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Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

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Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#281

Post by Etheryte »

RyanHamilton wrote: post #267

This is a sympton of something worse. The bigger issue: Roblox isn’t the real problem, it’s filling the gap left by the disappearance of unstructured, unsupervised play in the physical world. Kids used to build worlds, take risks, and form friendships outdoors. Now many have no safe places to roam, no peers outside scheduled activities, and no cultural permission to be on their own. So they do all that in Roblox inst…

This is an easy argument to make, but I don't think it actually applies in any way. Roblox is just as popular in countries where these things have not disappeared.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#282

Post by etskinner »

hedora wrote: post #191
foota wrote: post #158

It's interesting to me to think about a possible system where people in say roblox can only chat with each other by exchanging physical keys somehow. This way, they would be able to chat with their peers from school etc., without the danger or need for as much supervision. I don't necessarily think this is technologically feasible or something that would be accepted, but I think it's an interesting idea.

This would be trivial to implement well. Give the parents a console where they can paste in usernames. Most classes already have parents whatsapp groups or similar, so it’s easy enough to broadcast the usernames, or create a shared google doc. Console access could also be required to create new accounts. The article says it is currently trivial for kids to just create an adult account and bypass all the parental cont…

Parents have whatsapp groups for their kid's classes? That's news to me. When did that become the norm?

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#283

Post by AlexandrB »

deltoidmaximus wrote: post #165
wartywhoa23 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd been riding bikes with my friends around the block since the age of 6. Parents didn't chase us around and minded their own business instead of nanomanaging us into absolute snowflakes that modern children have become. We played tag at building sites, jumping gaps meter wide and five deep, made explosives out of match sticks, bolts and nuts, and showed up at home just to check in and have a quick lunch. We did a b…

> that parents are eager to outsource the upbringing to strangers in online games out of fear of strangers and dangers outside. There's a lot of blame for parents, much of it deserved. But when you have CPS being called for kids playing in the woods or parents charged with manslaughter when some one else runs over their kid you realize this is now going against the grain to resist this stuff.

I always wonder what happened here. I remember hearing about how CPS was chronically underfunded in the 90s and did not even have the resources to investigate every case of serious abuse. But now they have the resources to go after parents that let their 10 year olds walk 2 blocks to a park? Did we start pumping funding into CPS or something? This is like if the cops started ticketing people for jaywalking.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#284

Post by lo_zamoyski »

jujube3 wrote: post #230
tantalor wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> author won’t stake out their position Casey Newton is a journalist - it would not be appropriate for him to have a "position" on this topic.

If it's inappropriate for him to have a "position," he should not be saying things like claiming "Roblox is a problem"

Indeed, it's editorializing.

But more broadly, all journalism is necessarily axiologically loaded. Why report on X but not on Y? Obviously, because the journalist/editor/owner thinks X is "newsworthy" while Y isn't.

Whether that means proposing a solution is another question. I can sympathize with annoyance at nonconstructive complaining, however.

Whatever the technical/legal solution, I think an important factor is also parental involvement. If Roblox is dangerous enough, don't let your kids use it. They might get around your ban, but at least you did your part. That means a great deal already. And people circumvent and break the law all the time, but that doesn't invalidate the law, and parents are lawgivers.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#285

Post by lo_zamoyski »

feydaykyn wrote: post #159
parasubvert wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tbh making Roblox illegal feels like the same moral panic that our parents had around metal music, hip-hop, and arcades. My kid plays Roblox, I prevent her from talking to others, and I police the Robux purchases. It really is a fun platform. The problem is for parents that aren't technical, or are negligent and don't know how to police it.

Don't be so dismissive! In practice... - You cannot prevent your child to login and play at least 15mn (without manually resetting the password in the kid account) - combine this with the fact you cannot prevent changing the password reset email on the child account, and in practice you cannot prevent your child from using roblox - You cannot prevent gift card to be used - There's no way to trace gift cards usage at…

You cannot prevent someone from robbing and killing you either. That doesn't mean the law has no value. It sets a standard for conduct and creates a psychological expectation. If violated, it enables punishment.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#286

Post by jajuuka »

ryanjshaw wrote: post #82
massysett wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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 s…

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.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#287

Post by crazydoggers »

ch2026 wrote: post #248
crazydoggers wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re comparing a hysteria over D&D where no one was actually harmed to actual child sexual abuse being allowed on an online platform? One of the comments above has a video of a guy arrested and admitting to contacting several kids a day for a year.. that doesn’t sound like just some sort of over exaggerated panic. > So about three per year, out of 112 million users? That's a far better track record than the Boy Sco…

> admitting to contacting several kids a day for a year. Have you ever played online games? "Contacting several kids a day" is how internet chat works. I'm sure if it was up to you kids would only be able to play single player games and stay inside, god forbid they get struck by lightning or eaten by a polar bear. What do you want gaming to do? Have a checkbox where you swear you're not a pedophile or something? That…

Maybe watch the video. He wasn’t just chatting with them he was sexually abusing them online. He was using Roblox because they made it easy for him. Watch the video.

Your hand waving away is the type of behavior that is complicit in allowing this type of abuse to continue.

And this isn’t just about parents. In one breath you’ll complain about helicopter parents and the next you’ll say it’s the parent’s responsibility to prevent it. The callousness to the suffering of children is disgusting. That’s not just “how the internet works”

This is about not allowing companies to cultivate online spaces specifically enabling this behavior because it makes them money. Your comments indicate you either condone the behavior or work for Roblox or a company like it.

> appease more people like you who can't think critically about the risk

So sexual abuse is not a risk you take seriously?

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#288

Post by ErroneousBosh »

massysett wrote: post #17
bmurphy1976 wrote: post #6

It's a nightmare managing all this stuff. Roblox, Minecraft, Meta Quest services, Fortnite, the list goes on and on. These companies are not helping us either. Thankfully my son and his friends have somehow iterated away from Fortnite. It's no longer cool so they just stopped playing it. That's one less thing I have to worry about.

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.

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.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#289

Post by jasonfarnon »

Etheryte wrote: post #281
RyanHamilton wrote: post #267

This is a sympton of something worse. The bigger issue: Roblox isn’t the real problem, it’s filling the gap left by the disappearance of unstructured, unsupervised play in the physical world. Kids used to build worlds, take risks, and form friendships outdoors. Now many have no safe places to roam, no peers outside scheduled activities, and no cultural permission to be on their own. So they do all that in Roblox inst…

This is an easy argument to make, but I don't think it actually applies in any way. Roblox is just as popular in countries where these things have not disappeared.

What countries do you have in mind?

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#290

Post by ngriffiths »

robot-wrangler wrote: post #252
ngriffiths wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one who was really underwhelmed? I saw that it was supposedly a very tense trainwreck situation and sure, it gets sarcastic and stuff, but most of it was Interviewer: "so I heard you were/are doing a bad job with moderation" CEO: repeats banal PR talking point for the 10th time Repeat. I mean, at no point did the CEO say anything interesting about the moderation problem or what they are doing. The inter…

> CEO: repeats banal PR talking point for the 10th time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_principle So historically, when someone accepted an interview yet refused to engage with any questions, or stay on topic, AND also was not interested in the smooth polish of PR-style transitions that would give an appearance of basic cooperation.. it was considered unhinged and obviously crazy behavior. If interviewee ac…

Well said, my reaction was basically, what he is saying is not really for a listener like me.

> AND also was not interested in the smooth polish of PR-style transitions that would give an appearance of basic cooperation..

I agree this is a big part of it and would add that the "unhinged" look is probably just a lack of PR skill. Both sides are hostile but the interviewers "win" here by staying within the rules of the game, and they also do a beautiful job of sort of winking at the audience like "wow this dude is crazy right?"

It's impressive but sorta annoying, I'd rather listen to actual content.

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