By Gavin Boyle
While video games have become the de facto pastime for the younger generation, parents should be aware of what their children are playing and who they are meeting if they are playing online games.
“The problem is with the growth of games’ social networking spaces has exponentially outpaced the way the gaming industry has kept up with their moderation,” said mental health researcher Dr. Rachel Kowert, noting that video games have become the new place children are targeted by bad actors. “They shouldn’t leave the game with a stranger — just like you wouldn’t leave the park with a stranger. If somebody’s saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you leave this gaming space and come join these other people on a third-party server,’ that’s usually a red flag — especially for younger children.”
Problems like this have only gotten worse as video games with public chatrooms have gotten more and more popular. Some games like this include Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft. This is a major reason why many internet safety experts would never allow their children to play these games.
These public chat rooms allow older players to target the younger user base, unfortunately creating opportunities for pedophiles and extremist organizations.
“They asked for sexual pictures, they wanted to see my naked body…” an 8-year-old boy previously told the BBC when explaining his experience playing on Roblox, per India Today. “They tried to portray it as being okay and normal.”
Related: Roblox Isn’t Safe for Your Kids. In Fact, It’s a ‘Pedophile Hellscape’
After years of allowing its weak moderation policies to be exploited, Roblox has begun to take its role in protecting its young users seriously. Last fall, the company introduced a number of new moderation policies which would allow parents to have more control over the content their kids could access on the site.
“As parents look for ways to stay informed and engaged in their children’s digital lives, Roblox’s enhanced parental controls are a considerable leap forward,” the Family Online Safety Institute, which helped the game institute these changes, CEO Stephen Balkam said. “By offering robust tools for non-intrusive monitoring and privacy, Roblox is providing families with the confidence they need to foster a secure and enriching online environment.”
“With the development of more parental controls, Roblox is addressing what all companies should be addressing: the need to improve safety features for kids and empower parents with the tools they need to help their kids navigate the complex media ecosystem,” added National Association for Media Literacy Education executive director Michelle Ciulla Lipkin.
Nonetheless, video game moderation policies are always able to be worked around by perpetrators looking to exploit young users. The best defense are involved parents who have frequent conversations with their kids about what they are experiencing while online.
Read Next: Korie Robertson Calls for Parents to Exercise Discernment with Video Games
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