ROBLOX Online Safety Controls
20th January 2023
Many of our children play games on Roblox, an online gaming site for children. In addition to having exposure to games that may not be age-appropriate, it allows them to use the chat function to talk to strangers, which can be a potential risk for children being groomed. At school, we educate children on online safety both through their PSHE lessons and in their Computing lessons.
Read on for important information from The Safeguarding Alliance on how you can make your child’s online experience at home safer.
Roblox is one of the most popular online gaming sites for children worldwide. In the UK specifically, it is the most popular gaming platform for children under 13. Roblox allows users to create their own games and play games that other users have created. It has no minimum age requirement and the giant amount of games available on the website means that not all games are appropriate. There are a multitude of reports of children being scammed, groomed and exposed to inappropriate content on this site. Without any age or identity verification, Roblox opens an environment for groomers to target children. Children play games with strangers and the chat box function allows users to talk to anyone. File on 4, a BBC radio programme, recently carried out an investigation into Roblox and it is important that DSLs and parents hear what they found.
You can listen here.
How can I make Roblox safer for my child?
Parents are advised to monitor their children when playing on Roblox and change certain settings. Parents can add their emails to moderate who their children chat with. Simply, add your email address to the account settings and add a passcode so this cannot be changed. Then, open the privacy menu where restrictions can be applied to in-game chats, personal invites and more. You can also monitor your child’s account by viewing private messages, chat history, friends, followers, purchase history and recently played games. Although adding a correct date of birth to your child’s account will trigger the appropriate safe chat filtering settings, there is no age restrictions on games. So, unsuitable games will still be available.
