I was preparing a post on a new safety setting in Roblox (post coming Monday), and I had to stop and make this rant- buckle up!
The vast majority of caregivers are concerned about screen content, but they also do not use control settings for content.
Doesn’t make sense does it?
Well, it does if you have ever tried to use most parental controls.
In any large-scale, user-generated-content platform, but especially one that appeals to children, the ability to show kids ONLY what you’ve approved is paramount (in my opinion).
And yet, in 2025, the only major mobile platform that allows this is YouTube Kids, but neither Roblox or Fortnite have this ability.
It wasn’t until this WEEK that you could block access to individual games in Roblox, (still not possible in Fortnite). You can block games based on content rating on both platforms.
But what really grinds my gears is if you block a game on Roblox or Fortnite, kids will STILL see the game, they just can’t open it.
Anyone with a kid, or who has ever met a kid, or heard of kids, knows why that wouldn’t work. And after Epic games assured me blocked games wouldn’t show up in their recommendations, that was the very first thing my child saw when we opened Fortnite.
This isn’t a huge ask. Frankly, it is the bare minimum. And the fact that both Epic and Roblox continue to put out “new” parental control features while evading the simplest and most effective feature is enraging. How can we blame parents for not using parental controls that a tech company has designed to be ineffective and confusing?
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