Feb 28, 2019
If your kids are just as obsessed with Roblox, a user-created, social focused gaming platform as everyone else, you’re going to want to know how to keep them safe while playing and creating. Roblox offers a host a great features that allow parents to limit who their kids interact with while still giving them freedom on the platform.
In our increasingly screen focused world, kids love gaming and parents should work to create a healthy screen time balance as video gaming has both benefits and disadvantages.
What is Roblox?
Roblox is online entertainment platform for kids, that allows users to create and play games in the Roblox Studio. Much like Minecraft, Roblox has a blocky, cartoon aesthetic and fosters an online community surrounding the game’s main aims. Users may act as creators or players while exploring worlds, collecting prizes, and customizing their characters.
Roblox often used as a platform for introductory game development and features opportunities for users to monetize their most successful creations, developing skills that could inform a later career in game design and development.
Follow these 5 easy steps to successfully set up Roblox Parental Controls:
Ensure Proper Account Set Up
The first step parents should take in setting up accurate and effective parental controls is to ensure that the account has been set up correctly. Ideally parents would set this account up with their child but if they have not, parents should check to make sure that the age their child has entered with registration is correct and that they have used no real names in their username selection.
Roblox has built in privacy and security measures that vary, based on a user’s age. These measures act only as a first line of defense for users and should not be solely relied on if you are concerned about your child’s safety while playing Roblox.
If you are unsure if your child’s account is registered under the appropriate age, this information can be found on the browser or desktop version of the game in the upper-right corner of the navigation bar.
Username changes and age range changes can both be made by selecting the gear icon and settings in the upper-right corner of the navigation bar.
If you are using the mobile app, the age bracket can be found in the center of blue navigation bar at the top of the screen.
User name changes and age range changes can both be made in the mobile app by selecting the More icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen and selecting Settings and Account Info.
Create an Account PIN
The second step that parents will want to take is to create an Account PIN. Because all the parental controls settings are native to each account, the user has the option to navigate to settings and change any of the parental control settings that a parent may put in place.
When active, this 4-digit PIN number will be required for any changes made to the account.
To enable this setting, users should click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the navigation bar in the desktop game or the browser and select settings. From there, parents will want to choose Security from the left-hand menu and then toggle the account pin on.
From there, users will be prompted to create a PIN number for the account.
Mobile app users can access this feature by selecting the More icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen and selecting Settings and Security.
Enable Account Restrictions
Because much of the Roblox platform is based off of user generated content and games, it is difficult to monitor the appropriateness of each game from creators. Additionally, Roblox does not require creators to place a rating or warning on their games.
Enabling Account Restrictions means that your child can only access Roblox’s curated content on the platform, not user created games.
Parents can utilize this setting on by selecting the gear icon in the upper-right corner of desktop and browser versions, select Security from the left-hand menu and toggling “Account Restrictions is currently disabled” to the on mode.
Mobile app users can enable this setting by selecting the More icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen and selecting Settings and Security.
Enabling Account Restrictions will also set all the Contact Settings in the next step to Off.
Set Contact Settings
Seeing as Roblox games are meant to be social, multiplayer experiences, Roblox offers chat features within the platform. These features are optional and parents are able to limit them under the Privacy Settings. Custom settings include:
- Who can message me?
- Who can chat with me in app?
- Who can chat with me in game?
- Who can find me by my phone number? (Note: This option is only available for users 13 years of age and older.)
To adjust these settings in browser and desktop versions, parents will need to select the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the navigation bar and select Privacy from the left-hand menu.
From the mobile app, parents will need to select the More icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen and select Settings and the select Privacy.
Set Other Settings
One last area that parents may want to consider is the Other Settings section of the Privacy tab. Here parents and users can decided who can invite the user to VIP servers as well as who can join the user in a game.
In desktop and browser versions, select the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the navigation bar and select Privacy from the left-hand menu.
From the mobile app, select the More icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen and select Settings and the select Privacy.
Is Roblox Safe for Kids?
Roblox has in the past gotten some bad press concerning how safe the platform is for children and Roblox has responded to these concerns by enabling the parental controls listed above.
As with any app or game with multiplayer and social features, this app can pose risks for younger kids. Roblox can be safe for older kids with parental supervisions and parental controls in place that you feel are appropriate for your child.
Content wise, Roblox has parental controls such as the Account Restrictions in place to control that some users cannot access user-generated content which do not have ratings or warnings. Further, some Roblox games do feature mild cartoon and fantasy violence. Parents should be able to assess if their child is ready for these sorts of themes.
Regarding the concerns with social content, Roblox does have moderators in place to review all images before being posted as well as filters that block any bad words and problematic language. These filters are adjusted to each age range, 13 and older or 12 and younger. All social features can be turned off in settings.
How to Download Roblox
This popular gaming platform is available across many devices. Users can download this app for Macs, PCs, Xbox: One devices, and both Android or iOS devices. Each of these downloads can be found in the appropriate app store and direct links can be found on the Roblox website.
Even more, users are able to access their accounts and utilize the platform from any browser making play easy and accessible from anywhere.
How to Delete a Roblox Account
Currently, Roblox does not offer a way to delete any user accounts. Accounts that are not logged in to will remain inactive until a user decides to return. Once a user logs back in, anything you have built or created on your account will remain saved.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Roblox have moderators? What and how do they moderate?
Roblox does employ human moderators to filter content on their gaming platform. Roblox moderators review all user-uploaded images for inappropriate content before they go live. Moderators also review videos, comments, and any other chat features.
Are there any privacy concerns with Roblox?
One things parents may want to be concerned with is the chat feature that Roblox offers. All chatting on the Roblox platform is filtered to prevent inappropriate content and personal information from being visible on site. While Roblox does have filtering and rules in place to keep kids safe, it’s also up to parents and the players themselves to ensure they are having a safe experience.
Where can I find more information about Roblox?
More information on what Roblox is and if it is safe for your kids can be found by visiting the App Advisor.
How Net Nanny Keeps Kids Safe
While Roblox does offer numerous features to keep kids safe, parents may want even more customizable options to keep tabs on their kids internet habits. Net Nanny not only gives parents up to date alerts about what your apps your child is using and alerts for inappropriate content and unsafe situations, but it also offers parents a tool for screen time management.
Screens can easily become an addicting part of your child’s everyday life. It is important to set up boundaries and limits to how much screen time your kids have as well as teaching them to make healthy choices. This is where the Net Nanny comes in.
Net Nanny allows you to see how much time your child is actually using their devices and then allows you to create schedules, enable real-time filtering, and create age based profiles. Check out all the features Net Nanny can offer your family.
The Roblox app and platform as a whole offers kids a great introduction to the world of online communication as well as game development. This kid centric platform has had its share of problems regarding safety and is working to correct those with the parental controls listed above. Even with these limitations in place, parents should keep an eye on their children while playing.
Katherine Cromleigh
Katherine Cromleigh is currently a Social Media and Editorial Contractor and is studying communications at Purdue University. She hopes to add to the conversation surrounding technology and today's youth.
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