Hey Dearies! I wanted to talk about this topic as my daughter is into gaming, and some of the games she plays, I don’t see any issue with; however, there are some games that I thought were fine, but they really aren’t.
Growing up, we had a home computer that our family would use daily. My mom would be watching us like a hawk when we were on the internet. If we were playing the many educational CD Rom games, she wouldn’t have to worry. However, once I was in middle school, I had a little bit more freedom to explore the internet.
I completely understand why my mom watched us like a hawk whenever we were on the internet.
Nowadays, kids have access to tablets, smartphones, computers, and gaming consoles, so they cannot only play games, but also have access to play online with others. If you were like me and grew up playing the Super Nintendo, you never really had to worry about “online gameplay”.
However, you really DO need to worry. Especially if your kids play online.
Roblox
So, what started this was the fact that my daughter likes to play Roblox with her cousins. I signed up with an account to kinda check it out for myself, just to see what the fuss was about.
Well, once I started playing a few games, it seemed pretty harmless, but I jumped onto one server where this random person had messaged me saying I was ugly. I didn’t react because it’s literally a blocky character that’s your avatar. I honestly thought it was funny; however, depending on how young the players you have on here are, that could really upset them.
Ironically, I came across a video from this guy Visual Venture, about Roblox. I got curious and watched it. It really opened my eyes to how DANGEROUS this game really is.
Here is the video that I watched. Any parents who have their kids playing Roblox, I HIGHLY recommend watching this:
He not only breaks down some of the flaws about how Roblox can allow ANYONE to sign up and play, but how there are predators that have used Roblox to lure their victims.
Visual Venture talks about how the game is actually rating T for teens, but there are kids as young as 5 years old that are on this platform playing. The game was originally meant for players to create their own games and share for others to play, however, its not as sweet and innocent as you think.
When I saw this article, being pissed was an understatement:
You read that right, Roblox BANNED a guy that was trying to get predators off the platform, after he, himself, was groomed online by a predator. You’d think that Roblox would want to work with Schlep, the one banned, to make their platform safer for kids.
If you read in the article, there have been so many cases where Schlep has gotten justice for getting these real-life predators arrested, so that no other kids have to experience being groomed or worse abducted.
This is why I won’t let my daughter play Roblox.
Now, Roblox isn’t the only game you need to worry about, anytime your child has access to the internet, you need to always have your guard up. We can’t always protect them when it comes to the internet, but we can teach our kids about using the internet safely.
Here are a few things to teach your kids about protecting themselves online:
- Never give out personal information
- This is pretty common sense, but definitely a very good reminder.
- Think of the word “Yappy”:
- Y – Your Full Name
- A – Address (Home/School/Email)
- P – Phone Number
- P – Passwords
- Y – Your plans & birthday
- Keep your passwords safe
- Having a family Password/Username booklet can be very helpful for this! (Especially if you are like me and have a few streaming services)
- Make your passwords long or use a phrase to ensure that no one can get it.
- Avoid using personal names/birthdays/or same passwords.
- Don’t talk to Strangers!
- Same if it was in person.
- Only talk to those online, IF you have met them in person.
- Tell an Adult if something doesn’t seem right
- If something looks bad or seems bad, tell your teacher, parent, or a trusted adult.
- Parents: Don’t get upset with them as if it happens again, they might not want to tell you if they get in trouble.
- Best way to prevent them searching random stuff is having parental locks and only have selective websites from a trusted source.
- This also applies to any conversation they have online with others.
- Ask before you Download
- Always explain to them that not every website can be trusted and that they need to ask before downloading anything.
- I see this more as a problem for young teens who don’t realize that the free game they want could be a virus.
- Always Be Kind!
- Remind your child that being kind to everyone!
- Just remind them that you never want to be rude or mean to anyone because you never know who is on the other side of the screen.
As parents, we need to do anything and everything to protect our children, as using the internet because more and more normal each day, its best to make sure our children are growing up knowing how to use it safely.
Its just like them having cell phones at a young age. I didn’t have one until I was 13, the same age you’d need to be to sign up for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. We shouldn’t be pushing the limits and having our children have access to those until they really understand and know how to use them respectfully and are actually the correct age to be on them.
Teaching them that anything you post, say, or do, you can’t just delete it and its gone, it will ALWAYS be on the internet in one form or another.
Let me know in the comments what you think about all this!
(Yes, I did use AI to general the man photo, got curious to try it out!)
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