[ewzimm]

But dinner parties mean time away from Roblox and YouTube! I know this struggle, especially in winter. I think kids still want to socialize but struggle more often these days with how to do it. It’s easier for many of them to do it online when they can leave a situation at any time they want, and it’s hard to adapt to the pressure of being stuck in a social situation. What used to be “rage quitting” in games seems to be normal now. Maybe kids just need to learn more about the art of the excuse to leave.

[kjreact]

Why do responsible parents even allow their kids to play Roblox? Roblox is plagued by freemium style gambling games that are harmful to children. I’m interested to hear from HN parents why they feel Roblox is a safe environment for their kids. For further reading:

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2025/03/24/liter...

[ewzimm]

It's the networking effect. When all the other kids are playing a game, it's tough for some kids to be the only one not on it. Then it becomes one of their primary means of socializing. To a lot of kids, there are only two games in the universe: Roblox and Fortnite. That's all any of their peers play. They're not in getting into other ones where their friends aren't. It's the same as social networks.

Whether it's irresponsible to let kids play the same games as their friends is of course up to individual parents. I think it's possible to both be exposed to these types of traps and learn how to avoid them. They can't gamble without access to money from parents anyway.

[em-bee]

is there any harm in the games if the kids can't spend any money?

that is my solution. i allow my kids to play games, but i am not spending a single cent on them. their accounts never even get the ability to spend money, and so the kids can waste their time, but they can't gamble because they don't have access to money. i know my son tried to earn some robux, but he didn't get far and he focused on games that were playable without. eventually the kids lost interest...

same goes for genshin impact. we even played that together for a while. my oldest made it to level 48 out of 50 by just grinding. money was never an issue because he knew that i'd be firm on that, so he never asked. (i just asked him about that and he found that the benefits from spending money wouldn't really have been worth it. they didn't make the game much easier, so why bother?)

[theGnuMe]

It is a good question. YouTube is a similar phenomenon. Below that would be cable tv. Everything has been hyper optimized for attention/dopamine reward.

There are some folks who seem to only let kids watch old movies and old shows on DVD.

Also most kids are in school in person which may help mitigate the brain rot.