4 ms·

I let my kid play Roblox for a couple of weeks and I was absolutely horrified by all the inducements to seek Robux. So I removed it from her iPad, which is lock

I let my kid play Roblox for a couple of weeks and I was absolutely horrified by all the inducements to seek Robux. So I removed it from her iPad, which is locked down. She gets along just fine without Roblox.

ryanjshaw 11mo ago
I play Roblox with my daughter from time to time and we have lots of fun. I’ve explained the dangers to her (strangers messaging, gambling style games, etc), and I see it as an opportunity to teach her while she still listens to me. When she’s older and I’m not privy to everything she does on a computer I don’t want her stumbling across these things uninformed. A portion of her pocket money goes to Robux, which she saves up for special outfits (eg halloween) or creatures in her favorite game about birds. No different from the hobbies many adults have - except I use it as a teaching opportunity about saving, buyer’s remorse etc., again while she’s still young and listening.
- Fuzzwah 11mo ago
  I've had a similar approach. My kids computers are setup next to mine and I keep an eye on what they're playing. I've instigated a purchase wait period of at least 3 days. Very often they themselves realize that the thing that they wanted to spend their pocket money on was a brief desire. I was super proud when I heard my son say "meh, this is pay to win" as quitting a random roblox game he was trying out.
  - graemep 11mo ago
    > My kids computers are setup next to mine and I keep an eye on what they're playing. laptops and phones mage that a lot harder.
    - toshinoriyagi 11mo ago
      They don't have to have those. Depending on your definition of "kids", most people on HN I imagine are not giving their kids phones, laptops, or tablets at young ages (maybe less than ~13?). And if they do, I imagine the devices are somewhat locked down and monitored. I think the more technologically literate a person is, the more wary they are of unfettered access to it for children. Hence, preferring a stationary desktop where use can be supervised.
      - graemep 11mo ago
        I agree desktops are best, and they are what my kids started with, but there is a lot of pressure to give kids phones. For example, where I live, the cheapest (monthly) bus tickets require an app, so kids need a smartphone to get to school (or their parents have to pay a lot more for daily tickets). There is a lot of social pressure on the kids too. There are lots of activities that have either moved online or are organised online. Lots of ways to get left out.
        sillyfluke 11mo ago
        >bus tickets require an app this stuff seems criminal to me...and outright bigotry against poor people.
- anon84873628 11mo ago
  To summarize a bit glibly, you're saying to be a good parent. Which of course is awesome, and it is important for people like yourself to explain how to do that using the available tools, etc. I think the concern many people have is that not everyone, maybe even not most, are good parents. They are themselves addicted to their screens, sports betting, credit cards, etc etc. How much of a "nanny state" we create is a fair question. Of course due to economic incentives the companies will generally tend to outsource the problem as "be better parents", and indeed the problems of digital society are not these games' fault or burden alone. But to me it seems we have to break the cycle somewhere, and regulating these apps more is a perfectly sensible starting point. We should have freedom, yes, but also need to make systems that match reality on the ground and don't fail under the lowest common denominator situation. Edit: not to assume you were implying otherwise. Just that we should avoid the "well it's not a problem for me, just do <x>" error.
- jajuuka 11mo ago
  This is such a good approach. You're sharing interests with your daughter and teaching her valuable skills to confront problems she will absolutely face as an adult. Having the good foundation will give her a leg up later in life for sure and I wish more parents followed this example.
watwut 11mo ago
Roblox is popular precisely because majority of kids play it for free without buying Robux.
- bdangubic 11mo ago
  nothing is free… :)
  - PaulHoule 11mo ago
    There are a lot of free-to-play mobile games (say Arknights) that you can play for free and have a pretty good time. I got lucky and got two “game breaking” characters playing for a reasonable time but if you have the idea that you absolutely have to have a specific character or collect all of them boy you can spend a crazy amount of money and those people pay for all the rest of us.
- hamdingers 11mo ago
  I would be surprised if that were true. Roblox was one of the earliest games to have their digital currency for sale in corner stores where kids can buy it with cash.
Nextgrid 11mo ago
The problem is that just like boycotts/individual action doesn't work (besides a handful of lucky exceptions), this won't work either if all your kids' peers are on it. Being the "odd one out" brings its own share of problems, especially in a volatile environment where any pretext for bullying is a good one. This is why we need regulation. Both for child-focused platforms, but also for adults (regarding social media).
- in_cahoots 11mo ago
  I agree mostly. But I would push back on the idea that you need to let your child do whatever (play on Roblox, get fancy clothes or toys, etc) because of bullying. You're trading one set of potential problems for another set of known problems, and letting your own fears dictate how you raise your kids. How do you expect your kids to stand up to peer pressure as teenagers if you give into their peers when they are younger? I get it. We all look back at the pain from our childhoods and try to shield our kids from that pain. But unless you want your kid to be average in every way there's going to be a chance of bullying. Focus on building a strong relationship with them so that you can guide them through it if it happens.
seanmcdirmid 11mo ago
I still let my kid play a couple of hours a week, but told him no robux at all, it just wasn't something we were even going to consider. Let's see how it lasts, hopefully I can get him interested in something else but somehow his entire local social circle collapsed when we made him cut back on his play time. Its not even strangers at this point, but kids at school that have caused conflicts.
ErroneousBosh 11mo ago
My son plays Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 on the Playstation sometimes, if all his homework is done and his room is tidyish. No inducements to buy in-game currencies, no weird people chatting to my child online, no deeply profoundly unsettling user-generated content. About the only downside is that I occasionally have to remind him that his teacher probably doesn't really want to hear about Screaming Females or Rough Francis or Bad Religion, although it's perfectly okay for him to have opinions about them. Plus I doubt I'm ever seeing my initials on the highscore table ever again. The Future Is Now, Old Man.
- beAbU 11mo ago
  Man... Pro skater 2. That game's soundtrack/playlist is forever burned into my memories.
  - ErroneousBosh 11mo ago
    The PS4 remake is excellent. Sure, the maps have been restyled a bit, but the warehouse looks just as good as you remember, and you remember it as looking a hell of a lot better than it really did. THPS1 is forever intertwined with having a few pints with my wee sister, pick up a curry and some beer on the way round to hers, then watch The West Wing, then beating her boyfriend at Tony Hawks', drinking beer, and eating curry until the small hours of Sunday morning. In the early 2000s, we really did have it all, didn't we?

ryanjshaw 11mo ago

I play Roblox with my daughter from time to time and we have lots of fun. I’ve explained the dangers to her (strangers messaging, gambling style games, etc), and I see it as an opportunity to teach her while she still listens to me. When she’s older and I’m not privy to everything she does on a computer I don’t want her stumbling across these things uninformed. A portion of her pocket money goes to Robux, which she saves up for special outfits (eg halloween) or creatures in her favorite game about birds. No different from the hobbies many adults have - except I use it as a teaching opportunity about saving, buyer’s remorse etc., again while she’s still young and listening.

Fuzzwah 11mo ago
I've had a similar approach. My kids computers are setup next to mine and I keep an eye on what they're playing. I've instigated a purchase wait period of at least 3 days. Very often they themselves realize that the thing that they wanted to spend their pocket money on was a brief desire. I was super proud when I heard my son say "meh, this is pay to win" as quitting a random roblox game he was trying out.
- graemep 11mo ago
  > My kids computers are setup next to mine and I keep an eye on what they're playing. laptops and phones mage that a lot harder.
  - toshinoriyagi 11mo ago
    They don't have to have those. Depending on your definition of "kids", most people on HN I imagine are not giving their kids phones, laptops, or tablets at young ages (maybe less than ~13?). And if they do, I imagine the devices are somewhat locked down and monitored. I think the more technologically literate a person is, the more wary they are of unfettered access to it for children. Hence, preferring a stationary desktop where use can be supervised.
    - graemep 11mo ago
      I agree desktops are best, and they are what my kids started with, but there is a lot of pressure to give kids phones. For example, where I live, the cheapest (monthly) bus tickets require an app, so kids need a smartphone to get to school (or their parents have to pay a lot more for daily tickets). There is a lot of social pressure on the kids too. There are lots of activities that have either moved online or are organised online. Lots of ways to get left out.
      - sillyfluke 11mo ago
        >bus tickets require an app this stuff seems criminal to me...and outright bigotry against poor people.
anon84873628 11mo ago
To summarize a bit glibly, you're saying to be a good parent. Which of course is awesome, and it is important for people like yourself to explain how to do that using the available tools, etc. I think the concern many people have is that not everyone, maybe even not most, are good parents. They are themselves addicted to their screens, sports betting, credit cards, etc etc. How much of a "nanny state" we create is a fair question. Of course due to economic incentives the companies will generally tend to outsource the problem as "be better parents", and indeed the problems of digital society are not these games' fault or burden alone. But to me it seems we have to break the cycle somewhere, and regulating these apps more is a perfectly sensible starting point. We should have freedom, yes, but also need to make systems that match reality on the ground and don't fail under the lowest common denominator situation. Edit: not to assume you were implying otherwise. Just that we should avoid the "well it's not a problem for me, just do <x>" error.
jajuuka 11mo ago
This is such a good approach. You're sharing interests with your daughter and teaching her valuable skills to confront problems she will absolutely face as an adult. Having the good foundation will give her a leg up later in life for sure and I wish more parents followed this example.

watwut 11mo ago

Roblox is popular precisely because majority of kids play it for free without buying Robux.

bdangubic 11mo ago
nothing is free… :)
- PaulHoule 11mo ago
  There are a lot of free-to-play mobile games (say Arknights) that you can play for free and have a pretty good time. I got lucky and got two “game breaking” characters playing for a reasonable time but if you have the idea that you absolutely have to have a specific character or collect all of them boy you can spend a crazy amount of money and those people pay for all the rest of us.
hamdingers 11mo ago
I would be surprised if that were true. Roblox was one of the earliest games to have their digital currency for sale in corner stores where kids can buy it with cash.

Nextgrid 11mo ago

The problem is that just like boycotts/individual action doesn't work (besides a handful of lucky exceptions), this won't work either if all your kids' peers are on it. Being the "odd one out" brings its own share of problems, especially in a volatile environment where any pretext for bullying is a good one. This is why we need regulation. Both for child-focused platforms, but also for adults (regarding social media).

in_cahoots 11mo ago
I agree mostly. But I would push back on the idea that you need to let your child do whatever (play on Roblox, get fancy clothes or toys, etc) because of bullying. You're trading one set of potential problems for another set of known problems, and letting your own fears dictate how you raise your kids. How do you expect your kids to stand up to peer pressure as teenagers if you give into their peers when they are younger? I get it. We all look back at the pain from our childhoods and try to shield our kids from that pain. But unless you want your kid to be average in every way there's going to be a chance of bullying. Focus on building a strong relationship with them so that you can guide them through it if it happens.

seanmcdirmid 11mo ago

I still let my kid play a couple of hours a week, but told him no robux at all, it just wasn't something we were even going to consider. Let's see how it lasts, hopefully I can get him interested in something else but somehow his entire local social circle collapsed when we made him cut back on his play time. Its not even strangers at this point, but kids at school that have caused conflicts.

ErroneousBosh 11mo ago

My son plays Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 on the Playstation sometimes, if all his homework is done and his room is tidyish. No inducements to buy in-game currencies, no weird people chatting to my child online, no deeply profoundly unsettling user-generated content. About the only downside is that I occasionally have to remind him that his teacher probably doesn't really want to hear about Screaming Females or Rough Francis or Bad Religion, although it's perfectly okay for him to have opinions about them. Plus I doubt I'm ever seeing my initials on the highscore table ever again. The Future Is Now, Old Man.

beAbU 11mo ago
Man... Pro skater 2. That game's soundtrack/playlist is forever burned into my memories.
- ErroneousBosh 11mo ago
  The PS4 remake is excellent. Sure, the maps have been restyled a bit, but the warehouse looks just as good as you remember, and you remember it as looking a hell of a lot better than it really did. THPS1 is forever intertwined with having a few pints with my wee sister, pick up a curry and some beer on the way round to hers, then watch The West Wing, then beating her boyfriend at Tony Hawks', drinking beer, and eating curry until the small hours of Sunday morning. In the early 2000s, we really did have it all, didn't we?