Child protection laws, huh? What kind of games are you guys playing, anyhow?
I cut my role-playing teeth on tactical board games such as Metagaming's Melee and Wizard, in which the loser "died" in supposedly grisly ways when his sword-weilding character ran out of hit points. Traveller combat could be pretty lethal as well. All those nasty laser rifle holes. Champions (the 3rd edition box said it was for ages 8 and up) combat was less fatal but quite violent, with fists and energy blasts flying. And Toon, well, if you've seen any of the old Warner Brothers or MGM shorts, you know how brutal those can be. Yet I played and enjoyed all these games with my younger siblings with few qualms from my parents, who would have freaked if we'd been playing a fantasy game that included pretend magic.
Of course any such "recruiting" group would require parent knowledge, approval, and possibly supervision. That'd be true whether the kids were 8 or 16. At local game shops, parents routinely come with their children to watch them play whatever it is, Pokemon or Hero Clix or whatever. In a role-playing situation, you'd have an age appropriate storyline and theme. All my games are G- or PG-rated anyway, regardless of age group.