Dear Editor,
I just read the article written by Naomi Jackson titled “What is Roblox?”. This article does talk about being careful and that there is bullying, racism, and homophobia on Roblox, but “Roblox is a wonderful, but sometimes harsh, online gaming community. It is growing and changing for the good as more voices speak out and stop cyberbullying and scams. Roblox is safe to play, and incredibly fun to explore with your friends, and might just be the community for you.” Her final sentence is encouraging parents to allow their children to use this app with their friends as it is “safe and incredibly fun to explore.”
I am sorry, but I am a parent of a 10-year-old girl and this game is anything but being safe from the information I have gotten from her and her friends. My daughter was bugging me and bugging me to get this app and I kept putting her off because I hadn’t had a chance to look into it and talk to my friends about it. Then one day she came home and said she wanted NOTHING to do with it at all. She told me how two girls in her Grade 5 class (8 and 9 yr olds) were playing and had their own avatars and decided to go into a private room together where they proceeded to have virtual sex with their avatars for three hours a night for a while.
I had another friend who set the parental controls and when she looked in on her son who was playing, someone had gone in on their end and turned off the settings she had set and was chatting with her son….she turned the settings off again, but a bit later it happened again. This was not her son who changed the settings, it was someone online trying to get at him.
I would highly suggest that you take a look at this website I use to review apps before I approve them for my children. This is the review they did on Roblox and it is extremely different from the article written in the paper this week. I would also suggest that your reporter talk to other parents who have children who have experiences and information on this kind of thing.
In summary, I feel there should have been a lot more information for parents so they know both sides of this app and therefore could actually make an informed decision about it. This was not a good overall explanation of this app and did not reveal the truth about what can happen in this app. As a parent just reading her article, I would totally feel fine about signing my kid up for this; but, after talking to my friends and reading this article, I would 100% NOT let my children of any age get into this environment. I think if you are going to give parents/readers information about an app, then I think you should give them the tools to protect their children and also tell them the pros and cons of an app.
There are much better online apps and games out there for kids to use with their friends that will not expose them to unnecessary violence, rape, bullying, racism, homophobia, and other graphics that are offensive.
Angela Wood
