Roblox’s addictive nature isn’t healthy for children.
A father of a 9-year-old obsessed with Roblox said it is equivalent having “a son who was on meth.”
Addiction experts say games like Roblox create “variable-reward loops’ that resemble those used in adult gambling apps. Children are especially susceptible, The Atlantic reported.
“There is evidence showing that the earlier that a child is exposed to social media, the more likely they are to get addicted to social media,” said Stanford’s Anna Lembke. “So we can infer from that that the earlier they’re exposed to gambling, the more likely they are to get addicted to gambling.”
Earlier this year, an independent game developer for Roblox said the platform’s child safety measures are not sufficient. The developer told The BBC that children should be monitored every minute that they use Roblox, and if that can’t happen, then they shouldn’t be on it.
A spokesperson for Roblox said “safety is a top priority, and we have advanced safeguards and filters designed to prevent harmful content and communications on our platform to keep all our users safe.”
The content itself varies a lot, from horror and shopping games to shooting simulations that mimic mass shooting events.
Related: Roblox Attempts to Silence YouTuber Who Exposed Predators on the Platform
However, Roblox has constantly proven to be unsafe for children and a hotspot for predators.
The developer, who also served as a safety monitor, said, “I’ve seen people on this platform be lured into engaging in ways that they shouldn’t with complete strangers. I have seen games where the goal is to shoot as many people as possible in the depicted version of Sandy Hook or Columbine. I’ve seen remakes of Epstein Island on Roblox.”
He also states about 30% of issues submitted for concern are actually addressed by Roblox.
Last year, researchers found that children as young as five were able to communicate with adults while playing games on the platform. This was after Roblox changed its settings so that accounts listed as belonging to under-13s can no longer directly message those outside of games or experiences, per The Guardian.
They also found 10-year-olds could access sexual situations with ease, such as fake clubs with characters exposing a lot of nudity and a female character with fishnet stockings moving suggestively on a hotel bed.
Players can also overhear conversations, such as those that verbalize sexual activity and kissing and grunting noises when using the voice chat function. Voice chat is available to users 13 and up.
Louisiana State Representative Laurie Schlegel said last year, “For the last couple of years, I have passed a number of child online protection bills. And every year, Roblox hires lobbyists to oppose and actively work to stall my bills…For a platform that has been described in the news as having a pedophile problem, you would think Roblox would make drastic changes. But they have consistently shown they put profits over child safety.”
If you have a child plays Roblox, consider giving them another alternative or allow them to play only under your supervision.
Read Next: Roblox Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Enabling Underage Gambling on Site
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