Most parents are okay with their kids downloading apps on their iPads and Android devices. I mean, isn’t that the purpose of having a personal device like that? Most parents would also assume that an app that has come out that’s available to kids under 13 would be deemed safe. Well, a new app called Roblox may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
What is Roblox?
It’s not all that complicated. It’s simply a game that around 44 million people play. You can create adventures, play games, and even roleplay. The player chooses an avatar, they can build pieces of real estate, and so on. Overtime, the player can earn Robux to buy accessories to help them build even cooler things.
What’s the issue?
The issue is that while Roblox says the safety of its players is number one it doesn’t seem this way. There have been several issues where questionable adults/people have asked minors to do sexually explicit actions in the chat rooms. It doesn’t even matter if you have the chat feature off – people can have their characters do inappropriate things to your child’s character or have sexually explicit words above their character. You can read this story where the dad went undercover to see what was really happening when his kids played the game. I would be horrified to know that things like this were being said to my kids without me knowing.
What should you tell your kids?
Hayden asked me to download Roblox a few weeks ago. He’s seen some of his favorite YouTube channels playing the game in addition to kids at school playing it. Even when you walk into our local ToysR Us, there’s an endcap with a ton of Roblox toys. But sadly, we live in a day and age where we need start talking to our kids about this early. Pedophiles will stop at nothing to reach kids and this includes getting into their favorite games. You need tell your kids the app is just not safe for them to play. They may be sad, but later they will know you were acting in their best interest.
My opinion
In my opinion, you can never be too safe. Even though the makers of Roblox say they have precautions in place to protect kids, it doesn’t mean it’s enough. Kids don’t understand what pedophiles are trying to do in a video game, most of them just think it’s their friends. Talk to your kids about Internet safety. Teach them to tell you when something seems weird. Having an open line of communication will help you so much with your kids.
If you have this app, I would delete it. Until Roblox can prove to parents the kids are protected, it won’t be downloaded in our house. I would also encourage you to keep on checking out the apps your kids are using.
Looking for alternative games to play? I suggest Minecraft or LEGO Worlds! Do you have any others you can suggest?
I noticed some iffy stuff going on and took the opportunity to talk to my sons about it. But this has made me realize I need to take action and delete it completely. Talking about it isn’t enough. Thank you!
I have never heard of this app before but thank you for passing this information on. There are plenty of other safe apps they can use. safety is very important.
The game is falsely have been accused of those things, nothing of this things I have experienced. And if it happened to you. You can block that player and in the settings you can set who can message you and who follows you to the game and if you block that person he cannot message you at all and you can report that particular player so roblox owners can be notified and ban him. And it’s a really fun game and shouldn’t be scared of at all. I have played roblox for 2 years and if someone did anything I was happy with I can just block him.
And how do you get raped in an online game. That’s not possible like there is no genitals at all and how do kids know what’s raping and sex and all
I highly disagree with this post.
I play ROBLOX my self and I am eleven years old. I have been a member for about 6 years now and I have never experienced anything like this at all. I can see the concern if this happens but you can always go restrict things in the settings to help your child have a better experience on Roblox.
There are so many safety features you can put on from your childs account.
Blocking the user can block the user sending messages to the child, block the user from going into the same server, block the user from even talking to the user and much more.
Privacy settings. These are in the childs settings where you can do simaler things from blocking, but restrict if only everyone, followers and friends, friends or no one can message, party, invite to private servers and much more.
Reporting the player. On ROBLOX pedophiles are highly restricted and are trying to be contained everday and stopped. Reporting pedophiles on ROBLOX is a more simple thing to do, but does not always solve the case.
Review the games your child is playing. Pedophiles are typicly found in generic games like “Hilton Hotel” or “Beach House Role play” or “Boys Vs Girls!”.
I understand the concern for your childs saftey and I respect your decision, but ROBLOX is considered the number one safe game considered by COPPA.
agree with ya
Wow! That’s so sad that people will do corrupt things to innocent children via a game.
You can find a way to do this through anything. It is definitely sad that people do this, though. (As I attempt to say below, the best you can do as a parent is make sure your kids understand right and wrong/morality that way they don’t go off with the information and misunderstand it or anything like that).
Roblox is simply an example out of a bunch of different ways bad messages can get to your kid. Eliminating an app isn’t going to solve any problems. Unfortunately, no matter what, your kid is going to be introduced to those things in some way, that’s an uncontrollable thing that the world will ensure. I was told things about sexuality by OTHER KIDS when I was in elementary school. And even if all kids somehow were kept from seeing these things, you would practically have to eliminate all access to the outside world. Commercials, social interaction, basically anything that involves them coming out from under a rock. The world may be a sad place, but that doesn’t mean you should keep your kid out of it. Honestly, teaching them about things and right and wrong and such is the best thing you can do. It isn’t about avoiding a problem, the problem will always be there. The real thing is how you handle that problem, because it will come. The main concern of a parent is raising their child, not keeping them ignorant to all the world’s problems, that won’t solve anything. It would only make it worse. So in the end, it boils down to this: When your child is exposed (And they inevitably will be), it’s up to you to make sure they understand the morality of it all. Knowing never harmed anything, what you do with knowledge is what can be bad.
-I am actually a user, and I see the things people do and (used to) talk about. The filters are highly exaggerated. There are a ridiculous amount of words you can’t say, including “Love.” Now I’m thinking it’s probably because of things like this. That word “Love” can be taken out of context, and it makes something good into something bad, and kids then wonder “Why can’t I say that?” Then ironically they learn the inappropriate topic because of the filter anyways, which leads back to me saying that it’s up to the kid and parent to talk about right and wrong and make sure the kid’s head is in the right place. You’ll be exposed no matter what because of all the different media and information that’s tossed out there.
Roblox is not new. It has been around for several years. It is a huge social gaming platform that allows kids to design and build. One of my kids is a huge fan. I encourage him to play because it fosters creativity and he has learned some basics in computer programming. I have noticed some areas of concern, including bullying. But rather than punish my child for other’ behavior, we sat down and had a talk. I told him my concerns with the game and we discussed scenarios and what he should do in those instances.
I often see what he is up to in his games–mostly because he is always coming to get me to show me what he has been creating. As someone already mentioned, there are several security features in place and the chat filters are so strict as to be frustrating. I’m not sure how anyone could possibly be sexually explicit with the strict chat filters in place. Even several mundane words are filtered, making chat difficult. There is also a system to report abuse.
This is really terrible! Predators will do anything to get to kids. I will make sure not to ever download this game. I have not heard of this one yet. Thanks for helping me and letting me know about this app!
I let Jack play Roblox (he’s 12), but we have had a lot of conversations about online safety and behavior.
In my experience (which definitely isn’t for everyone, just me) is that I’ve come to a realization with a 16 year old that I can’t shield them from everything. There is way too much information available online, but blocking it all only makes them more curious. And when they’re curious, they’ll find a way to get the info they want.
Since jack is younger, I’m comfortable blocking his internet for now and having long talks about the games he plays. I’ll pop in to the room he’s playing in, as well, to watch what he’s doing or see the conversations that are being had.
It’s so tough, this whole internet thing. We are making the rules as we go, and changing them as we go, because we have no experience with this.
Good luck, mama. You’re making the right decisions for your family. ?
I’ve heard a lot of people say that if you see inappropriate behavior or someone saying inappropriate things you can flag them. The problem with that is by that time the child has already been exposed to those inappropriate behaviors or remarks. I understand that kids will be exposed to that stuff eventually, but simply because they’ll be exposed eventually doesn’t mean *I* need to allow my 9 and 6 year olds to be exposed NOW. When my son asked to download this game the other day, we just explained that there are people on that game who choose to do and say inappropriate things and that he has TONS of other equally fun activities he can engage in.
Great article, Melissa.
Yeah. They will be exposed eventually… You seem to have a good sense of it though. “You can’t do this until you’re this old and I’ll risk it because you’re old enough to handle it by now.” I think I’ll adopt that from you. Thank you for helping me with a future struggle.
In all of my almost 6 years of playing “Roblox” I have never met a sexual predator. The people on Roblox are a mixed bunch and of course have problems, mainly because the community is made of maturing adolescents, and I myself have had to learn how to deal with these problems, but Roblox is a safe place. Restricting sites (that aren’t explicitly for adults) isn’t good. This destroys a sense of trust, and I myself have been restricted access for one year, and it complicated a lot of things. Since then the trust between my parents and I has never been the same. Children need to be given care but they also need to be independent. This independence is something children crave and acting like they’re a toddler isn’t good. Do research about your topics please and I wouldn’t stray from your regular “Mommy blogs” as your writing shows you don’t do much other than that.
They do filter out things so I don’t know the problem I love Roblox and I’ve been playing fir over a year 😃
i am rose i play roblox and i have played for 16 years and i have not seen a thing you can make alot of freinds and trust me their not fake their real and half of the ppl there are reallly nice
I agree with you roblox is awesome
Roblox is a great game I love playing it you can use your imagination 🙂
I’ve spent so much money on this game it hasn’t had anything bad they mostly tag it out and it’s fun