Having worked with many homeschooling parents in the UK to help turn around how their neurodivergent children perceive and experience Maths, I know you’re always looking for innovative ways to help your young genius learn and grow! And Roblox has been a fab way of achieving this. However, I often hear parents ask questions like: Should I still be letting my kid play Roblox outside of your Classes? Is Roblox bad for my child? How do we safely use Roblox for Maths? Well I believe that ensuring your child’s safety on Roblox is crucial for a positive learning experience. So in this blog post, we’ll discuss various aspects of Roblox security and provide the actionable tips I always give parents to help keep their children safe while enjoying our Roblox games. You know, safety first and all that jazz.
Understand Roblox’s Safety Features
Roblox has implemented several safety features over the years to help protect its users, particularly younger players. By default, accounts registered for children under 13 have strict privacy settings, including restricted chat functionality, limited access to specific games, and strict content filtering. However, I know many students lie about their age when initially making their account, and you may be surprised to find that your child is already an adult so far as Roblox knows. So you may wish to go in and check whether this is the case, and edit the settings yourself, as they have a lot of flexibility, which I’ll go into later.
As a parent, familiarise yourself with these settings and ensure they are enabled on your child’s account. Furthermore, you’ll want to create your own pin for the account, so your kids can’t change these settings after you’re happy with them. I always advise taking advantage of these safety features to create a secure learning environment for your child – better safe than sorry!
Create a Strong, Unique Password
Growing up through the advent of the internet, having strong passwords just wasn’t something we were told about as kids. I remember when my Runescape account got hacked as a kid – my password was quite literally ‘password’. Well, twenty years later, I know better than that – but your children likely don’t!
Creating strong, unique passwords applies to their entire online life, not just Roblox! I always encourage students and parents alike to create a strong, unique password that includes a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Also, remind them not to share their password with anyone, even friends. This step is crucial to protect your child’s privacy while they participate in BrainySpinach Maths Classes and adventures on Roblox. After all, you wouldn’t want anyone sneaking into their account like a digital ninja.
Tips from BrainySpinach: consider using a password manager to help your young Roblox Explorer remember the password. There are many free ones available – I use the Google one myself. I don’t know what I’d do without mine nowadays – I just checked, and I have over 200 passwords saved to it!
Enable Two-Step Verification
Two-step verification is an additional layer of security that requires users to enter a code sent to their email or mobile device when logging in from a new device. To enable two-step verification, visit your child’s account settings and follow the on-screen instructions. Enabling this feature is a incredibly strong extra layer of protection to your child’s account while they play The Math Obby and other Roblox games. Think of it as a digital bouncer keeping intruders out, but one the intruder can’t even speak to without your permission.
Teach Your Child About Safe Online Behavior
There’s no getting around this nowadays – it’s essential to educate your kids about safe online practices, including:
- Not sharing personal information (full name, address, phone number, etc.) with anyone online
- Not accepting friend requests or engaging in private chats with strangers, including making any virtual boyfriends or girlfriends
- Reporting inappropriate behaviour or content to Roblox moderators
- Teach them the adage, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is”, and how that applies to real Roblox examples – such as on the game Adopt Me, if someone were to offer them an extremely rare pet in Adopt Me for almost nothing in return, they are probably going to get tricked one way or another. It’s time to stop talking to them and block!
- Teach them that if someone you’re playing with starts to become angry with you, and begins messaging you mean and angry things – it doesn’t matter what they say, just don’t respond, let a responsible adult know, and block them! Then you won’t have to worry about them anymore. A lesson we could all learn.
BrainySpinach Maths also emphasises the importance of online safety during live tuition sessions, and often goes into great detail about how not to get scammed in many of the more popular games where you can trade pets and other items – because nobody wants a virtual scam artist running off with their prized pixelated possessions.
Explore Roblox together
There’s nothing more fun than sharing a bonding experience of exploring something new together. You can always ask your Roblox Explorer to show what games they have been playing, what players they have encountered and what they have learnt on the platform. If you are up for a challenge, you could play together with your kid to double the fun – find new interesting age-appropriate games to add to your safe list. It’s a great way of getting to grips with this world your child immerses themselves in – there is so, so much worth knowing about Roblox, and there’s no better way of learning it than playing!
Monitor your child’s activity
This pretty much comes hand-in-hand with the previous section, as you can’t do this effectively without really knowing how Roblox works. Regularly check your child’s Roblox activity, including their friends’ list, messages, and the games they’re playing. It’s particularly important when they’re participating in BrainySpinach Maths Classes as it allows you to track their progress and ensure they’re engaged in a safe learning environment. If you notice any suspicious behaviour or inappropriate content, report it to Roblox and BrainySpinach Maths immediately. Keep an eye on their digital playground, just like you would in the real world.
Build a list of safe games
If you don’t know where to start – check out the Learn & Explore selection curated by Roblox or the Top 5 Best Maths Games on Roblox recommended by BrainySpinach Maths. Pay attention to the age recommendations of each game and choose the ones you find appropriate for your child. The games we could recommend starting with are: Build a Boat for Treasure, Expedition Antarctica, and the grandad of cool Roblox Maths games, ‘Math Obby’. How do you block inappropriate games on Roblox? Enable account restrictions in the account settings of your Roblox Explorer to ensure your peace of mind. Again, add a security pin if you want to be the only one who can alter the settings.
Customise Privacy and Security Settings
Take advantage of Roblox’s privacy settings to further protect your child. You can adjust settings like:
- Who can message your child
- Who can chat with your child in-game
- Who can invite your child to private servers
- Who can follow your child on the platform
Visit your child’s account settings to review and modify these privacy options. Customising these settings will give you peace of mind while your child enjoys BrainySpinach Maths games and other Roblox experiences. It’s like being a digital superhero, keeping your child’s virtual world safe and sound.
In conclusion, Roblox can be an excellent platform for neurodivergent children to learn and have fun, particularly through our innovative Classes. As a homeschooling parent in the UK, it’s essential to be proactive about your child’s online safety, especially as they’ll have far more opportunities to play on the platform compared to your average school goer. Familiarising yourself with Roblox’s safety features, teaching your child responsible online behaviour, monitoring their activities, and customising privacy settings will ensure a safe and enjoyable experience. By taking these precautions, you can support your child’s learning journey with BrainySpinach Maths and help them develop essential skills for a successful future in STEM fields. Remember, being vigilant is key – just like that time you child-proofed every corner of the house.
Stay safe out there!
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