Roblox Enhances Safety Features for Young Gamers
Roblox, a widely used gaming platform for preteens, has significantly revised its safety protocols over the past year. These changes come in the wake of concerns regarding inadequate protective measures that could leave children vulnerable to threats like grooming, inappropriate content, and violent materials.
New Parental Control Options
In a recent announcement, the company introduced three fresh parental control features designed to empower parents. Among these are the capabilities to block specific experiences or individuals on their child’s friends list, as well as track the activities their child engages with most frequently.
With these updates, Roblox is taking a more rigorous stance on how children interact within the gaming environment. To access these new features, parents must first link their Roblox account to their child’s profile, which involves verification through an ID or credit card. After this step, parents can navigate to the “Parental Controls” section to manage their child’s gaming experiences.
Enhanced Friend Management
Previously, parents had the ability to view their child’s friend list. However, with the introduction of the new friend-blocking feature, they can now take proactive steps to report and block users they suspect may pose a risk, thus preventing those individuals from sending direct messages to their child. It’s important to note that children under 13 cannot unblock users that their parents have restricted, although they may request permission to do so.
More Control Over Game Experiences
While parents have historically been able to review and adjust the content maturity levels set on their child’s account, the new experience-level blocking feature provides even more targeted control. Children are able to see which experiences have been restricted and can seek their parents’ approval to regain access.
Additionally, parents now have the ability to view the top 20 experiences their child has engaged with over the past week, ranked by the amount of time spent. This is part of Roblox’s earlier initiative to allow parents to monitor and set daily screen time limits for their kids, reinforcing a more balanced approach to gaming.
