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Parental Controls on Roblox, and is it Safe for Kids?

Roblox is an extremely popular online gaming site that can be played on any device.

What is Roblox? According to Roblox - Roblox is a global platform where millions of people gather together every day to imagine, create, and share experiences with each other in immersive, user-generated 3D worlds. The types of gameplay on Roblox are just as limitless as the imagination of the creators themselves.

Roblox itself is not a game, but a platform that allows anyone to create games and activities to be played.

My kids love Roblox. I fought it for awhile, but once they got their hands on it there was no backing off.

So now it is time for screen time limits, learning how to put parental controls on Roblox, and learning about keeping ourselves safe online.

How to put parental controls on Roblox

You see I used to have little kids, who only watched some YouTube videos of Baby Shark and maybe Blippi.

And while I worked in tech, and I know all about the internet and the digital world, my children were not exposed to much.

Ahhh, the good old days!

They flew by fast, and now we are in the world of Roblox, Minecraft, YouTube, and begging for their own phones and iPads.

When schools closed down in 2020 and early 2021, we also had to buy my older children their own laptops for homeschooling.

So my elementary age kids are now learning about technology at a faster rate than me.

And as parents we need to keep up in order to keep them safe.

Keeping children safe with online gaming

When it comes to online safety it's a great idea to keep communication open with our children about what it means to be a good digital citizen.

Discuss potential dangers that can occur when you interact with strangers online, and which information you should never share about yourself online.

Roblox warning for parents?

Is there a Roblox warning for parents?

You may have seen headlines about predators reaching out to children on Roblox and other online gaming sites.

There have been infrequent instances of this happening. Wherever children gather there can be child predators, and unlike when we were growing up, the internet is now a place where predators can find many children at once.

This is why it's critical that parents are aware of what their kids are doing online, and why they talk to their kids about keeping themselves safe.

online gaming safety Roblox

Roblox chat and Roblox parental controls

Roblox chat is available for anyone to log on and chat with your kid if they have chat set up. This means predators can also use it, and pretend to be any age they want.

Roblox does have chat filters set up based on age, and there are many other precautions you can take to monitor chat which I list below.

Parents should utilize parental controls to limit contact and chat with others, monitor their kids activities, and limit daily screen time.

The current screen time recommendation is one to two hours a day for elementary age, but I know how easy it is to go way over this on a rainy quiet day!

If children see something that upsets them online they should know who they can tell and talk to about it, such as a trusted adult.

When utilizing the parental controls and monitoring it; Roblox is generally a safe platform for kids to play on.

Roblox potential risks and concerns that parents should be aware of, including:

  1. Inappropriate Content: Some user-generated content on Roblox may contain inappropriate language, behavior, or themes that are not suitable for children.
  2. Online Predators: There is a risk of online predators who may try to engage with children through chat or private messages. It's important for parents to monitor their child's online activity and teach them to recognize and report any suspicious behavior.
  3. Scams and Malware: There is a risk of scams and malware that may attempt to trick kids into giving away personal information or downloading harmful software.
  4. Cyberbullying: There is a risk of cyberbullying on the platform, where players may be subjected to verbal abuse or harassment by other users.
  5. In-App Purchases: Roblox allows players to purchase virtual items and currency using real money. It's important to monitor your child's spending and ensure that they are not making unauthorized purchases.

To help mitigate these risks, parents can take various precautions such as enabling parental controls, monitoring their child's online activity, and teaching them about online safety and responsible behavior. By staying informed and involved, parents can help ensure that their child has a safe and positive experience on Roblox.

Here are some ways to help ensure that Roblox is safe for elementary age kids and younger:

  1. Enable Parental Controls: Roblox offers a number of parental controls that you can enable to help ensure that your child only has access to age-appropriate content.
  2. Monitor Your Child's Activity: You can monitor your child's activity on Roblox by checking their account activity and chat history. This can help you identify any inappropriate behavior or conversations.
  3. Teach Your Child About Online Safety: It's important to teach your child about online safety and the importance of keeping personal information private. You can also teach them how to identify and report any suspicious or inappropriate behavior.
  4. Only allow access to trusted games: Only allow your child to access games that have been vetted and approved by you. Make sure to read the game's description and review it before allowing your child to play.
  5. Talk to other parents: Talk to other parents whose children play Roblox to get their opinion on the safety of the platform, and to share tips and best practices.

As a parent, you can use the following methods to find out who your child is chatting with on Roblox:

  1. Check their Chat History: One way to see who your child is chatting with on Roblox is by checking their chat history. To do this, you can go to the "Chats" section of their account. This will show you a list of all the chats your child has had on the platform. You can also see who your child is friends with by clicking on "Friends".
  2. Enable Account Restrictions: You can enable various account restrictions in the parental controls section of your child's account to control who they can chat with on the platform. More about how to do this below.
  3. Have an Open Conversation: Lastly, it's important to have an open and honest conversation with your child about the importance of online safety and responsible online behavior. Talk to them about the risks of chatting with strangers online, and the importance of only chatting with people they know and trust in real life.

How to put parental controls on Roblox

Adjust parental controls on your child's Roblox account to control who they can interact with:

  1. Log in to the child's Roblox account.
  2. Click the gear icon, and then click Settings. This is located in different places depending on what device is being used, but all of the controls are located under settings.
  3. Under settings choose Privacy on the left hand side of the page.
  4. From here, you can adjust both Communication Settings and who your child may interact with during chat. Under Other Settings you can set some other restrictions.
  5. After setting these permissions go to Parental Controls under Settings, again on the left hand side of the page.
  6. Here you will find a place to create a Parent PIN, you do not want your child to have access to this PIN because it will be used to control the parental controls.
  7. You can create the Parent PIN here, set Allowed Experiences based on your child's age, and set Spend Restrictions and Spend Notifications since Roblox does have in game purchases of Robux (Roblox's digital currency) available.

Roblox also has a parent's guide to Roblox which has more information about Roblox and their safety precautions.

Another resource I love when trying to figure out what is safe, and how to handle the digital world for my children, is Common Sense Media.

For even more information about Roblox Common Sense Media has a wonderful guide with tons of information about it for parents.

Roblox chat and games

Conclusion

I hope this article helped explain more about Roblox, which really is a creative and interesting place, but also comes with the typical online dangers to children.

By following these guidelines, learning how to put parental controls on Roblox and other games, and staying involved in your child's online activity, you can help ensure that Roblox and other online games are safe and enjoyable for your child to play.

Please let me know if you have any questions!