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I have a 7 year old with ASD (I'll explain relevance in a bit), he has become obsessed with Roblox, I believe because one or two of his friends play it.

I know there have been some rumours about stranger danger in the past but the only detail I can find seems to be non-reference scare blog posts.

I have no reason to believe that this has changed or if it's even true, but being personally very technologically aware, I am erring on the side of caution by trying to prevent him playing this game and explaining why, however his ASD is powering his wish to play this game and even the slightest touch toward rejecting him playing it will spark a meltdown, I want him happy but not at the risk of his security.

Is this game safe for young children?

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    Hey folks, let's not get into personal attacks here please. Keep it nice. Thanks. :)
    – Joe
    Oct 17, 2019 at 19:17
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    Something else you might want to consider is microtransactions. The last thing you'd want is for your son to get addicted to gambling mechanics like lootboxes - I'm not sure about Roblox, but there are games like NBA2k20 that are rated PEGI 3 and have literal slot machines in them.
    – nick012000
    Oct 23, 2019 at 2:48
  • @nick012000 This is still a thing?? ok cool, thanks for the heads up. I guess just not storing your card on the play store will stop this.
    – ggdx
    Oct 23, 2019 at 20:45

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Reading the Common Sense Media reviews, it looks like Roblox is a bit less child-friendly than some games, primarily because of the chat. They recommend 10+, and Kids and Parents seem to agree on that (10+ and 11+).

Roblox's free-and-open communication policy --including the ability for unregistered users to chat -- means that your kids' interactions can vary widely, from legitimate player engagement to potentially risky involvement with predatory users. We recommend parents disable the chat functionality as a protective measure when parents can't supervise kids' play.

For me, predatory isn't even the main concern - I think my 8 year old would be able to manage that - but just the general negativity of online chat in general. Games like Minecraft are safer that way as I can limit who he plays with easily; Roblox doesn't seem to have that option. I'd prefer him to be older, when he's more able to understand the consequences of his speech, before he's exposed to it.

As such, if a seven year old is allowed to play, they should be quite heavily monitored, both to ensure their safety and to ensure they don't learn bad habits from the chat.

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  • Good advice. My son just does not understand the intracies of communication, that not everything is as it seems and therefore the appropriate course of action or red flags. I'll see what he thinks of Minecraft and see where we are when he's a bit older. Thanks!
    – ggdx
    Oct 17, 2019 at 15:37
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Please read the available material published for parents by Roblox. I wont go into too much detail or post specific links, as the advice and information changes quite frequently. Currently, if you visit help.roblox.com there is a section Parents, Safety, and Moderation which details everything you need to know.

As a parent that plays Roblox with two children under the age of 13, I've found that the in-game chat filter is pretty good, if anything it's overzealous. Your child wont be exposed to any comprehensible language worse than anything they might be exposed to in the school yard.

However, the big thing to remember is that anyone can submit games and other content to Roblox which your child may be exposed to before it's been fully reviewed by Roblox staff if you don't ensure that the account has the recommended restrictions in place. It is feasible that your child might stumble upon a game that hasn't been reported and blocked for containing inappropriate content if you don't ensure the account settings will prevent this. This is especially important if you are considering allowing your child to play unsupervised and they like to explore for random games.

Currently, Roblox provide parental controls and account restrictions which includes a setting to only allow the account access to games which are considered appropriate for ages under 13. These settings can be locked with a pin. If you enable account restrictions on your child's account, Roblox is reasonably safe. I'd also recommend reviewing the privacy settings on the account.

If you want to be sure if a game may be appropriate specifically for your child, I highly recommend jumping on and playing it first. Or play it with them and coach them through the experience expressing whatever values you hope to imprint on them. Some games are really dumb. For example, some games are essentially just clicking a button on the screen as fast as you can which isn't only pointless but also bad for them and the mouse. But hey, they seem to enjoy it. If they don't lose interest in that after an hour, download an auto-clicker for them or introduce them to Progress Quest. Many of the games are great fun and in some cases it can be quite educational for them.

There are also scammers on Roblox that try and trick kids into revealing their account passwords, promising free Robux. Make sure the account is tied to your email address, specified as the "Parent's Email address" so that you may easily recover the account if your child falls for such a scam.

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The same as any other online game, for a child of that age, Roblox will be safe to play under reasonable supervision. Despite controls put in place, you cannot guarantee safety with any online interaction, so just be there with your child.

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