Roblox: Innocent Game Or A Threat To Children?

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter, or Telegram and WhatsApp channels for the latest stories and updates. Video and online games, particularly Roblox, is getting some serious mention time in local online conversations these past few days due to an incident in Johor. A six-year-old was said to have sustained neck injuries allegedly inflicted by his nine-year-old brother in Batu Pahat. Police are not discounting the possibilty that the incident was influenced by Roblox. According to a report by Sinar Harian, initial findings by the police suggest that the older brother might have attacked his younger sibling because the points he had collected in Roblox were lost after his phone was damaged. Johor police chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad explained that the older sibling allegedly became enraged when his mobile game session was disrupted, causing him to lose approximately one million points. Additionally, investigators suspect that the child may have experienced hallucinations due to excessive gaming. “The elder brother is believed to have experienced hallucinations at night as a result of the game and seemed to be ‘instructed’ to harm his family members before attacking his brother with a knife found in the house,” Rahaman said. On 29 October, a new development unfolded as the Batu Pahat Magistrate’s Court ordered a two-day remand for the boys’ parents to assist with ongoing investigations under Section 326 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt using a dangerous weapon and Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 for negligence. The shocking case has ignited national concern about the possible risks of unsupervised gaming among children. Experts have previously cautioned that overexposure to online games featuring violence or competition can lead to desensitization in young individuals and a blurring of the boundaries between reality and virtual situations. As investigations continue, this case serves as a chilling reminder for parents and guardians to keep an eye on their children’s gaming habits and online exposure. What is Roblox? Roblox is an online gaming platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation. It lets users play games created by other users or make their own using the company’s engine, Roblox Studio. It was officially launched in 2006, but exploded in popularity in the late 2010s and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions of kids began using it as both a game and a virtual social space. Roblox and pedophiles In the earlier days of electronic games, players are usually limited between two to four on one single machine. The only people you play with are people you know, who are sitting right next to you in the same room. These days however, online gaming places millions of players together in a game, and video games have chat rooms now where players can communicate with each other even if they’re on the other side of the world. Now, this can be an issue when it comes to underaged children who enter a virtual world where adult players are present as well. All they know is that they want to play a fun game, but they might not realise they’re being groomed by adults with ill intentions. Hindenburg Research, a U.S. investment research firm, claimed that Roblox’s games exposes children to grooming, pornography, violent content and abusive speech, as reported by UK news outlet The Guardian on 15 October 2024. The firm called the game an “X-rated pedophile hellscape” with users attempting to groom their avatars, groups openly trading child pornography, widely accessible sex games, violent content, and extremely abusive speech — all of which are open to young children. Bloomberg also published a special report on a Roblox game creator named “Doc”, who allegedly posted rape jokes frequently and even referred to the young girls who helped him develop his most popular Roblox game as “sex slaves”. The other problem: Robux Beyond pedophiles and child grooming, the game also poses one more problem for children: money. The game’s microtransactions could lead kids to spend money unknowingly or excessively. In Roblox, players use an in-game currency called Robux. These are used to purchase cosmetic items to furnish avatars with. Players can earn Robux by earning it through making and selling avatar clothing or building and publishing their own games. These are methods that require no real life money. The other way is to purchase Robux with credit cards through the Roblox Store online. If you’re not keen on linking your card to the site, there are also Robux gift cards available on trusted marketplaces. So, is Roblox fun? It could be. Is it safe for kids? Potentially not. Parents who let their kids play online games need to know the risks of having them interact with strangers and monitor their communications. Moderating game time is also a good idea as too much of a good thing is not good. At the end of the day, children will be children. In the digital age, kids will want to play a video game at some point but their safety is the responsibility of parents. READ MORE: Mother Discovers Disturbing Texts In Mobile Legends Chat Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Threads.