What Roblox Reveals about the Digital Worlds Shaping the Next Generation

Joe is a dad now. Tyler is in fifth grade--the age when bicycle tires are spinning, clubs are being formed, and dragons are being slain. But Tyler’s bike is parked. Day after day after day. He’s always in his room. There isn’t a moment that goes by when Joe doesn't wonder where his kid is. He’s upstairs, in his bedroom, playing on his computer. 

At least that is where his body is. Most afternoons, Tyler is joining one of the roughly 19 million children under the age of 13 logged into Roblox. 

Joe knows exactly where Tyler is. But in another sense, he has almost no idea. 

Tyler might be racing cars, building a city, running a restaurant, surviving some bizarre disaster, or moving from one game to another with a group of friends. They are talking. Laughing. Competing. Showing off what they have earned or bought. Creating things together. Sometimes, meeting people Joe has never heard of. And unlike Joe’s childhood, this might take place long after the street lights come on. 

That is the disconnect that many don’t see. 

To Joe, Tyler is “just playing a game.” Or he is “on that computer again.” It makes him worry about his son. It reminds him of that weird kid in fifth grade who played with his He-Man action figures for hours at a time and never seemed to join the friend group. “Whatever happened to that kid?” Joe wonders. From the hallway, the scene looks almost identical. A kid alone in his room, staring at a toy for hours, withdrawing from the world to “play a video game.” 

Why Is Roblox More Than Just a Game?

But what Joe is missing is that Tyler isn’t experiencing Roblox like a toy. He’s experiencing it more like a place. It’s somewhere he is going to meet people, gain status, try on identities, spend money, create things, and ultimately belong. 

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the phrase “third place” to describe informal gathering spaces outside of home and work/school where people hang out. For Joe, that would have been the park, the mall, the basketball courts, or the pool hall. Though it doesn’t perfectly fit Oldenburg’s definition, Roblox performs some of the same “third place” functions. For kids like Tyler, it can be a playground, clubhouse, mall, arcade, creative studio, and gathering place all at once. 

Understanding this changes the question Christian parents need to ask. 

If Roblox were merely a toy, the primary concerns might be how long Tyler plays with it and whether the content is appropriate. All valid questions, still. But places do more than entertain us. They also form us. 

Why Are Digital Worlds Real Places of Formation?

Just like Tyler, Joe was also formed by places. 

He learned how to settle arguments with no adults around. (Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?) The basketball court taught him about who gets picked first or last. Lunchrooms taught him who the cool kids were and whether or not he belonged. His group of friends helped shape his taste in music, his language, and even how he made jokes. 

None of those places gave Joe a curriculum, but they shaped him through all the time he spent there with friends. The same thing is happening to Tyler on Roblox. 

If you’re a parent who hears “Roblox” and you picture a video game, it’s important to catch this. Roblox is actually a platform that contains millions of user-created “experiences”. It’s not like playing Super Mario Brothers in a mostly contained world where your biggest choices are whether to finish the game like a champ or use the secret warp tunnels. 

Your kid might be playing a farming game, or she might be trying to survive in a horror game. Junior could be fully immersed in running a business in a role-playing world or racing cars. Users typically bounce from one experience to another rather than playing a game from beginning to end. And almost all of this happens socially. That’s the key to understanding. Friends communicate, form parties, and move from place to place together. This is Joe and his friends on their bicycles going from the grocery store, to the park, to sitting outside the ice cream shop. 

The point is that wherever people repeatedly gather, patterns begin to emerge. You learn how to talk, behave, compete, and how to treat one another. Some things are rewarded, and others are ignored. Over time, those patterns become normal. Or to say that another way, they form you. 

That is why Christians should care about digital worlds as places of formation. Romans 12:2 tells us that we shouldn’t be conformed by the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That changes the questions we ask about our children and how they engage with Roblox. It’s good to ask whether it’s safe. It’s good to consider how many hours are being played. 

But the deeper question is what kind of world is this experience teaching my child to love? That moves us from screen management to discipleship. For Joe, this will mean pulling up a chair and asking Tyler to give him a tour. Not as an inspection or an interrogation, but an opportunity to enter into Tyler’s world. As he does this, he begins to see what Tyler sees, to learn some of the language his friends use, to notice the things that get rewarded, and to understand its draw. (And he might even have a bit of fun). 

Before Joe can help Tyler think with the mind of Christ about the world he inhabits, he needs some idea of what it actually looks like. And “Tyler’s playing his computer game again” just isn’t going to cut it. It’d be the same thing as Joe’s parents telling him to stay away from the park, not to throw the football around with his friends, without ever bothering to learn what was happening there. 

Playground Rules Haven’t Changed, But the Playground Has

“Dad, can I have $40 for Robux?” 

Joe knows where this is going. “What are you wanting to get with that?” 

Tyler wants a car. Not a remote-control car or something he could physically play with. Not some toy he’d leave out in the driveway and risk getting crushed by Dad’s car. Nope. He wants a car inside one of his racing games.

Joe stares at him for a second. “You want me to spend actual money on a car that doesn’t even exist? And not just like $1. You want me to buy you a $40 digital car.” 

“It’s not just one car, Dad. It’s a whole bundle!” 

Joe doesn’t understand the logic of any of this. But forty years earlier, he would have. He knows the basic desire; he just doesn’t think it applies to Tyler’s situation. Joe remembers what it was like to show up to the playground in his Air Jordache’s that he got from Wal-Mart while the cool kid had the real Air Jordans. It meant status. It made him feel more valuable as a person. 

That is exactly what Tyler is feeling too. It’s the same playground rules, but the playground has changed. Now it’s an online world where Tyler and his friends are moving through a shared virtual city. And can you blame him for wanting to drive a cool Ferrari instead of an old, beat-up Ford Escort? 

At the end of the day, Joe might still say “no”. Just like his parents had him keep rocking those Air Jordache’s. But understanding this can help Joe speak to his heart and address what is really going on here. Instead of laughing at spending real money on a fake car, Joe can consider what this fake car means to Tyler. Do all his friends have one? Does it unlock something they can do together? Would he still want it if nobody else could see it? These kinds of questions will help Joe understand what Tyler is actually buying—and then have a conversation from that point. 

All of this can open up conversations about contentment, stewardship, and identity. The same kind of conversations that Joe’s parents might have had with him when he was begging them for Air Jordans. And if Joe is passionate about discipling his son for the next generation, he’ll understand that the playground will change again. But this time it’s going to be real Ferraris and Escorts. And the question underneath it all remains the same: Am I enjoying this thing, or am I asking it to tell me that I matter? 

How Can Parents Disciple Kids in Worlds They Cannot Control?

Let’s go back to Joe’s childhood for a second. His parents had no idea what he was doing half the time. Joe survived. He’s a reasonably functioning adult trying to raise his own son. And he’s doing it all, trying to honor Christ. 

I’m not trying to say that we need to fully return to 1980’s parenting. Some of what passed for teaching independence probably was closer to neglect. But there was an unavoidable reality to Joe’s childhood: he had to make many decisions without his parents standing beside him. 

He rode his bike farther than he was supposed to. He had arguments that Mom never knew about. He had to decide for himself whether to follow the other boys when they had a stupid idea. And sometimes he had to decide whether to follow through on his own dumb ideas. Somewhere along the way, Joe had to learn how to think. 

Modern parenting often moves in the opposite direction. We track locations, monitor all their messages, set filters, restrict apps, check histories, and receive alerts. Some of those tools are indeed wise and helpful. But sometimes they reveal a lack of trust and betray our own desire for control. We think that if we can just control enough of the environment, then we can guarantee a good outcome. 

As a result, our kids end up being what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “hot-house flowers”. Hot-house flowers flourish beautifully as long as someone controls their environment. But they aren’t capable of producing fruit in storms or sweltering heat. Real discipleship produces something quite different. 

Joe isn’t going to understand every game that Tyler enters. Nor will he get all the jokes that his friends make. And it won’t be long until Roblox isn’t the playground anymore. Then it’ll be driving. And dating. And college. And marriage. And kids. And sometimes those in an order you wish it wasn’t. But Joe won’t be there to control his environment. 

What Questions Should Christian Parents Ask about Roblox?

That means that right now in the Roblox playground, Joe’s job is different from what he might think. It isn’t to hand Tyler a verdict on every Roblox experience. (As much as he might like to). It’s to teach his son to ask good questions. 

• Why do I want this?

• What is this telling me to value?

• Why does everybody else love this thing? Should they? 

• What is happening in my heart when I don’t have what someone else has?

• Is this helping me love God and others well?

They can work through those questions together. Joe can help guide Tyler to faithful answers. But more than anything, he wants to teach Tyler how to think. How will he arrive at God’s truth when Joe isn’t there? How will he think in worlds that Joe won’t be able to enter? 

Roblox reveals that the next generation will be shaped by a different world than the one we grew up in. Often changing faster than parents can keep up with. But in another sense, it’s the same world that has to be navigated with the same truth of Christ. That means our goal hasn’t changed—we’re still discipling our children to value Christ above all. Whether that’s in a digital world like Roblox or playing in the park. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Roblox, Kids, and Christian Parenting

• Why is Roblox more than just a video game?
  Roblox functions like a digital world where children can play, socialize, create, spend money, build status, and experience belonging, which means it can shape them like any other gathering place.
• How can Roblox shape a child’s values?
  Roblox can shape children through repeated patterns of interaction, competition, spending, status, friendship, and identity, teaching them what gets rewarded and what seems valuable.
• How should Christian parents approach Roblox?
  Christian parents should ask not only whether Roblox is safe or how long their child plays, but what kind of world it is teaching their child to love.
• Should parents use Roblox parental controls?
  Parental controls can be helpful, but they should support deeper discipleship conversations about wisdom, contentment, identity, friendship, and loving God and others well.
• What questions can parents ask children about digital worlds?
  Parents can ask what their child enjoys, what the platform rewards, why certain items matter, how friends behave, and whether the experience helps them love God and others well.

For Further Reading

• How to Guard Your Mind in the Digital Age
• Does the Media Our Kids Consume Matter?
• How to Set God-Honoring Boundaries for Technology in Your Home
• How Screen Time Tantrums Reveal an Early Childhood Addiction to Tech
• What the Social Media Addiction Verdict Means for Kids

Photo Credit: GettyImages/Wavebreakmedia

Mike Leake is husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah. He is also the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO. Mike is the author of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need. His writing home is https://mikeleake.net and you can connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake. Mike has a new writing project at Proverbs4Today.

This article originally appeared on Christianity.com. For more faith-building resources, visit Christianity.com.