I’m very against Roblox. I know a kid who had a really hard time with online predators and a lot of it stated with Roblox. He’s 19 now. He and I were talking about it recently.
Parents think Roblox is like Minecraft bc of the aesthetics of the game. But, Roblox is not a game with a chat feature, it’s a chat room with some games. That’s a big difference.
They have 380 million users. Around 60% of the user base is under the age of 16. 40% is under the age of 12. That’s 152 million mostly unmonitored kids.
I’m sure Roblox has gotten better moderation during that time, but in our experience predators meet kids on Roblox and get them to exchange Discord or other contact info with them.
Discord is also a problem here, but that’s for another rant in another thread. If you are concerned about your kids and want to discuss it with me, feel free to message me.
TLDR: DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS PLAY ROBLOX unless you are actively monitoring the game.
The younger kid’s chat is disabled. not allowed to friend anyone.
The older kid has chat enabled, but is only allowed to friend people we vet.
Computers are in an open area, chats have been keylogged, we check occasionally.
If friends show up unanounced, or they chat where they’re not supposed to, they lose internet access long enough to regret it
When they get old enough to have friends online, we contact the parents, make sure they’re compatible politically, theologogically, just generally not extremists and their kids have some base level of dicipline and are safety minded.
We also semi-regularly play with them and set rules about the appropriateness of the games in relation to the kids ages. The younger one’s don’t get to play the violent ones.
Bc of what I went through with my ex’s kid, I talk help parents talk to kids about online safety. It’s good that you are so proactive!
The #1 thing I see parents miss in those safety talks is coming up with a plan when something bad happens so kids know what to do.
I spoke to my 14 year old niece last weekend. She wants to use Snapchat but her parents said no. I asked her what she would do if she got a dick pick from a stranger. I asked her what she would do if her boyfriend sent her one. Various situations like that.
She didn’t know what to do, so together, we came up with a plan and identified an adult in her life that she would feel comfortable talking to that isn’t her parents. A third part adult that you and your kid can trust is helpful for kids that are afraid to talk to their parents and get grounded.
For example: if your kid is online after they got grounded and something bad happened, they might be afraid to tell you since they weren’t suppose to be online, but maybe they’ll be okay speaking to an aunt or uncle.
Crazy, but it’s almost like parenting can make the environment safer!
Lemmy likes to portray Roblox the same way the 10pm news portrayed the Internet when I was in my preteens and teen years, like it was the wild west, everyone was a predator, etc. I let my kids hop on. Their friends include me, their mom (who has an account for some reason), each other, and the kids who live across the street. They like to play the platformers, and they invite me sometimes and we play them.
They’ll get older and they’ll go explore the internet the same way I did. I spent my adolescence and teen years eventually in AIM chat rooms, then forums, and thn Skyping random people, and somehow didn’t become a terrorist, didn’t get predated. I also am of the school of thought that you need to learn things on your own, rather than have no exposure to things that could potentially be bad.
Also, I did grow up with AIM and all that nonsense and I did get predators talking to me constantly, especially on AOL and Yahoo. Crazy that we had such different experiences during that age.
Yeah. I wouldn’t let my kids in Roblox personally bc of how the company has tried to ignore the problem . if parents just took time to understand it and talk to their kids about safety, it would solve many problems, not just in Roblox.
A friend’s 8 year old daughter was asking to play Roblox recently and they reached out to me since it’s in my current area of study and advised them against it due to the lack of responsibility that the corporation takes for their users.
I suggested that they introduce her to Vintage Story on a self hosted server instead. That way, they can control who has access and content.
I’m actually surprised at how many parents let their kids play Roblox unmonitored. I mean, why not let them go to the playground unmonitored instead?
I encourage parents to talk to their kids about online safety but specifically come up with a plan. I’ve written this in a few comments, but u really believe it helps.
Ask them what they do if a stranger says something that makes them scared or uncomfortable. Ask them what they would do if it’s someone they know like a friend or a family member. Help them come up with a plan and identify a person who is a safe person to tell. Someone parents and kids trust, often it’s an aunt or uncle.
A parent is fine too, but at a certain age, I find kids seem to be afraid of getting in trouble or maybe just uncomfortable talking to their parents about sex, so having a 3rd party that the kids and parents trust is a good back up option.
I’m very against Roblox. I know a kid who had a really hard time with online predators and a lot of it stated with Roblox. He’s 19 now. He and I were talking about it recently.
Parents think Roblox is like Minecraft bc of the aesthetics of the game. But, Roblox is not a game with a chat feature, it’s a chat room with some games. That’s a big difference.
They have 380 million users. Around 60% of the user base is under the age of 16. 40% is under the age of 12. That’s 152 million mostly unmonitored kids.
I’m sure Roblox has gotten better moderation during that time, but in our experience predators meet kids on Roblox and get them to exchange Discord or other contact info with them.
Discord is also a problem here, but that’s for another rant in another thread. If you are concerned about your kids and want to discuss it with me, feel free to message me.
TLDR: DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS PLAY ROBLOX unless you are actively monitoring the game.
Don’t forget the child labor aspect. https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jan/09/the-trouble-with-roblox-the-video-game-empire-built-on-child-labour
The whole company is gross. I forgot about this.
Quite the opposite.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roblox–Schlep_controversy
And here too! https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Roblox
The younger kid’s chat is disabled. not allowed to friend anyone.
The older kid has chat enabled, but is only allowed to friend people we vet.
Computers are in an open area, chats have been keylogged, we check occasionally.
If friends show up unanounced, or they chat where they’re not supposed to, they lose internet access long enough to regret it
When they get old enough to have friends online, we contact the parents, make sure they’re compatible politically, theologogically, just generally not extremists and their kids have some base level of dicipline and are safety minded.
We also semi-regularly play with them and set rules about the appropriateness of the games in relation to the kids ages. The younger one’s don’t get to play the violent ones.
Bc of what I went through with my ex’s kid, I talk help parents talk to kids about online safety. It’s good that you are so proactive!
The #1 thing I see parents miss in those safety talks is coming up with a plan when something bad happens so kids know what to do.
I spoke to my 14 year old niece last weekend. She wants to use Snapchat but her parents said no. I asked her what she would do if she got a dick pick from a stranger. I asked her what she would do if her boyfriend sent her one. Various situations like that.
She didn’t know what to do, so together, we came up with a plan and identified an adult in her life that she would feel comfortable talking to that isn’t her parents. A third part adult that you and your kid can trust is helpful for kids that are afraid to talk to their parents and get grounded.
For example: if your kid is online after they got grounded and something bad happened, they might be afraid to tell you since they weren’t suppose to be online, but maybe they’ll be okay speaking to an aunt or uncle.
Every situation is different
Crazy, but it’s almost like parenting can make the environment safer!
Lemmy likes to portray Roblox the same way the 10pm news portrayed the Internet when I was in my preteens and teen years, like it was the wild west, everyone was a predator, etc. I let my kids hop on. Their friends include me, their mom (who has an account for some reason), each other, and the kids who live across the street. They like to play the platformers, and they invite me sometimes and we play them.
They’ll get older and they’ll go explore the internet the same way I did. I spent my adolescence and teen years eventually in AIM chat rooms, then forums, and thn Skyping random people, and somehow didn’t become a terrorist, didn’t get predated. I also am of the school of thought that you need to learn things on your own, rather than have no exposure to things that could potentially be bad.
Also, I did grow up with AIM and all that nonsense and I did get predators talking to me constantly, especially on AOL and Yahoo. Crazy that we had such different experiences during that age.
Yeah. I wouldn’t let my kids in Roblox personally bc of how the company has tried to ignore the problem . if parents just took time to understand it and talk to their kids about safety, it would solve many problems, not just in Roblox.
NOooooooooooo!!! We need the gubmint to impose stupid laws to protect teh children!!!
A friend’s 8 year old daughter was asking to play Roblox recently and they reached out to me since it’s in my current area of study and advised them against it due to the lack of responsibility that the corporation takes for their users.
I suggested that they introduce her to Vintage Story on a self hosted server instead. That way, they can control who has access and content.
I’m actually surprised at how many parents let their kids play Roblox unmonitored. I mean, why not let them go to the playground unmonitored instead?
Bro threw them straight into the deep end lmao
I encourage parents to talk to their kids about online safety but specifically come up with a plan. I’ve written this in a few comments, but u really believe it helps.
Ask them what they do if a stranger says something that makes them scared or uncomfortable. Ask them what they would do if it’s someone they know like a friend or a family member. Help them come up with a plan and identify a person who is a safe person to tell. Someone parents and kids trust, often it’s an aunt or uncle.
A parent is fine too, but at a certain age, I find kids seem to be afraid of getting in trouble or maybe just uncomfortable talking to their parents about sex, so having a 3rd party that the kids and parents trust is a good back up option.
That would actually be the safer option imo.
And far better for their physical and mental health.
Do you have any idea how many bitch about you NOT letting them go to the playground unmonitired