The Dangers of Roblox

Happy (Belated) Fathers’ Day to all the amazing dads out there! And that extends to the stepdads, the father figures, uncles, coaches, mentors, and teachers–you are so loved and appreciated!

We made a guide because we needed the guide.
As parents, for parents, trying to navigate a world no one prepared us for.
This isn’t just about screen time. It’s about understanding what’s really happening on your child’s phone and what you can actually do about it.

Here’s what’s inside the guide:

✅ 60+ websites & apps to block and how to block them
📲 Breakdown of every major social media app (Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok)
📉 Step-by-step instructions to check how many notifications your child gets per day
📈 Learn how often they’re picking up their phone
🔍 Tools to read your child’s digital behaviour without spying, yelling, or guessing so they can learn healthy behaviours too 

If you've ever felt behind, overwhelmed, or unsure where to start — our Screen Sense guide was made for you!

Teens And The Dangers of Roblox

Don’t let the cutesy name fool you. Roblox, an online gaming platform, is very popular amongst teens. And while the games might seem harmless, research shows how easy it is for kids to be exposed to harmful and inappropriate content, and perhaps most troubling, for predators to approach them through the app. An investigation conducted by Revealing Reality discovered “a troubling disconnect between Roblox’s child friendly appearance and the reality of what children experience on the platform.” That’s a disturbing takeaway. Kids are logging on to play innocent games but can potentially be exposed to much more. And this isn’t a fringe issue. To put it in perspective, the platform has 85 million daily active users, an estimated 40% of whom are under the age of 13. And unfortunately, that’s not all. A recent investigation also found that there are over 3,000 accounts and groups on Roblox that were caught exchanging child exploitation material, many games that simulated sexual abuse and trafficking, and almost 1,000 usernames using some ideation of Jeffrey Epstein, perhaps one of the most notorious child sex offenders of all time. These games are played by kids of all ages. Roblox has publicly acknowledged these issues and claims they are working hard to remedy these problems, but that “industry-wide collaboration and government intervention are needed.” 

What can we do? Like with any app, implement parental controls. You can do that by linking your account as a verified parent in the settings of your device. On the topic of settings, you can also set Content Maturity to “Minimal,” apply a “Parent Pin” to lock settings and continually review your kid’s friend list and play history. And, as always, keep talking! Your teen’s online life should not be completely foreign to you. They might not like it, but we promise, they’ll survive! 😀

Giving Teens Freedom on Vacation

🎶 Vacation all we ever wanted 🎶 Well…close enough. Vacationing with teens is (usually) significantly easier than going away with young kids. But many parents aren’t ready to reward their teens with freedom. A new poll indicates that less than half of parents in the United States feel comfortable leaving their teen alone in the hotel room while they have a meal. And only 1 in 5 parents would allow their teenager to go solo to an amusement park. Of course, it’s understandable for some parents to have different boundaries. But it’s also important that teengers start to do things on their own so that they can be adequately prepared for the real world. 

The fact of the matter is, teens are much less independent than they used to be. The world has changed. There are less opportunities for kids to roam and explore without adults around. According to a September 2023 review in the Journal of Pediatrics, teens in the Western world are much less likely to hold part-time jobs or walk or bike to school compared to previous generations. And that’s not great for our teens’ development or mental health. Independence and becoming self-sufficient is a big part of how our kids build up their self-esteem.  

What does this have to do with vacation? Well, a summer getaway is a great opportunity for teens to practice independence. Parents can encourage teens to venture off (with reasonable parameters) for a few hours and meet back up later. Or maybe you run out to get a coffee or lunch nearby and leave your teen alone in the hotel/house. A family trip is a great place to test these boundaries (again, within reason!). Beyond instilling independence and self-esteem in your child, it’s also important that your teen believes that you trust them, that you have faith that they will make good choices when you are not around. They can’t prove that to you if you never give them the chance. We’ll always see them as our babies, but little by little, we have to encourage them to spread their wings! No better place to start than at an all-inclusive resort 😎

Who To Follow: Positive Influencers For Teens

Social media isn’t all doom and gloom. There are some huge positives that can come from it, especially for teens! We’ve decided to highlight one account per week that we think teens could benefit from following! 

Richie Hardcore is an educator, keynote speaker and activist whose platform is dedicated to promoting a positive version of masculinity and the importance of young men prioritizing their mental health. Richie makes it a point to challenge societal norms, to redefine what it means to be a man and encourages young men to foster a healthy sense of self-awareness. We love to see it!