chat apps and see how many adults would ask them out. Short answer: way too many, and Clarissa—being one of the few people in the office who could pass for 15—was eventually chosen to go and meet these men in cafes etc and secretly record all the creepy stuff they said to her. This is what she’s learned along the way: Continue reading
