Child safety strategies for playing Roblox online

A Guide on “How Kids Can Play Roblox Safely”

Criterion A: Planning

Learning Goal

I am a 15-year-old and learning to envision my future in different directions. However, I am concerned about my sister, who is seven years old and plays Roblox. Roblox is one of the most famous games played worldwide, which is a risk. When played worldwide, it provides an online platform for gamers to interact with anyone worldwide. The game features a chat box where players can communicate and play publicly or privately (Tang et al.). Still, a risk persists that some online users use abusive language for the other player, which is seriously prohibited for small children, particularly my seven-year-old sister. It poses a similar risk, which is bullying. Since user names are shared with other players connected through their media accounts and gaming profiles, some profile makers are older and start bullying young children, which is not suggested for their emotional and psychological well-being (Ridley; Li et al.). They exchange mean messages and might learn bad language (“The Hidden Dangers”). To verify this finding from the internet, I took permission from the parents of one of my sister’s friends, who usually plays Roblox with her daily, to interview them. Since my sister mentioned once that her friend was bullied, I rushed to their home to confirm with her parents, and they validated. I was instantly convinced that such parents needed help to save their children from bullies who were constantly threatening or making fun of their game-playing styles, just like my sister’s friend; the same person always targeted her and even constantly followed her throughout the gameplay. If not guided properly, a seven-year-old might use the same language in school with her friends, which can become a social issue for other parents and the school management.

Another thing I noticed one day when I was having quality sibling time with my sister and watching her play is that certain games inside Roblox are not recommended for small children. They are adult games targeted toward young children but unsuitable for them (Brown). Some of them are beyond the interpretation of young children, while others have a negative psychological impact once the child enters the playhouse (Jones).

The Connection between the Personal Interest and Personal Project

A connection lies between my personal project (PP) and personal interest. My interest is to save my little sister and her mental health so that the long-term effects of playing Roblox can be mitigated. I also am concerned about her image in the school if she learns mean language from the chat box users and uses the same words or phrases with friends in school, creating a fuss for other parents and the school management. Our parents will be concerned if they were contacted by the school about her language, or in the worst case, asking her to change her school. I want to save her, my parents, the school, and other small children from stigma, and I want to present a product that would solve the problem.

The Intended Product

My project (PP) would be a booklet guide (the intended product) for our family and other parents of small children who play Roblox. The name of the booklet guide would be “A Safe Guide to Roblox and How Your Kids Can Play It Safely.”

Made with PosterMyWall (https://www.postermywall.com/)

I plan to market this booklet through a website and social media pages. Social media is one of the marketing strengths these days that have excessive access to the mass public. I would be able to gain access to parents of children playing Roblox, especially through “behavioral advertising” (Varnali 2). Once the kids or their parents search on Facebook and other Google pages about this booklet, the recommendations would auto-generate with web browsing history, giving pop-ups to look for the intended product and direct them to its website, where product details would be presented along with guidelines to buy.

Detailed Success Criteria for the Product

· The number of kids playing Roblox: Research data indicates that kids under 9 years represent 25% of the worldwide population playing Roblox (Clement). The next category is the 9-12 years, which consists of 29% of the world’s kids playing Roblox (Clement). If teenage kids are to be included as an audience for the booklet whose parents would be interested in buying it and gaining help from it, it would also be a success criterion as 13% of the total world population of 13-16-year-olds play the game (Clement).

· The game’s increasing popularity: Roblox is one of the world’s most famous games among young children. There is no doubt that parents would increasingly be interested in buying this booklet guide. Looking at the quarterly growth rates of online users worldwide, the fourth quarter of 2020 had 37.1 million users, the first quarter of 2021 had 42.1 million, and the second quarter of 2021 had 43.2 million users (Dean).

· Detailed explanation: The booklet would have an age guideline, the restrictions and safety patterns that parents should know about, and how they can keep an eye on their chats so that keeping a seven-year-old does not remain a problem.

Detailed Plan for Achieving the Product

My detailed plan for achieving the product contains research and designing the entire booklet guide. The planning stage contains thinking about what content should be included in the booklet, how parents can get the most benefit out of it by educating them about the platform and its working, what age-appropriate games are the most recommended on the Roblox platform, and how to play it safely on Xbox as well as iPad, and how to market the booklet to them so that the maximum number of people could buy it, etc.

The plan would also include a tentative timeline to help comprehend my scheduled tasks divided into sub-tasks and the time needed to complete each. The tentative timeline is as follows:

Date

Tasks

Relevant fulfillment of success criteria

1-5 Dec 2022

Research

Number of kids playing Roblox, increasing popularity of the game, detailed explanation

6-10 Dec 2022

What content should be added

Detailed explanation

11- 15 Dec 2022

Designing the booklet for an easy-to-read display and easy-to-find content

Detailed explanation

16-20 Dec 2022

Typing the booklet and making it ready for a physical prototype

Detailed explanation

21-22 Dec 2022

Getting the booklet printed

The increasing popularity of the game

23 Dec 2022

Getting the final printout for maximum market reach

Number of kids playing Roblox, increasing popularity of the game, detailed explanation

Criterion C: Reflecting

The project has been an overall learning experience for me for two reasons. First, I did not know how to make a digital booklet, which I self-learned and am proud of. I gained insight into how to use digital tools effectively, which I was unaware of before. Learning digital techniques was a new experience for me, which I know is of great significance these days, and I realize that I should keep practicing it for future projects or practical career reasons as well. The second reason this project was a learning experience was using the CRAAP test. I used online resources before but did not know that their currency, relevance, and authority evaluation would matter the most. It assisted in my comprehension of the value of the audience since I did not know previously that a project needs to be credible enough to make sense for its users. It would not be effective until it does not serve the purpose or fulfill the targeted users’ needs.

Below is a one-page sample of the booklet that I tried to make, and I hope to complete it by the given timeline presented previously. Its strength is the easy-to-read and easy-to-find elements I kept infusing from the beginning. The initial sample has been designed by keeping in mind the content that would be helpful for the end users, the parents (Robertson). The legible content and easy-to-understand knowledge are the fundamental elements that align with the success criteria of the increasing popularity of the game (quarterly increment in the number of young online players) and detailed explanation. The third success criterion of success is its coverage for young players worldwide; hence, the usability of the booklet would fit best with this factor as more parents would be interested in the guideline for their child’s online safety.

One limitation is the lack of primary data that, I feel, might have provided real-time data to strengthen the project’s credibility. I believe the prototype might have been more current with the latest views of the parents and the difficulties they face with their children playing Roblox online. After gaining this primary data, I would have been in a better position to conduct secondary research via online sources to incorporate more specific and latest problems that the already-existing sources on the internet might not have covered yet.