The County of Los Angeles filed suit today against social media gaming platform Roblox alleging that the platform failed to protect children from predatory behavior. The lawsuit alleges that while Roblox markets itself as a safe digital space for creativity, it is in reality an unsafe online environment that has become a breeding ground for predators.
Most games are games with a chat feature.
ROBLOX IS A CHATROOM WITH A GAMES FEATURE.
It’s a chatroom where 60% of the user base is under the age of 16 and 40% is under 12.
Grooming happens on Roblox. Predators move that conversation to places Discord which is where the crimes happen.
I am an adult who helped a kid that was the victim of online predators.
When talking to your kids about online safety, come up with a plan just like you might for a fire. Make sure they know what to do when something makes them uncomfortable and make sure you identify a 3rd party adult that you trust and your kid feels safe talking to, maybe a close family friend or an aunt/uncle.
That last part is how I got involved. I don’t have my own kids, but I knew a kid that felt more comfortable talking to me about that stuff than to his parents.
doing this is probably an effective safety feature for any community to have. if you’re afraid your parents will freak out and ban you from electronics forever you won’t go to them for help. and not all parents are good parents.
Likewise I’m a “safe third party adult” for my niece but the prospect of ever actually needing to act in that capacity is terrifying.