Add me to the list who Roblox is really the only hard no (so far!) with my kids (9 & 6). I know there are likely thousands of good, safe games and experiences for them within Roblox that they would enjoy. But there has been just enough stories of highly questionable games and experiences that really give me pause and I just don't have the bandwidth or really the desire to research and vet stuff. I know my kids want to play because their friends play but I have had basic talks with them and they seem to understand my stance.
One thing that Cecilia said pinged me, a little on topic and a little on topic:
"The reason why I'd hesitate rather than outright prohibit it is because I grew up in online games and turned out okay."
This has been something that I have struggled with in terms of what to introduce and when with my kids with regard to online experiences. We got internet in 1994 when I was 13 and I quickly found my way to IRC chatrooms. The vast majority of those experiences were innocuous and it some ways they helped me find my own voice....but there was also some things where I look back and say "yeah that wasn't a good idea". And yeah I did turn out just fine but the internet now is a far different place than the internet 30 years ago, not to mention that I had a level of maturity (if you can call any teenage boy mature) when I was exposed that my kids have not reached. You can have talks and try to educate your kids the best you can but its natural that they want to push boundaries as much as they can get away with (and sometimes even go beyond those boundaries). I do think my stance with Roblox is partly due to this issue and trying to figure out when its ok to give them a little more leeway and explore on their own knowing that it's not all sunshine and rainbows.
I didn't even know what Roblox was until I came across this video from People Make Games: https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ
While this is a year old, I found it pretty troubling! Seems like exploitation is built into the bones of Roblox and I'm not sure if there's a simple way to take that out.
Excellent stuff, Patrick. My eldest is getting old enough that she's getting curious about things like Roblox and Minecraft, and I want to be conscientious about how we introduce and monitor them in our family. Your insight has been terrific.
Add me to the list who Roblox is really the only hard no (so far!) with my kids (9 & 6). I know there are likely thousands of good, safe games and experiences for them within Roblox that they would enjoy. But there has been just enough stories of highly questionable games and experiences that really give me pause and I just don't have the bandwidth or really the desire to research and vet stuff. I know my kids want to play because their friends play but I have had basic talks with them and they seem to understand my stance.
One thing that Cecilia said pinged me, a little on topic and a little on topic:
"The reason why I'd hesitate rather than outright prohibit it is because I grew up in online games and turned out okay."
This has been something that I have struggled with in terms of what to introduce and when with my kids with regard to online experiences. We got internet in 1994 when I was 13 and I quickly found my way to IRC chatrooms. The vast majority of those experiences were innocuous and it some ways they helped me find my own voice....but there was also some things where I look back and say "yeah that wasn't a good idea". And yeah I did turn out just fine but the internet now is a far different place than the internet 30 years ago, not to mention that I had a level of maturity (if you can call any teenage boy mature) when I was exposed that my kids have not reached. You can have talks and try to educate your kids the best you can but its natural that they want to push boundaries as much as they can get away with (and sometimes even go beyond those boundaries). I do think my stance with Roblox is partly due to this issue and trying to figure out when its ok to give them a little more leeway and explore on their own knowing that it's not all sunshine and rainbows.
I didn't even know what Roblox was until I came across this video from People Make Games: https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ
While this is a year old, I found it pretty troubling! Seems like exploitation is built into the bones of Roblox and I'm not sure if there's a simple way to take that out.
Excellent stuff, Patrick. My eldest is getting old enough that she's getting curious about things like Roblox and Minecraft, and I want to be conscientious about how we introduce and monitor them in our family. Your insight has been terrific.