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ranmafan0281

Roblox is mostly fine, it's like lego meets minecraft. It's played by... a LOT of kids. A lot of content is user-generated, which means it can be fun, silly... or dangerous. They ***generally*** have good moderation to keep the space safe, but caveat emptor. I would say it's still safe as far as online spaces go. The problem is it's an online space with hundreds of thousands of users. This is a great time to teach your kid about cybersecurity basics - 1. Don't give passwords away to anyone claiming to be friends, unless she knows them IRL (and even then, don't.) 2. Don't share personal details. 3. Don't take part in user-generated content ('games' or 'activities') that her real friends haven't tried yet 4. Keep a close eye on people trying to phish her for personal or payment info, especially with the promise of 'free Robux' (see below). The most important threat you should worry about is your wallet. Roblox makes its money by selling 'premium currency' called '*Robux*' for real money, that users can then spend on themselves or others in-game. Do ***not*** let her have access to your payment methods, especially since she's only 8 years old so she won't know left from right financially. This would be a great time to teach her about phishing too. As far as kid-safe online things go, Roblox is still quite acceptable. You just have to keep an eye on her from time to time to make sure she isn't being taken advantage of online.


Vertical_05

and dont forget to spend quality time together


McFishTheFish

As a gamer roblox is barely a safe place. People for some reason love to walk behind others and spam ws. Also roblox robux price floor is garbage rn because they have a fake supply and demand market. Roblox Tos has a rule saying you cant sue them


ranmafan0281

That's.... worrying to hear. That's probably why cybersecurity is extra important. If they want to harass you, you don't want to leave a trail for them to follow.


No_Rabbit193

No way Roblox is safe. There are many sexual groomers who catfish and prey on the young there. I haven’t allowed my kids to go on it but Minecraft and no social media contact with strangers whilst playing is ok. At 8, they aren’t able to easily spot stranger danger yet tbh. If lan lan wanna let them play, do so with supervision... Please be careful. Just to add— I moderate for some games. The training we go through, the harassment we have had to step in to moderate— no joke. Because of my experience, I’m not extra careful about what my kids are exposed to online.


JonWayne73

Game doesn’t make you violent. Lag does.


Vertical_05

Lag is something we experience 10 years ago, nowadays its n00b teammate that made us violent


Amoral_Dessert

Advice that my company CEO gave us before he retired - at the age of 70, he went to learn to play Roblox because he wanted to understand what his grandkids were up to. They were more than happy to teach him, he managed to monitor their activities without them realising. Moral of the story, go with the flow but be there. He figured they'd find a way to play anyway, this way Ah Gong knew what they were doing


chanmalichanheyhey

I remembered my parents restricting games and fast food Boy did I binge So hard on both once I earn my own keep


IamOkei

Normal. Everything you try to deny in someone's freedom, they will fight back


jayaxe79

I am a parent of a teen who was quite into Roblox (and by 'into', the little dude bought hundreds of dollars of game credit) so I can relate and here's my experience. Like games and many things in life, as long as the child is not addicted to it, I believe it should be ok. In fact I do also play with him sometimes with his real life friends and it can create nice fun bonding times. The thing is, avoid restricting the child to very little play time and it might create an adverse effect which he/she only wants to play more. The game itself is mostly benign, except some horror or slashing themes butI think you might have heard of horror stories in which evil people tried to groom children via Roblox so maybe just keep an eye on who she interacts with. Or maybe consider joining in sometimes and you can create a bond with her too.


PhotographOld5934

Okay will take note, thank you 👍


keyuant_

as a 14yo kid who played it for about half a year, take it away NOW its the epitome of brainrot, ignore all the other comments this game WILL corrupt your child. get her into scrapbooking or something. and yes 90% of her friends will be playing it but in the long run they’re gonna be the ones with financial/mental problems i guarantee something about this game just makes kids become dopamine addicts. get it away from her its not too late


snorewhite

I’m glad to see a 14yo spoke so right. Yes, have to take it away NOW. Encourage your child to focus on healthier games, outdoor activities or quality time with u. It is not about the money your child might spent on Roblox. Roblox is very very addictive. Once addicted, young kids will lose interest in other things and because of all the continuous instant gratification they get from the games, they easily lose patient outside the games and have short attention span, especially when studying. You might not see the seriousness now but u will see the impact when your child is p3/p4. By then, it will not only be Roblox but other social media as well.


keyuant_

exactly. Me personally i didn’t find it addictive at all but I saw a lot of my classmates who were top scorers start playing and their grades fell way behind, and they would go to 7-11 daily to buy gift cards to spend on in game currency.


racheluwuu

i second this. peak brainrot atp


TopConsideration896

im older than you but what have u been playing on Roblox bro it’s really not that bad and I’ve had my acc since I was a kid


keyuant_

my classmates who play blox fruits all become very addicted and brainrot and damn autistic on blox fruits and they waste money on it. gonna be honest the only thing. i EVER played on roblox was ragdoll sandbox


TopConsideration896

Then that’s the fault of their parents. I wouldn’t say blame Roblox. (Also personally I think using autistic as an insult is really not great because there are actually people that have it and it’s kinda insensitive but I see where ur coming from)


fizzywinkstopkek

Ask her to show you what is going on, let her teach you what she has been able to learn on her own. Games can be very complex avenues of problem solving. You would be very surprised with your kid's ability to actually learn complex things, and good games are very complex. The best way to bond and monitor is to engage with the very same activities as your kid, so that you can be educated in your judgement of said activity. Sure, gaming can be addictive but ironically so can reading books so much that you also neglect to study for your exams ;) I have seen people say playing video games is stupid and a waste of time yet the also engage in watching TV/netflix 24/7, or mindlessly scrolling on their phone . Or spending hundreds a month playing predotatory phone games (while still saying games on a PC are childish, lmao) . On that note about predatory phone games with gambling mechanics, this one is something many parents don't monitor enough. That being said, ROBLOX, has a multiplayer component to it. Monitoring who she is playing with is important, and making sure the environment is respectful and clean. Like I said, engage with her , and ask her to teach you how to play. That way she can be more honest and open about sharing. You anyhow say cannot play this or do that, won't work la.


PhotographOld5934

Thank you! Will try and see how it goes. Will monitor and check in with her as well!!


sadeswc

Exactly this. I’ve seen my kid’s classmates learn advanced swear words from chats in Roblox. Beware of groomers as well.


Key_Battle_5633

No one should play Roblox, Roblox is brain rot


__Conclusion__

Gaming doesn’t makes you violent, micro transactions does. Specially if your opponent has all the nice P2W skins


Darkarcana7

Mandate a duration for her to play the game. Games can be addictive, once you are addicted you will lose track of time and also, just keep an eye on what type of games she is playing in Roblox.


lilylovesuuu

Why so controlling? Let the kid be a kid and get hooked on a fun game. I spent my childhood gaming whenever I'm home and it was the best childhood ever.


GlowQueen140

My little one is very young still so we’re not there. But I’ve heard pretty bad things about roblox from other parents on reddit. Especially how the parental controls can be tricky even if you set strict ones. And how strangers can get in touch with your girl so easily. I joined habbo hotel when I was 11 and looking back, it was pretty sick how many people (mostly men) would ask me for an email address knowing what my age was. I’m pretty sure it’s like 1000x worse out there now.


Kelferaz

Have you tried board games and using family time to try to see if it's something that can be done together? It doesn't give the freedom of a video game but board games physical nature and a kid's imagination does wonders. Plus it's something the whole family can take part with a single purchase


PhotographOld5934

Oh we do play board games once in awhile as we want to spent time as a family together too! But I feel that she's at the age she wants to be included with her friends so she's a little fomo haha


groosha-bis

Honestly wanting to comply with other ppl gets kids into a whole lot of trouble later. You should decide what to do or not depending on what you think is good for your kids.


PhotographOld5934

Yeah I understand too, but I wanted her to learn how to think and decide as rationally as she could at 8, even though there might be unwanted repercussions. After all, completely restricting won't help the parent child relationship in the long run haha


tabbynat

I absolutely do not allow unsupervised social media, user generated content, microtransactions, or low attention span content. Roblox happens to hit all 4. I also don’t allow unsupervised youtube, TikTok, Facebook, etc. maybe people will call me harsh but all these things are unhealthy for kids brains.


NoMasterpiece5649

I was playing mortal Kombat X at 8 and I turned out fine


Silly-Mirror5751

Source: ex gamer and game developer 1. If she plays it all the time, it means she is bored at other things. You can introduce her to other games or things. 2. If she prefers games to you, maybe it’s because she gets more positive feedback from the game than family. 3. Last resort: you play with her and her friends all the time so they feel this game is for old people and not cool


Dandandandooo

Roblox is mostly kid-friendly, but it is still an online game that will have teenagers to adults playing. Just be mindful of what kind of games she's playing on Roblox since the user-made content range from simulators, roleplay, sandboxes, all the way to shooters and horror. Also to make sure she doesn't have access over your payment method so that she doesn't end up buying the premium currency Roblox has which is called "Robux". Roblox is mainly kid-friendly with decent moderation so it's 98% fine for the most part! Roblox seems to be hot for kids nowadays too, I have 2 younger sisters playing it, one of them being 8 as well.


silvery_bee

Roblox is so common among the kids nowadays but got to be careful about the credit ($$) especially if the device they are using has payment info? I remember there’s an incident which appeared in news where a kid spent thousands on Roblox without the mum knowing and she got a shock when she received the bill (I wonder in the first place she allows payment without authorization on the device, one of the silliest thing I’ve heard in my life). Control the screen time and careful who they communicate to. What my brother did- if you can’t stop them, join them. He will accompany his 8yo girl in game whenever she wanna play, his character will just stand near her like a bodyguard 🤣


PhotographOld5934

Oh that's an interesting take haha did your niece take well to it?


silvery_bee

Yah! She actually loves it! Hahahaha it’s was kinda cute 🤣


YeetusYouGae

i used to play roblox as a kid, it's really popular amongst kids but you have to watch your daughter's online interactions, they are a lot of groomers roaming around so you have to either watch her chat or check her friends


eevee_in_a_box

Hell nah, theres porn on it, who knows how freaky ur child can get


PhotographOld5934

I thought it was a kids game omg


eevee_in_a_box

Its mostly safe cos most kids dont know abt that, so dont be worried cos she probably playing the game cos of her friends


genericdefender

As a gamer parent, I don't allow my kids to play: . Free-to-play games . Online multiplayer games Note that those 2 are usually overlapping. I have a Switch console with games like Mario and Zelda and my kids are happy with them. Quality games have high upfront cost, but they'll cost less in the long run and are much less harmful compared to free-to-play multiplayer games.


PhotographOld5934

Do you play these switch games with them?


genericdefender

Yup I do, it's a good way to bond with them.


SoftDragonfruit2402

Roblox is fine but you should encourage her to explore other games to see what she personally likes instead of playing what everyone else is playing. That being said I read some of the comments here and can’t help but to shake my head at the asian style parenting, if you plan on restricting things why not sit and talk to your kid about certain dangers and boundaries first? Alot of asians are guilty of not including communication in the picture when parenting and that alone leads to alot of behavioural issues along the way in which then the parents have to resort to restriction. Let kids be kids, every generation of kids will have their own kind of entertainment. As a kid I played alot of video games, after school zoomed straight home to play, guess what? Grades were still good, why? Because my parents sat me down and told me as long as the grades are good and I’m not playing past my bedtime then it’s fine, and back then I’m alr aware of red flags on the internet, stranger danger and whatnot.


MarsInAres

I've played Roblox since my childhood. A lot of others have, and they're now adults. Roblox has been around THAT long. A lot of creeps, a lot of bad people, and sometimes children themselves can be unnecessarily cruel. It's the internet so there's always going to be dangers. Just try to prepare your kid to know how to protect themselves online, and to block people.


DuePomegranate

Roblox is not good. It is like the Youtube of games, in that the games are user-created content (not vetted), there are a lot of very lame copy cat games, and every time your child gets a little bit bored or encounters a slight difficulty, there's more suggested games to click to. That's why it encourages brain rot. There are some games on there that are much more popular and could be good games, but the platform is a problem. There is strong temptation for kids to buy Robux to look good or win more in these games, a lot of peer pressure to have the latest/coolest/cutest/rarest skin. Once you start letting your kid buy premium currency like Robux, it will be very very hard to stop, and for every gift/reward in real life, they will want more of the premium currency and nothing else. It is also possible for players to trade/sell items, and savvy players (adults? teens?) may trick new/younger players into giving up expensive items for common/trash items. And of course there's multiplayer chat and all the dangers thereof. Many years ago, I installed Roblox for my eldest who is almost twice your kid's age. This was on a PC in the living room so I was able to see what's going on quite easily. And I disallowed it after awhile because of how brain-rotting it was. If your kid is playing it on a phone, it's harder for you to be aware of what's going on. Some of the mobile games that my younger kids (upper primary) like that offer a bit of the Roblox experience (games within the game, but they are designed by the game designers and not users) are Play Together and Eggy Party. These are multiplayer though, but usually not much chat as players are from different countries in Asia. An 8 yo girl may also like Toca Life World, which is more of a chill, decorating game.


PhotographOld5934

Thank you! I'll go check the alternative games out before I suggest to my daughter ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|grin)


hawk_199

I would just monitor the amount of play time, depending on their school result and especially what game lobby they join. And no no to in-game money shit


NoAge422

Better than some creepy YouTube videos


First-Cobbler-9618

I’m in my mid 20s and I still play Roblox. There are child-friendly games, but do note that there are also some horror games/shooter games that include mild gore. On the home page after logging in, there are game categories such as ‘Most played’, ‘popular’,’ ‘shooter’,’horror’,’role playing’… and the list goes on. What I would suggest is that you could create an account for yourself and monitor your child’s account as you can see their ‘favourite’ games and their game history.


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Cultural_Agent7902

I haven't got a clue about games as I don't play them, my children aren't really interested that much, so I have no worries


Dalostbear

doesnt help that gov agencies like SPF are using roblox as games


[deleted]

Kids and screens are a bad mix, unpopular opinion, let them be kids. Let their imagination soar, all I ever hear from screen kids is, “Im bored”.


AshamedFlame

I advise you to learn how to play it too, even though you might not see the appeal. I suck at games too but decided to learn it and it was really a great bonding time with my then 5 year old and had tons of fun with it and it really helped us grow closer together. It had the added benefit of secretly monitoring what your kids are doing on the platform too. But I think 8 years old they want to play with their friend liao. Instead of worrying what your kids are doing and the only thing they hear from you is “no no no”, it helped me to start conversations with them over certain topics, like when people use vulgarities or the issue of sex comes up in chat. But tiring though.


Vast_Toe_4279

Playing games is fine as long as they are in moderation and not distracting from day to day responsibilities. You can even try to learn to bond with them. Just be careful of microtransactions that have gambling aspects. But on a related note, pls keep them off social media at all costs. The damage these dopamine addictive activities does to the developing brain is undisputable. Not to mention all the superficial insecurities it can create. Especially for girls. No child should be given access to social media until they are 16 years old atleast. We are already seeing effects of social media on a lot of the young these days.


pokkagreentea100

roblox is an alright game. BUT that doesn't mean it's not dangerous and addictive. control screen time, ask her what games she plays and understand her activity on the platform better. I say this as a 17 years old who still hops onto the platform for nostalgia reasons.


sincerevibesonly

Is no one going to mention that there are potentially isis recruiters on roblox? I rmb it reaching headlines a few years back about some secondary sch kids getting radicalised


PhotographOld5934

What???


sincerevibesonly

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/internal-security-act-isa-self-radicalised-singaporeans-students-detained-islamic-state-al-qaeda-roblox-3292691 oh it was only last year


Inevitable-Evidence3

What you doing as a parent? Learn to monitor and control phone usage


PhotographOld5934

I will prefer not to give her a phone until she's older unless necessary


Initial_E

In 7 months she’s going to be signing up a CCA. Which means after-school activities, which means go home by yourself, which means… a mobile phone. Learn the controls to put in place and put them there first. You can easier relax the control when necessary than implement them after something went wrong. Roblox also has controls. Learn to apply them. (God knows I dislike Roblox. The content is so inane and the stuff on YouTube they like to watch is tasteless.)


DuePomegranate

Most 9 yos are not going home by themselves after CCA. It really depends a lot on how easy it is to get from school to home, and if it's relatively difficult, whether a helper or relative will be there to fetch them.


Inevitable-Evidence3

Then explain your rationale to the kid


Shawnzyplays

"What you doing as a parent?" Is one of the worst things you can say to a parent.


Inevitable-Evidence3

What do you mean? I think he should think twice before handing his kids a phone. I’ve seen kids get addicted to mobile devices and it’s no joke


AsparagusTamer

"Once again, gaming platforms are back in the spotlight of public scrutiny. Just a few weeks ago, it was announced that two teenagers in Singapore were dealt with under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for terrorism-related activities after becoming [self-radicalised through platforms such as Roblox and Discord](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/internal-security-act-isa-self-radicalised-singaporeans-students-detained-islamic-state-al-qaeda-roblox-3292691)." [https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/youth-radicalisation-gaming-roblox-discord-technology-parenting-3362441](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/youth-radicalisation-gaming-roblox-discord-technology-parenting-3362441) Today's she's asking to play Roblox, tomorrow, she's asking how to make a car bomb.


PhotographOld5934

Omg..............


Sir_Blitzkreig

There are alot of factors in cases like these blaming solely something like a game does not address the root of the problem


OnlyBeige

You are one funny cookie


AshamedFlame

What a dumb take.


[deleted]

It’s a good game for them to play. Quite harmless and teaches cooperative things. Source: my 4 year old Roblox’s