Is roblox suitable…

[OhDear1234567]

For an 8 year old?
DC is begging me to let them play it on their tablet (think friends at school play it so they’re feeling left out)

But is it suitable?

Im not very clued up on the gaming world. They do have a switch and they play Minecraft and wotnot but never online.

I’ve googled but seem to get differing views on whether it’s appropriate.

So wise mumsnetters, do I give in or continue being the grinch mum?

If you keep tight controls on the chat function and your kid understands online safety then yes.

I check everything my 9 yo wants to add a friend.

Yes as long as you are careful although I hate it and really limit DS(8) time on it. I also had to give in as he was the only one not playing it but I much prefer when he plays Minecraft or even Fortnite, there is just something off about Roblox and there can be some quite scary games on it.

Thanks @MeredithGreyishblue

They’re adamant they don’t want to use the chat function and they understand that they shouldn’t be talking to people online.
I’ve had several chats about online safety and I know they’ve been learning about it in school.
Although that is obviously a big concern of mine.

But what about the actual gameplay? I’ve read that it’s not moderated very well as players can make up their own game/storyline? (Can you tell I’m not a gamer?! 😆 )
So I’m worried it’s going to be violent or inappropriate. Or am I being ott?

I’m not overly keen on Minecraft either tbh, but they seem to just enjoy building things in that game.

You can lock it down so they can't chat at all or only chat in-game, or full chat in game and out. We have it so Ds2 can chat in-game with whoever is there but can't chat outside, and we have a strict rule that I approve all friends requests so that if they can't tell me who someone is in real life, they can't friend them.

Ds1 has more freedom now but he still can't chat with anyone outside of game who isn't on his friends list.

It's OK, most of the games are rubbish really but there are a few good ones. As long as you have his login details you can go in on your phone to check all the settings out and see what he's been playing.

My 7 and 9 year old played it for a while, (but got bored of itl - they only played age appropriate games, and chat limited etc. They understood all the ways they could be scammed in the trading games, and only ever got 'scammed' by each other. They loved it for about 3 months but have gone back to minecraft / mario / zelda now. They play some of the multi player games in minecraft also. I am quite relaxed but they have to be in public rooms and I do keep an eye on what is going on. They are both very aware of these rules and the kind of kids that love a rule - for now! A lot of their friends don't play - around 50:50 so they don't tend to talk much about it in friendship groups as far as I can tell and interaction in games is quite limited.

I hate it, but I do let mine play it, with tight controls

@LadyCleathStuart
Why can’t they just stick to super Mario? 😂
I hate all these online, make it up as you go along games.

I haven’t allowed Fortnite either, luckily they haven’t asked for that yet.

Ds1 likes racing simulator games, ds2 likes Supergolf () and Natural Disaster. Even DH plays those two with them.

I’m in the same situation, so following with interest!
It’s so hard to find a balance between protecting them and allowing enough freedom that they learn about how to use things safely and don’t feel left out.
YouTube is another bugbear of mine. So hard to tell what’s inappropriate before they’re actually watching it, and I don’t have time to sit around watching it with them all day!

@Zorya yup, I’m with you on YouTube. They like watching the Minecraft videos on there 😵‍💫 but I now only allow them to watch the ones on YouTube kids.

God, am I just really over the top? I just don’t trust people online! (She says, while chatting online 😂)