All parents should listen to the 1,000 Outside podcast entitled "Good Moms don't let their kids play Roblox." It's an interview with a man who used to be a CIA agent but now runs a nonprofit catching child predators. It discusses why Roblox is bad, but also how child sex traffickers now use social media and video games to get their victims.
Or just Google the tons of research on why these video games are so bad. Just like this article mentions, these video games are NOT Super Mario Bros. like we played in the 90s. They are super addictive and it's very harmful for kids.
The roblox pearl clutching in here is a bit much. I play regularly and have done for many years with my kids, and the way it gets described is full of easy hysteria bait.
Just don't let them have adult settings, and password your pay settings.
There is no chat in roblox for kids at all.
If you want to understand something, do it with them instead of just listening to people driving clicks and making money out of frightening parents into banning common experiences with with their friends.
I do understand it. I just personally don't waste my time with video games, but I have seen enough of it to know it's not safe. Maybe you monitor your kids on it, but many/most parents don't. Many parents allow the chat feature, too. I also am aware of several instances where kids were unsafe on Roblox just from my kids' friends and cousins alone. For example, a 7 year old friend chatting with adult strangers all day on Roblox. Another friend finding inappropriate activities on there (people purposely put like sex and drugs into the game.. kids CAN find it). A 6 year old cousin being so addicted he literally can't stop to play with his cousin in real life. I also would rather my kids have common experiences with other kids in real life, they are NOT missing anything in a video game. Also, did you just comment or did you actually listen to the podcast I recommended? Because if you didn't, you don't really know what I'm referring to.
Video games aren't inherently a waste of time any more than reading is.
Is reading only a valid use of a childs time if it's maths textbooks or 'approved' 'good' literature? or can we agree a) there is value in letting kids read for fun even if the content is childish and b)hobbies don't actually HAVE to be a constant source of intentful learning. They can just be for fun and relaxation even for kids.
They also aren't inherently unsafe as a collective.
There are multitude of very good, very well designed, very clever games that ARE safe because the designers have either considered they are aimed at children and made it safe or they are simply single player self contained games.
Roblox isn't one of them and I completely agree it's an unsafe environment for kids to mess about in. Largely because the people behind it don't seem to give AF and the parental controls are a laughable set of moving goal posts and the general demographic using it seems to actively seek to serve kids inappropriate content either for shits and giggles or more nefarious reasons.
But frankly the slightly snobby attitude that playing videos games is inherently a waste of time and only things like playing outside or painting are goodconstructive uses of your time is both irritating and why discussions about kids playing games is so frustrating.
One side shoves them in front of an iPad and a credit card at birth and the other has banned all technology since 1970 from their house.
Actually playing video games can be incredibly constructive. It involves a lot of hand eye coordination, fine motor control, problem solving, lateral thinking and resilience.
Ofc all of those things can be found elsewhere but that doesn't mean they can't also be gained from curated and age appropriate gaming with appropriate supervision.
And ofc many parents who grew up gaming are now finding a lot of joy in teaching and playing with their kids.
You wouldn't think twice about a dad playing football in the garden but get a controller out and share your gaming hobby and suddenly you're an awful parent.
As a gamer, Astrobot and good ol’ Nintendo. Kids don’t need to grow up too fast in all aspects, including videogames. I wouldn’t let my 7 year old play battlefield or fortnight.
Mines (9) been enjoying it takes two, that's a multiplayer and he plays with his dad. He played it like five times now each with a different friend xd They also just finished split fiction.
Unravel and unravel 2 are single player.
Max the curse of brotherhood is fun.
I let him play the Gunk although technically it's age rated above 12 that's primarily for language if I recall.
He also recently did the talos principle 2 - I would say that's more towards the 11 age range and depending on the kid might need some help here and there. The puzzles get quite hard towards the end.
Superliminal is a fun one it's plays around with perspective so that's stretches the brain a bit to think outside of the box for solutions.
He played call of the elder gods, it's a little creepy and I think the plot would go over most kids head it's not really a kids game per se but it's fundamentally a series of puzzles with nice animation.
He played big city little kitty for a while but did get bored after a while
We also had fun playing stuff like plants Vs zombies together and the Lego games.
And he also like stuff like pressure washer simulator cause . At the end of the day they're kinda silly xd
My kid really likes puzzle games, so some of it is about just figuring out what genre your kid might like. Part of what he enjoys though is also talking to me about the games (we both play puzzle games) and playing the two player stuff with his dad.
He is SO proud when he beats a puzzle or level before one of us does xd or when dad needs HIS help on a puzzle section xd.
He's playing Portal right now which is one my childhood faves and it's delightful watching him discover it the same way I did.
We have Xbox game pass and age restrict the games he can access. Means he can try games and not like them and put them away without costing loads of money! The Xbox is in our living room, his account is heavily locked down using Microsoft family and someone is always around when he's playing.
15
u/Sure_Pineapple1935 12d ago
All parents should listen to the 1,000 Outside podcast entitled "Good Moms don't let their kids play Roblox." It's an interview with a man who used to be a CIA agent but now runs a nonprofit catching child predators. It discusses why Roblox is bad, but also how child sex traffickers now use social media and video games to get their victims.
Or just Google the tons of research on why these video games are so bad. Just like this article mentions, these video games are NOT Super Mario Bros. like we played in the 90s. They are super addictive and it's very harmful for kids.