Clickity clackity click goes the sound of the keyboard as I load into a blocky green terrain, a tall grey tower in the distance. A message pops up on my screen: “Disaster Warning: Creeps! Seek Shelter.”
I was about eight years old when I started playing Roblox, a game platform featuring Lego-like characters. It was a wonder, really. I could go from running away from a monster in Flee the Facility to managing my very own restaurant in Restaurant Tycoon. Unfortunately, Roblox is the equivalent of a white van with “candy” written on the side.
Since August, a new controversy questioning Roblox’s ability to protect its underage users has arisen with their ban of Schlep, a YouTuber known for catching Roblox child predators. His motive? Stopping what happened to him as a young child on Roblox from happening to other players. This incident sparked concerns about Roblox’s child safety policies, with the hashtag “freeschlep” circulating widely on social media. This event has been the impetus for several lawsuits, including one from a local family in Las Vegas.
From what I’ve seen, there are three major factors impacting child safety on Roblox, also known as G.A.G.: gambling, addiction, and grooming.
Cards, poker chips, and slot machines are what many picture when they think about gambling. However, gambling takes a different form on Roblox (at least since 2023 when gambling was officially banned on Roblox). One example is from Adopt Me!, a popular pet-collecting and role-playing game. In this game, players can buy eggs, either with that game’s virtual currency or Robux, to randomly hatch pets with varying levels of rarity. Adopt Me! isn’t the only game where users can purchase a type of lootbox to randomly gain a reward. Other games have also implemented this feature in the form of cosmetic crates.
So, why are lootboxes so bad anyway? According to a 2019 study by Zendle, Meyer, and Over, lootbox buying in adolescents was positively associated with problem gambling. One of my elementary friends lost his home because of how bad his dad’s gambling was. Do we really want our youth normalizing this? Might as well unban actual gambling and tell them to place it all on red.
Beyond gambling, addiction is another issue with Roblox’s platform. Many Roblox games are designed to be addictive in order to generate more revenue. No people playing often means a Roblox developer can’t cash out. In fact, Brandon Johnson, a local Las Vegas dad, filed a complaint against Roblox Corporation for causing his 12-year-old son to develop “a disordered relationship” with Roblox. A 12-year-old should have impulse control and know that this is an unhealthy behavior. In another universe, he’s surely doing something more productive instead of rotting away on Roblox.
Finally, grooming is a prevalent issue on Roblox’s platform and the main point of concern that has brought attention to Roblox. One of the first games I’ve ever played on Roblox was called MeepCity, which later became infamous for its inappropriate user-hosted parties. I remember that I stopped playing MeepCity because of how uncomfortable I was with these creepy people.
More recently, Roblox hosted an event, The Hunt, and initially included developer TheOfficialTeddy, infamous for making suggestive games such as Hug People Simulator. Why didn’t Roblox research the developers it included in a platform-wide event? Some clueless kid could have looked at TheOfficalTeddy’s other games and been exposed to the Roblox equivalent of a Diddy party.
Roblox claims to be doing enough to protect its players. Age verification is used to restrict mature content for kids, and chat filtering aims to block swearing. Roblox also justifies the Schlep ban because he engaged in ”simulated child endangerment conversations.”
My main issue with Roblox is that they seem to only act when an issue is so big that they can’t ignore it. Age verification was only added after many children were already exposed to mature content, and it can be bypassed by a savvy player. Moreover, in response to the TheOfficialTeddy scandal, he only got taken off the event after much user backlash.
Yes, there are users on Roblox who are grown-ups, but Roblox should provide more protections for the minors on its platform. If we don’t protect our youth, then what is the point of protecting anything? The youth are the pillar of our future. With the growing prevalence of children flocking to video games for entertainment, these video game companies need to step up to protect their young users.
I call on Roblox to implement more safety measures. Roblox should put restrictions on games with lootboxes, encourage setting time limits on its website, and improve its moderation. If Roblox truly values its players, it should focus on prioritizing their safety instead of profit. Unlike on Roblox, the lives of people aren’t a game.
