Is Roblox Safe For Kids: What Every Parent Should Know

With the player base for Roblox constantly growing daily, that means more kids are bound to try out the online game platform, and deciding if Roblox is safe for their children is likely the number one concern for many parents. Roblox is well known for being an extremely popular creative game for adults and kids alike, bringing itself to a net worth of $45 Billion. While the game does support microtransactions, they’re not necessary for players to enjoy much of what Roblox has to offer.

Along with Fortnite, Roblox has collaborated with a wide variety of brands such as Gucci, Nike, and also a music partnership with Sony. Even Famous American rapper and singer Lil Nas X made an appearance in Roblox hosting his own virtual concert in-game. The performance itself surpassed the number of viewers in attendance for Fortnite’s Travis Scott concert.

Even though Roblox may seem like a game that is heavily targeted towards kids, adults of all ages also play and create games as well, making it understandable why parents would be concerned about the safety of their kids online. No online experience that a kid interacts with has a 100% guarantee to be safe. There are still concerns about Roblox being unsafe for kids, particularly around exploitation of user-generated content, but the developers at Roblox do seem to be working to fix safety concerns.

Roblox Is Taking Steps Towards A Safe Experience

One of the changes made was adding an age verification feature in Roblox to make the community a safer place. In order to use features such as voice chat, players have to submit an ID card, driver’s license, or passport. Afterward, a selfie must also be sent in to confirm “liveness” and “likeness.” The whole process only takes about a minute or two to perform and it’s highly recommended for all parents to guide their children through the procedure. For those worried about their information being kept, the development team has stated that no documentation is stored and that there is no worry about a real identity being leaked.

Another step that has been taken on the platform is trying to eliminate the scene of online dating. While the team has little control over the dating games that exist on the site, romantic gestures in Roblox were banned entirely. Those gestures include movements such as hand-holding, hearts, and kissing. A statement made by the team reiterated that while the platform is meant to build a community, make friends, and embrace creativity when working on projects, content relating to romantic relationships is prohibited.

Roblox Cracks Down On Offensive Games, But It’s Not 100%

The thing to know about Roblox is that other than just playing games, there is also a giant community that focuses on creating games for other players as well. There is an age restriction when it comes to making games on the platform so there’s no telling what games kids might stumble across. It’s impossible for every single game created to be monitored, so there can be a few occasions where an offensive game gets created. However, games such as ones that depict mass shootings in Roblox have been almost immediately taken down. Along their journey through the wide variety of games that Roblox has to offer, if a child sees a game that they believe shouldn’t belong on the site they can also report it. In order to create the safe space that the game strives for, it’s up to everyone to play an active role in doing so, and that includes parents as well.

The in-game currency Robux allows players to purchase cosmetic items along with other features within different games. Parents should keep an eye out for any scams that are promising kids to earn “free Robux”. Currently, there isn’t a legitimate method to gain a lot of it, which means that players have to buy Robux through either gift cards or the platform itself. Because of how lucrative the game is, Roblox developers made over $250 million in 2020. Players can also monetize their creations, earning them Robux as well. Unfortunately, real money can’t be made until the amount of 100,000 Robux is reached, which is around $350 USD. This monetization also presents an area of potential parental concern, and parents should be cognizant of what their children are doing as far as creating content.

Roblox Has Tons Of Fun Games To Play

Safety concerns aside, there are a lot of games that kids can enjoy on the platform. Almost every single week new games can be found as the site’s explore page is constantly updated showing off new and popular games that others find to be entertaining. Games such as Arsenal, Restaurant Tycoon, and Work at a Pizza Place can all be played without spending any real money whatsoever. Even famous hit games such as Overwatch, GTA, and Among Us all have mind-blowing remakes in Roblox. There’s a little bit for everybody to enjoy, but of course this necessitates parents being aware of what their children are downloading, as even more sanitized versions of properties like GTA may not be something parents feel okay with.

As of right now, Roblox is available for download on mobile devices, Xbox consoles, Windows PC, and Mac. Due to its growing popularity and player count, there is speculation that the title may end up on PlayStation consoles along with the Nintendo Switch. As it stands right now, Roblox is an Xbox console exclusive title. When it comes to terms of player safety, regardless of the user’s platform of choice, each Roblox account is able to have some type of parental supervision. Playing Roblox on the Xbox makes that task easier since the Xbox is able to take a profile and enable custom settings and restrictions as needed per account. Even though there have been hints of Roblox launching on Switch and PS5, nothing has been confirmed yet.

Roblox Has Still Raised Concerns Parents Should Pay Attention To

Roblox was first released in 2006, and is still going strong 16 years later, making the future of the game seem poised for continued popularity. While it’s exciting to see the different types of content being produced by an audience of a wide age range, parents should always be mindful.  The game’s growth has been pointed out by some as exploitative, suggesting Roblox can be unsafe for children in certain circumstances, particularly when it comes to monetization and content creation, even though content moderation has improved.

At the end of it all, whether or not Roblox is a safe game for kids all comes down to the parent’s decision. In a time when social media and online gaming are everything, it’s hard to decide what is considered to be safe. Monitoring who kids are talking to, where they are going, what games they are looking up all make a big difference for concerned parents. With the possibility of Roblox releasing on two more consoles in the future, its popularity is only likely to expand from here, and while progressive changes have been consistently made to ensure that everyone included in the community has a safe experience, parents should still be proactive in monitoring what their children do with the game.

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