Gaming is one of the most popular past-times in the world. Millions of children enjoy spending their time smashing blocks, solving tricky puzzles, fighting off enemies with swords, and mining for rare items, all from the comfort of their bedroom or living room.
In many cases, parents will be familiar with the type of content these games contain, and so can select and choose what they allow their child to play when they switch on their console, tablet, or laptop.
However, at times, certain games can be tricky to judge based on their appearance and the information available online.
One such game, Roblox, is a free online gaming platform that is designed to encourage users to play games created within the community (as well as helping children to learn to build their own games).
Despite the premise of Roblox sounding straightforward, it is not uncommon for parents to find themselves confused as to what their children are doing on the platform, and whether they are at any risk from other users.
Furthermore, like any popular game, rumors and horror stories can quickly bog down and frighten parents who are uncertain regarding a game’s overall safety.
Below we will take a look at whether Roblox is as safe as it claims to be plus explain what measures you should take to keep your child safe should you allow them to join the popular platform.
With this information in hand, you will be better equipped to decide whether it is an appropriate game for your children to play.
What is Roblox?
Roblox is a free platform that provides users with the choice to build video games and other similar projects. It is available on a wide variety of devices, such as laptops, tablets, computers, consoles, and even popular virtual reality headsets.
Inside the game, children can quickly learn how to build levels using Roblox Studio, a clever building tool that lets them manipulate objects and terrain, place items, and enter easy or complex scripts (depending on how familiar they are with coding).
From here, they can then publish and share their creations with other users in the community if they wish to do so. Roblox can teach kids some invaluable skills.
Kids have access to a wealth of user-generated games, many of which are extremely popular and are played daily by thousands and sometimes millions of players.
In general, many of these games are free, however, Roblux does have a currency system (called Robux) and is not shy about allowing entrepreneurial users to charge for the right to play their creations.
Similarly, children can purchase Robux to spend on various colorful outfits and equipment in-game. As a result of this, you should ensure that you are tracking and password-protecting any credit cards you have entered into the system.
What parental controls does Roblox have?
Thankfully, Roblox has several features that allow parents to customize and limit the content children are seeing and interacting with on the platform.
Firstly, parents need to set a four-digit PIN that prevents anyone (apart from themselves) from making changes to the settings in their child’s account – this feature protects passwords, email addresses, and privacy settings.
This will prevent anyone from getting access to sensitive information and stop children from changing important settings that are intended to keep them safe.
Alongside setting a PIN, account restrictions can also be enabled at any time. This feature essentially locks contacts settings preventing other users from sending messages and chatting in-game with any children currently using the account.
This feature can prove extremely useful for adults who want an extra layer of safety for their kids. However, if you find this option to be a bit extreme, you can always block users manually by clicking on their profile.
Similarly, any form of inappropriate content that slips through the net can easily be reported and blocked with the click of a button.
In most cases, this rarely happens, as Roblox does a good job of filtering out such content.
If you still find yourself slightly concerned about Roblox and are interested in finding out more about the full extent of the platform’s parental controls, then ensure that you head on over to their website for further guidance and details.
How to monitor your child’s interactions on Roblox?
According to statistics published online, Roblox has seen an incredible surge in popularity since the pandemic started, with millions of new users opening accounts and logging into the platform.
As a result, this has naturally caused alarm bells to ring for many parents. After all, with such a drastic increase in users, more predators are looking to take advantage of children.
Thankfully, it is pretty straightforward to monitor account activity on Roblox. For example, you can easily click on the chat & party feature found in apps to see a list of the account’s individual chat histories.
You can also browse your child’s private message history, friends and followers, their virtual item purchases, trade history, creations, and recently played games.
As it is primarily an online game, Roblox allows users to communicate with each other in various ways, including voice chat (but only after friend requests have been accepted).
If you wish to prevent this entirely then you can do so by going into the settings and selecting restrict interactions. Be mindful though as this still allows users to send friend requests and as such, you will need to keep an eye on this activity.
Is Roblox safe for kids?
Overall, Roblox is a pretty safe platform for kids. The vast majority of users never experience problematic interactions with other users and the content is screened and catered to fit your child’s interests depending on their age.
Alongside this, Roblox can greatly benefit your children in the long run by teaching them the basics of programming.
As with any online game, you should be aware that there are some risks involved and make a habit of regularly checking and monitoring the interactions or experiences your child is having every week.
To conclude, should you let your kid play Roblox?
Well, yes.
Fundamentally as long as they are playing in a safe environment and it’s part of a balanced day, there should be no issues.
You might also want to consider harnessing this passion and letting them take part in one of the FunTech Roblox game designer courses.
With all the FunTech courses we also have online safety modules.
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