The real risk of online harm is not Roblox — it's our fear of children's agency

Children are humans capable of navigating the world, as long as we give them the right supports

The Roblox Titanic simulator: 'I observed children immersed in play, explaining how the ship broke in two, demonstrating navigation techniques and trying to save one another from the ensuing wreck.'

While you’re rinsing suds from the dinner plates, your child is in their bedroom, being sought out by paedophiles for sexual exploitation.

Homework has been completed, dinner plates cleared off the table, and you allow your child some time to play on their tablet before winding down for bed. When you think they’re safe, they are being preyed on by creeps on the internet.

This is the narrative being set out by some media reports. Meanwhile, at school, children are huddled around the screen — debating the lifeboat capacity on a Roblox Titanic simulator, engaging in a meaningful discussion about the history and challenges faced by the ship nicknamed the 'Unsinkable'.

During my four-year degree in children’s studies at the University of Galway, I have observed a big difference between how the media portrays the digital world and how children themselves experience their digital lives. 

During my time working in a Sudbury School — a democratic schooling system that implements self-directed learning — I observed the students at school playing on one of Roblox’s many virtual playgrounds, a Titanic simulator. They were immersed in play, explaining how the ship broke in two, demonstrating navigation techniques and trying to save one another from the ensuing wreck. 

Roblox gave them the opportunity to go deep down into this historic rabbit hole and allowed them to problem-solve when discussing navigation techniques, all while at play.

“Children are vulnerable.” “Smartphones should be banned for children.” “Roblox is deeply disturbing.” These are familiar tropes repeated in the media in relation to children playing games online. 

Yet, when I interviewed Xavier, an 11-year-old boy who regularly plays Roblox with his friends, he acknowledged hearing about “weird people” online but has never actually encountered any in his time on the platform. 

He also explained he knew how to mute disruptive players and take responsibility for his own safety. The gap between media panic and the lived reality of children on Roblox is striking.

So, if we truly need to protect our children, what exactly are we protecting them from?

Leanne Keohane: 'Children gain vital experience for navigating their lives through play, and according to research with children, this is true of their online playgrounds too.'

Roblox is the latest technology to be placed on the sacrificial altar. Researchers have identified such reactions as moral panics — widespread scapegoating and reactive political action intensified by alarming media stories about perceived threats to children.

These vicious cycles have plagued adults for generations: radio was described as a home intruder taking an invincible hold on children; even the humble landline was accused of causing addiction and anti-social disease.

Each new technology has always frightened adults. That fear becomes fuel for media clickbait and the cycle continues — often ending in kneejerk solutions that focus on restricting kids rather than making everyone safer.

We already know from Australia’s social media ban for under-16s that banning doesn’t actually protect kids — it just gives adults a sense of control. 

What are we really afraid of?

Perhaps we need to stop and ask ourselves: what are we really afraid of, and what is the best way to address the actual risks? Are we really trying to protect children, or protecting ourselves from anxiety about something we cannot control? When children got injured on playgrounds, we didn’t ban playgrounds — we made them safer.

Children gain vital experience for navigating their lives through play, and according to research with children, this is true of their online playgrounds too. When I observed children playing Roblox, I saw kids discovering knowledge from curiosity, cooperating to solve problems, forging social connections. Such play allows children to develop autonomy, even rising above cycles of disadvantage. This isn’t something to throw away lightly.

Of course, there are real risks on the internet, to both children and adults. This is especially true when children don’t have access to a support system to discuss issues they may encounter. There have been studies on the rise in addictive tendencies of these technologies, as well as concerns about exposure to violent or sexual content. Roblox has acknowledged these issues and has recently updated its safety standards on the platform.

But children are also harmed when we enforce solutions that make them pay the cost instead of the adults who are causing the harm. 

Instead of leaping to solutions that further exclude children, we should be looking to research informed by children’s perspectives and realities. Such research would suggest, for example, harm-minimisation approaches that support children to understand and manage inevitable risk, rather than ineffective bans. 

Children themselves say age restrictions aren’t helpful — they want better education and more informed adults to help them when things go wrong.

In all of this panic, we are forgetting to hear directly from the children who are being spoken about. We need to listen to children, recognise their needs and realities, and find solutions that include them as capable humans who are navigating the world around them.

• Leanne Keohane is a final year student in children’s studies at University of Galway