Online gaming platform Roblox is proving to be game-changer for kids, know how

For Advika Sharma 8 Roblox is the new world of Harry Potter Books she says donrsquot interest her as much These days she is often busy figuring where she is going to get her next Robux fromRoblox is an online game platform that allows its users to programme games and play those created by other users Robux on the other hand is the currency used by a player as she advances into the game to buy new purchases or upgrade their avatarMeghna Sharma Advikarsquos motherWe are at Advikarsquos Versova residence sitting beside her as she plays the game on her auntrsquos old phone She has chosen a game called Good Girls where her avatar walks in and out of pink rooms attending fashion shows buying new nails or outfits and is generally being fabulous She says she also likes playing Adopt Me where you can take care of different kinds of animals Usually she plays it while chatting with friends on another device so they can sync their movements ldquoOn her last birthday she asked us to buy her Robux instead of anything physicalrdquo says her aunt business journalist Samidha Sharma When she is not playing or doing school work Advika is on YouTube watching EllieV Toys a channel about lego or MeganPlays which is dedicated to playing Roblox gamesTo establish boundaries is a challenge admits her mother Meghna Sharma a corporate communications professional The one time Advika was caught playing the game while juggling a school class on Zoom her mother lost it ldquoThere was a drawing assignment given and because Advika wanted to complete the game task she quickly scribbled something and went back to the game I deleted the app that day and that was followed by a lot of anger and tearsrdquo she remembersAdvika Sharma 8 wants to be a dancer when she grows up but after she has got into Roblox she may decide to become a gamer PicSatej ShindeItrsquos easy to see why a virtual experience like Roblox is proving attractive to young children especially those aged eight to 11 A child is getting to be anything she wants free from parental instructions and is making her own decisions whether itrsquos to do with where she goes what she buys or who she talks to virtually Some will say that building worlds by yourself at an early age could make one confident and outgoingWhen we got in touch with Roblox the firmrsquos Director of Community Safety and Digital Civility Laura Higgins offered us insight Roblox has been ldquoa lifelinerdquo she said helping kids and teens stay in touch with their friends and connect with extended family during the Coronavirusinduced lockdown across the world ldquoEssentially Roblox is a new way for people to be together especially so when we canrsquot be in person And the future of how we play work learn and experience things together is this While traditional play happens in playgrounds and public spaces in todayrsquos world the same kind of learning takes place online toomdashin virtual playgrounds where kids can develop critical thinking skills collaborate and socialise On Roblox they can get creative and build their own games objects design clothes or a virtual home Wersquove heard many times how creative interests and skills developed on Roblox turn into reallife career aspirations and entrepreneurshiprdquo she addsAdvikarsquos mother Meghna Sharma a corporate communications professional says they keep a track of what she plays and whom she talks to Telling her not do it at all is pointlessThis may not necessarily be a stretch of imagination Advika a Class III student is opinionated and uninhibited When the midday team shoots a video of her dancing to a song called Girl Power she doesnrsquot display awkwardness She may not have an Instagram account yet but she is already prepping for it by making videos on any phone she gets her hands on This includes dance videos or a virtual walkthrough of her home After being introduced to Roblox she thinks she may even want to be a gamer She is inquisitive and confident answering questions about her life intelligently ldquoI like my best friend because when we argue we can agree to disagreerdquo she says Itrsquos not something yoursquod expect an eightyearold to say Meghna and husband Shardul Sharma say they realised early that they canrsquot keep her shielded ldquoWe have allowed her to do what she likesmdashwhich is playing the game or listening to music which may have lyrics that are a bit dodgymdashas long as we know what she is listening to We donrsquot let her use headphonesrdquo her mother says adding that she listens to Kishore Kumar thanks to her fatherrsquos LP collection But the parents do worry about how much is too much ldquoThe other day her shorts were tight so she said lsquooh thatrsquos because I am thickrsquo How did she know she had to say that We try and strike a balance We allow her access to Roblox once a day for an hour The good thing about her is that she doesnrsquot sulkmdashif you sit and talk to her like shersquos an adult which she is anyway in the game she understands stands She told us two years ago lsquoIsee you guys going to office and crib about your bosses I never want to do thatrsquo It looks like she will be who she wants to be What we as parents have realised is that all we can do is be friends with her and stay privy to her life to help guide herrdquoLike Advika 10yearold Alina Khan is a Roblox and Instagram fan and wants to be an influencer when she grows up because ldquothey get recognisedrdquo She likes to dance and hopes that she can inspire others with it What she likes about Roblox is that she gets to talk to different people online which her parents find problematic Her father Imran Khan has access to her Instagram account and keeps a watch ldquoLast Christmas she emotionally blackmailed me into buying her Robux We canrsquot keep them off the phone the lockdown has made it impossiblerdquo Khan says adding that he has made peace with the fact that no matter how hard he tries Alina is going to be a social media star ldquoHer mother worries that shersquos ignoring her Quran studies Either shersquos playing Roblox or following makeup stars like James Charles She has ordered a makeup palate from them too having learnt tricks like how to contour your face How much can we monitorrdquo Alina also makes dance videos and is excited with every lsquolikersquo she receives While her parents are encouraged that shersquos good at what she does and hence popular she may be already falling into the modern body image trap ldquoThere are days she feels guilty for having a burger or bowl of Maggi She may get fat she thinks When she buys currency without a thought I worry that she wonrsquot understand the value of moneyrdquo Khan sharesRoblox player Alina Khan wants to be an influencer when she grows up because ldquothey get recognIsedrdquo Her father Imran says she follows makeup artists and has learnt complex hacks including face contouring PicPradeep DhivarBut Higgins has reassuring words for parents of Roblox players She says because the app and its games were designed for kids and teens they have a stringent safety system in place ldquoItrsquos one of the most rigorous among platforms and continuously evolves to create a safe and civil community For example we have extremely stringent default chat filters to protect our community that block inappropriate content including questions about personal information and we also use automation to flag content for further review by our moderators We monitor chat behaviour that clearly indicates an attempt to bring a player off our platform to another less restrictive thirdparty chat apps For users under 13 our filters are even stricter and we do not allow the sending of images or video via chat or onetoone user interactions We also offer parental controls One of our top recommendations for parents is to ask their kids what games they play who they chat with and ask what they like about their favourite games on Roblox and play with them Show genuine interestrdquoAccording to estimates almost 190 million people are playing Roblox currently most of them children and at least 44 per cent are girls A research paper on Roblox on researchgatenet says ldquoA video game is a popular trend among young people and using it as a learning tool will help motivate and engage students It can also help studentrsquos communication ability adaptability and resourcefulness Playing video games can increase the playerrsquos neuroplasticity and sharpen the personrsquos ability to tune out distractionsrdquo Sudarshan Ranganathan who runs iXie Gaming which is into video game testing says kids are drawn to the fact that they can control their own world ldquoIt helps them relate to stuff thatrsquos top of mind in their age group and they can make decisions and face the repercussions too There is an educational component which teaches them the important life skill of decision making But such platforms can attract traffickers and is fertile ground for cyber bullyingrdquo Game designer Ishan Manjrekar tells us that Roblox already has a set of filters and the platform also claims to have a high number of human moderators as well ldquoOne strong draw is the feeling of community The gameplay is built on collaboration empathy and team bonding All parents need to do is get more involved when they know their child is on Robloxrdquo Child therapist Jehanzeb Baldiwala of Ummeed Child Development Centre agrees that whatrsquos in a parentrsquos control is to ensure moderation ldquoOtherwise a child can lose touch with realitymdashin the game they can buy things easily but in real life they canrsquot If itrsquos excessive then achildrsquos tolerance levels dropYuvaan Patil Ahirao 9 and his mother Madhuri have been making videos for YouTube since he was seven The content usually concerns cookingThey will get quickly upset when they donrsquot get the things they desire I would advice say no for Instagram if your child asks for an account to be opened It has graphic images and is exaggerated in naturerdquoAlong with Roblox YouTube which has been at the receiving end of criticism for years for adding stress to childrenrsquos life and oversexualising them has been trying to take steps to reduce strife In 2020 it terminated two million channels It is also using machinelearning to mine harmful content that targets kids According to its website the YouTube staff ldquocarefully reviews flagged content 24 hours a day 7 days a week to determine whether therersquos a violation of our Community Guidelinesrdquo Madhuri Patil Ahirao mother to YouTuber Yuvaan is happy to hear this ldquoWe allowed him to start making videos three years ago when I had to spend more time at home since I was not keeping wellrdquo she says Yuvaan 9 edits his own videos and most of them are about cooking He says here on he is also going to explore gaming videos ldquoHe wants to become a racer in real life so we are going to make videos about that too How is it possible to control screen time after the pandemic has locked all of us at home What I can do is spend more time creating with him And since we do educational content he learns along the way He does like the fact that he has followers and gets excited when people call him and say we saw your channel We advice him not to get competitiverdquoIshan Manjrekar Jehanzeb Baldiwala and Laura HigginsThey may not be competitive but these children are learning to hustle thanks to the pace of the game and the world of videos As parents watch their kids get on with the world with skills they learn in the virtual realm all they can do as Meghna Sharma puts it is ldquohellip remind them that this is not life Getting likes validation living virtuallyhellipthatrsquos not life Getting 100 Likes isnrsquot livingrdquo2 mNumber of channels YouTube terminated in the first quarter of 2020 for violating platform guidelines