“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. 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. 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.

Source: Irish Examiner March 02, 2026 02:30 UTC