Is Roblox Safe for Kids?

Since its release in 2006, Roblox has been targeted to a younger audience; today, around 60% of its playerbase is 16 and under, and 40% are 13 and under.
Tragically, this younger demographic has allegedly attracted thousands of child groomers and sexual predators to the game, as stories have begun popping up of incredibly alarming scenarios involving adults inappropriately interacting with minors on the platform.
According to KRON4 News, two San Francisco parents filed a lawsuit against Roblox earlier this year, claiming that their 13-year-old son was coerced into sending sexually explicit photos of himself to a stranger whom he met on the kids’ game.
The predator, 27-year-old Sebastian Romero, was found to have allegedly exploited 25 other minors on Roblox after a search warrant was issued for his home.
The child’s parents claimed that they allowed their son to play Roblox without supervision because of the company’s constant assurance of its safety for minors.
When asked about how Roblox could improve its safety for young players, Senior Alianna Santana said she believes that the company should “restrict games kids aren’t allowed access to.”
This case is not unique, however, as many other children across the country have been reported to have come into contact with online predators on the app.
According to KCCI News, an even more extreme instance of this happened this past July when a 13-year-old girl living in Des Moines, Iowa, was kidnapped by 37-year-old Martin Sandoval and driven to Tennessee, where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted before being found by the police.
The girl’s family is suing Roblox, claiming they failed to implement proper child safety measures on their game.
Many believe that proper internet safety should be taught to young children so that they can avoid situations like these.
Senior Lucca Rodriguez said, “Don’t trust any ‘randoms’ when or if they start trying to talk about private stuff. It’s just like when parents tell you not to talk to strangers; the same thing applies. Too many kids trust people online, and that’s how they get kidnapped.”
According to NBC, there has been a recent uproar in the gaming community following the permanent ban of Schlep, a popular 22-year-old YouTuber who got famous for busting pedophiles on Roblox.
Schlep would run sting operations in which he would pose as a minor and chat with sexual predators, eventually convincing them to meet up in real life.
Upon arrival, he would confront the predator on a live stream with screenshots of all their chat logs and call law enforcement.
Schlep, who amassed 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube, was issued a cease and desist from Roblox; the company claimed that he didn’t follow “proper reporting protocols” and promoted dangerous behavior.
The Roblox community was enraged by this because Schlep’s actions had led to the arrests of six alleged child predators.
As this issue becomes more and more common, parents around the world wonder if any video games are truly safe for their children.
As Roblox developers continue to ignore the problem at hand, it raises the question of whether it is safe for kids to play online games anymore.