Roblox: Navigating the Digital Playground Safely
Do you know your Minecraft from your Roblox? They are both hugely popular platforms among students in the Junior School but Roblox is often preferred by the younger students. So what is it?
Roblox: Creativity and Social Interaction
Roblox serves as a gaming platform where players have the opportunity to create and share their own games. This is great for creativity however it is important to be aware of potential risks. Since Roblox enables players to build and publish their own games, there exists a possibility that other users may create games with adult or inappropriate themes, potentially exposing your child to unsuitable content.
Additionally, Roblox offers communication features that allow players to interact while playing. While this is great among friends, it also introduces risks such as cyberbullying or unwanted contact. Being mindful of these aspects can help ensure a safer and enjoyable experience for your child on the platform.
6 Tips for success:
- Sign up with the correct age.
Make sure your child creates an account using the correct age. On Roblox, certain safety settings and parental controls are enabled by default for children under 13. However, you should still review the settings to ensure they’ve been set up correctly.
- Build a list of age-appropriate games.
Not all games on Roblox will be appropriate for your child. The platform has a setting that lets parents and carers limit what their child can play by allowing them to build lists of age-appropriate games. You can also switch off in-app spending or set them monthly limits.
- Explore communication settings.
You can manage who your child can speak to by disabling chat completely or limiting it to friends only. You can also switch off their inbox to stop them receiving direct messages.
- Explore the platform together
Ask your child to give you a demonstration of the platform to help you understand how they use it and explore some of the parental controls together. You could even consider setting up your own account and playing the games yourself.
- Have regular conversations about gaming
Continue to have regular conversations with them about what they are doing online. Ask your child open questions like ‘What games have you been playing on Roblox recently?’ or ‘What platforms have you been using to play games?’.
- Check out the NSPCC Online Safety Hub (Keeping children safe online | NSPCC)
Visit our Online Safety Hub for more advice and tips on gaming, talking to your child and much more. If you need more information on setting up parental controls on Roblox, visit their Parent Guide. (https://corporate.roblox.com/parents/)
6 Tips from NSPCC (https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/online-safety-blog/roblox/)