# How do Dopers like America Online? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2002, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-dopers-like-america-online/104222 "2002-04-17T22:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-dopers-like-america-online/104222/21 "2002-04-19T03:35:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dilbert \* > \*\* > > Please explain how you do this… it is probably easier than cancelling 😃 Seriously, how do you get banned from AOL? \*\* Oh it was so easy. It’s important to remember this was a few months after Columbine. My son was in a chat room and was being ignored by someone he considered a friend (though they had never met in real life, didn’t even know real names or locations) The friend wouldn’t speak to him, so my son said, in frustration, “if you don’t answer, I’m gonna kill you” I think there was a Role-play game involved too…and he meant kill the character. The friend reported him to AOL for threatening his life. When I asked AOL how this could seriously be considered a threat since they didn’t even know each other, they said that in light of Columbine, they couldn’t take chances. I asked the Customer Service person whether they had, ever in their life, said “I’m gonna kill you” to someone they were frustrated with, and they told me anytime anyone used the word kill and was reported, they had to take it seriously. They read me the transcript…it was so silly. Anyhow, the irony is that my son can get AOL under his own name when he’s old enough, but I am BANNED FOR LIFE. Unless I marry, change my name, change my phone number… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-dopers-like-america-online/104222.md?page=1)