Roblox, an online gaming platform which has 88.9 million users logging on daily, is finally making major updates in order to keep children safe.
I am a huge advocate for child welfare, especially when it comes to their internet use — so I believe that these new parental controls are not only vital, but overdue.
“Safety is and always has been foundational to everything we do at Roblox,” they stated on their website. “We’ve spent nearly two decades building strong safety systems, but we are always evolving our systems as new technology becomes available.”
While this is not entirely true — and we will get into that shortly — I have high hopes for these new updates, which include parents being able to access controls, set spending limits, screen time limits and monitor activity without having to use the actual child’s device or account. They can also see how much time their child is spending on the game and their friend list.
Even further, “anyone younger than 13 will by default no longer be able to send direct messages,” as reported by NBC News. This is crucial in protecting the children on the app, especially after it was found that a 13-year-old boy was groomed on the site back in April, which is why I believe these changes are overdue.
While the messages spread across multiple platforms, they began on Discord and Roblox, which should never have been possible. If parents will truly be able to monitor their child’s activity, friends list and messages, something like this should not happen again.
But that is where another issue lies — how involved these parents will choose to be. It is a sad and unfortunate fact that in today’s society, parents are not nearly as disciplinary or engaged in their child’s interests and activities as they used to be; and whether you blame that on the new “gentle parenting” fad or selfishness, I have seen it firsthand countless times.
NBC further noted that the game “will also launch new content labels designed to make it easier to decide what is age-appropriate,” which will include four categories labeled “minimal,” “mild,” “moderate” and “restricted.” This is a fantastic idea, as previously, children were able to access any type of content without raising flags.
I myself tried the game out for this article, and one of the first games that popped up had a photo of Art the Clown from the “Terrifier” series — a character that no child should be looking up. In 2022, Kim Kardashian’s son saw the meme of her crying on the site, and upon looking further, they found that it advertised to show her sex tape.
“Had my son been a little bit older and been able to read, I would have been mortified,” she said. “I died inside.”
These horror stories just prove that Roblox needed these updates, but I hope that parents will actually utilize them instead of just shoving an iPad in front of their kids and allowing them to do whatever they want.
I expect other sites and platforms to follow as well, because as the internet grows, children without restrictions are continuously exposed to harmful content and people. We have to protect them.
ajones11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @Nullxiety, X
