Screen time and online games are becoming less of a novelty and more of a lifestyle for kids. Even parents who put strict limits on their children’s tech time probably find themselves giving in to online games like Roblox because “all the other kids are doing it.” Well, maybe not all of them are, but a large percentage likely are. Sometimes, though, games such as Roblox become an addiction for kids, and getting them to give it up seems almost impossible.
A parent recently went on a Reddit rant, explaining that Roblox is ruining their relationship with their son. The 8-year-old boy shows little interest in anything else, and the original poster hates it. OP tried playing with their kid, but didn’t enjoy it.
“NOTHING I found in Roblox seems to be worth playing. But my son can spend the whole day on it. Must be some dopamine thing. Comparing Roblox to some of the great games of my era seems like comparing 10 second TikTok reels with great classics of the cinema,” OP wrote.
They think the game is just a time-sucking cash cow and want to get their child away from it.
“If the computer is not around he will play it on the phone, if we take away the phone he will turn on Youtube on the TV and watch other people playing,” OP wrote. “How to stop it? I tried to force the situation and make us play another game once, but I could see he just ‘tolerated’ every minute of it and ran off to Roblox as soon as he was allowed.”
Redditors had lots of thoughts. Many thought OP’s son might actually have an addiction to Roblox.
“Worse, it’s like kid cocaine for their little brains. You’ve got to come up with a plan to either ween off or stop cold turkey. Prepare for the withdrawals,” someone wrote. “Understand the psychology behind addiction and recovery. And help your kid full stop. Stop giving your kid access to these hits, their little brains can’t handle it.”
One person had a similar experience and made big changes in their home.
“Our son was sucked into Roblox pretty bad around that age. He’s about to be 11 and over the past year we cut it down pretty extreme,” the commenter shared. “I honestly had a talk with him and said it wasnt good to play a game like this so much, and it was my fault as his Dad for letting it happen. He responded well to it and gradually we reduced the time he was allowed to play.”
One Redditor shared a pretty eye-opening story.
“I watch a lawyer who does trial coverage on YouTube. She once commented, when a child crimes specialist was on the stand, ‘you know he plays a lot of Roblox,’ That STUCK with me,” the person wrote. “My youngest stepson was just allowed to play Roblox for the first time at 10, after a long safety lecture. No way I would let them on there at 8.”
OP posted an edit thanking Redditors for all of their input and had an update about the son’s Roblox usage.
“Wow this got a lot of attention, thanks for all the advice. I don’t think I can simply take it away from him because he will not only hate me but be an outcast among all his friends for not being able to play anymore,” OP wrote. “However, I did register my Roblox account as his parent and from there I was able to limit his time. I’ll start with 1h30min per day and go from there, I want to reduce it as much as possible and ideally make him lose interest in the game.”
