Roblox

[MrPickles73]

According to DS he is one of only 3 kids in his yr5 class to not have Roblox.. he has been asking for 18 mths for access.
Does anyone have hints and tips on how to ensure the account is as secure as possible? He just wants to link to his classmates.
Many thanks.

You educate your DS in the risks (of saying private things, of strangers, of abuse etc. etc.) and monitor it, there isn't a way to make anything "as secure as possible", just like you can't make any other space safe, you have to teach him to navigate it.

The “Adopt Me” game on Roblox is banned in our house but we sat together and talked through why. My kids now police their friends telling them not to talk to that person as they don’t know who they are. I am amazed how little some of the parents of my kids friends do to check they are safe online though.

I agree that education is part of it but cannot be the only way of keeping your child safe online. We regularly monitor what they are playing and go through chat history. If they have talked to anyone who isn’t a known friend then they are banned from their devices.

Ultimately though if you are not comfortable with it then you put your foot down and continue to say no.

Thankyou Zodlebud. Apparently Adopt Me is what his friends play. I have opened him an account and only allowed him Roblox curated games so it won't allow him Adopt Me. Out of interest what is wrong /weird with Adopt Me? I've also set it up so he can only contact friends and needs a pin to make changes.

Make sure you register them under the child version - under 13. Then any chats with swearing and explicit content is asterisked out and can't be read.
The only issue I've had with my son is the add ons he wants to purchase. He now gets a couple of pounds a weeks to spend on Roblox. Bloxburgh is quite a good game to start with. The cafe/pizza/ice cream restaurant games are also quite easy to navigate.
I don't think you can ban them forever, as the previous poster said - talk talk talk to them and stay near whilst until you can trust them.
It's difficult isn't it. You have my fullest sympathy!

Adopt me is a weird one, female avatars in skimpy clothing asking to take the babies to bed etc. I've watched the chat on it and it seems to be all asterisked out so I've assumed it's inappropriate chat.
That being said because he can't read the explicit chat he potters around on it. But I'm always watching nearby. I was glad when he stopped playing that game.
If his class is on it and they're chatting then he should be able just to see their chat so might be more age appropriate content.

DD 8 has it. She has an under 13 account. I check it regularly. She can't add anyone that she doesn't know and i manage her friend requests. I keep an eye on the chat as well.

She plays adopt me but only with friends or on her own, doing the missions?playing with her pets or decorating her house. The chat normally stays hidden.

Like with everything I don't just throw the ipad at her and let her get on with it. I wouldn't with a knife or the toaster. So we discuss about safety, what to do if something comes up, that i need access if she wants apps , how it can be dangerous and upsetting etc. I explain myself and ask her opinion and she's understanding more and more. So much so that despite a lot of her friends having tiktok (which I'm completely against)and encouraging her to get it she doesn't actually want to have anymore and reached that conclusion herself.

The internet/devices/games are a tool. Just like any tool it can be used safely or not. It might need supervision or not. And just like any tool, children need to be guided and taught in how to use them.

I must check what mine play on on Roblox and we check that they only have their actual friends on there. I'd say most of the Yr5 I know have it. I've told mine to block any random people who try to friend them if they definately don't know them.

The problem with Adopt Me is the amount of blocked out chat my getting. It’s very easy to show a child that what isn’t been shown isn’t been shown because it’s not appropriate.

I've registered him as under 13. Would you recommend to stick to the Roblox curated games?
I get that he needs to be supervised etc but as he is not an only child and the eldest I cannot guarantee I will be hovering over him continuously even when in the same room.

I don't think you need to stick to the curated games. It sounds like you've been pretty sensible setting it all up.
Just make sure he knows not to give out personal info to anyone who isn't his friend from school and tell him to let you know if anything makes him uncomfortable- not that it should, if chat is off or asterisked out.
It such a huge leap of faith letting them explore the web but as long as you've done as many parental controls as you can he should be ok on Roblox. It sounds like you've mitigated a lot of the risks.

My Year 5 DS plays it, and I’m not always supervising him. Every so often I have a chat with him about what he’s playing, or peer over his shoulder, and sometimes I join game and play with him.
We have regular conversations about online conduct and about people he might encounter and what he should do. I ask him if he’s seen anything he considers inappropriate, or if his friends have, and they dealt with it.
I think that children need to learn to operate in the online world, otherwise they will start going online as an older teenager, possibly with no supervision/support. It is a part of life and we have to teach them how to act safely and responsibly, as we would in any other arena .

The worst DD report was someone calling her stupid,some telling her to shut up and a crude drawing of a penis in a pictionary type game. I was playing with her at the time and just reported the player.