Has your child expressed an interest in Roblox? Have you been debating on letting them but aren’t sure about the age restrictions? Perhaps you don’t even know what Roblox is.
Maybe you aren’t sure if it is suitable for your child. Let’s discuss if Roblox is suitable for younger children, what it is, and why it is or why it is not ok for your child.
Is Roblox Safe for Kids?
Roblox is a gaming platform online. You can create and share your own games as well as play games made by others.
It is free to use, and there are many options for different types of games that you can play on it. It offers paid games and game creation by purchasing the Roblox currency known as Robux.
Robux can get things like special avatar outfits and animations, unique game abilities, weapons, and more.
You can purchase Robux in the game, or you can get a premium membership, you can trade for it and also charge other Roblox users with Robux to play games that you have created. You can also sell Robux to the company for real money.
What is the Age Limit for Roblox?
Technically speaking, Roblox does not actually specify an age limit for children. In it, kids can join groups and even interact and chat with others. Common Sense Media rates it at an age-appropriate level for children 13 years and older.
The settings for Roblox become stricter and more filtered for children under the age of 13, however, if there is not a parent pin then this is a setting that they can change. The chat on Roblox filters inappropriate language, and again, for children under 13, this filtering is more heavily utilized. It also has human monitors that keep an eye on inappropriate content.
Practicing Online Safety
No system is perfect, and there are also ODers, online daters, who are on there just to find romantic partners. This does not mean that they are preying on children, and although Roblox rules prohibit chat that is sexual, it doesn’t mean that it does not still happen and could possibly leak into other parts of the platform.
You should be very aware of online safety for children and how to spot things such as “grooming” behavior which is utilized by predators to get people to trust them. Learn how to block and report users, and anything else to help your child be safe online.
This is true of any online platform, the issue with Roblox is that it is an easily targeted platform. People have found ways to bypass the filters on the chats. Predators on Roblox are there due to the easily accessible chat. In order to chat on this platform, all you have to do is sign up.
A way to help your child play on here more safely is to disable the chat entirely with the most restricted contact settings. You can also limit chat to only include their friends. You can help your child be safer by ensuring that they know to not accept private messages from unknown people and coaching them on not chatting with people they do not know.
Ensure that your child knows not to give out their personal information such as their address, phone number, or anything like that. Also, a red flag to make your child and you aware of is to make sure that conversations with other people are not ever moved to another platform as this is typical with predators.
Should I Allow My Child to Play Roblox if They Are Younger Than 13?
This is a personal choice for you to make. Scary things can happen online, but there are always ways to ensure your child’s safety. You can place parental restrictions on the platform and make it so that no one can contact them.
You can ensure that any personal information on file is protected from other users on Roblox. If you would like to have additional control over the security of your child’s Roblox account you should go to the security section of the account settings and set a PIN as well as other account restrictions.
You are also able to log in to your child’s account and see just about everything that they have done on there like their chats, private messages, their friends and followers, item purchases, trading history, creations, and recent games.
Final Thoughts
Children don’t understand online safety unless they have been taught. If you allow your child to play online you need to teach them how to be safe and make sure that you are made completely aware of anything that is going on.
Make sure that your child is not making any changes to their account without your knowledge beforehand. You should continuously talk with your child about their online gaming to have an open line of conversation and knowledge of your child’s activities.
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