Millions of kids play Roblox regularly, and anyone who spends time around children has probably heard of the gaming platform. But far too many adults don’t actually know what it is or how easily kids can stumble into trouble there.

If you don’t know what it is, Roblox is a popular online platform where kids can play games made by other users or build their own using Roblox’s tools. It’s a mix of creativity, social interaction, and gaming. Think YouTube, but for games.

Like any open online world, Roblox carries risks: exposure to strangers, inappropriate chats or content, scams targeting young players, and the occasional “friend” who isn’t who they say they are.

Fortunately, Ann’s husband, Steve Dypiangco, knows the platform well, both as a dad and through his work with brands exploring Roblox. Here’s what he’s learned about digital parenting and helping kids stay safe while still enjoying the creativity and connection the platform offers:

1. Set family rules early.
Keep them simple and mirror real life: don’t talk to strangers, don’t share personal info, and leave any game, server, or chat that feels uncomfortable. If someone you don’t know tries to start a conversation, it’s okay to ‘be mean’ and leave or ignore them.

2. Review your child’s friend lists together.
Make sure your child knows who they’re interacting with and why. Also, especially for younger kids, make sure you know who your child is interacting with and why.

3. Use built-in parental controls.
Roblox now lets parents limit chat, set spending caps, and adjust content maturity levels. Talk with your kids about what controls you are

4. Keep the conversation going.
Online safety isn’t a one-time talk; it’s an ongoing part of digital life. To open up discussion, ask your kids what games they’re playing and what they like about those games.

As Steve puts it, “The best safety tool isn’t inside Roblox - it’s in the relationship between parent and child.” (It’s almost like his wife is a therapist or something.)

It’s been a week. Through it, I’ve felt a lot of rage and been thinking a lot about Leadership, or, more accurately, Leadershit. That special strain of “inspirational” nonsense that floats through organisations like incense, smelling impressive but making your eyes sting. It’s when leadership becomes performance art. I see it everywhere, those well-meaning phrases that sound supportive but say absolutely nothing: “I’m listening”. “I see you.” “We’re on a journey.” Are we? Because it mostly feels like a cul-de-sac with stale biscuits.

Organisations love a leadership course. Good people sent off to “develop their leadership style,” only to return speaking fluent corporate bingo. Suddenly, they’re saying “I hear you” five times a sentence. I know you hear me. You’re sitting right in front of me. What I want is for you to tell me what the F you’re going to do, or if there’s nothing to be done, own that too! And please, spare me the “work smarter, not harder” soundbite while you quietly pile on more work and fewer resources.

Then, as if the week hadn’t already given me enough material and in line with Digital Parenting Week, I saw Meta’s latest masterpiece — an advert for a company called Sugar Splash, flogging a “gag-suppressing lollipop” with the tagline “give deeper head.” I came across this on my friend Cindy Gallop’s LinkedIn, where she rightly pointed out the hypocrisy: her company, which exists to end rape culture, is banned from advertising on Facebook — yet this is apparently fine. The mind boggles. Meta, a global corporation with the GDP of a small country, armies of comms professionals, and not one person thought, “maybe not that.” I’m with everyone who’s seen that ad and thought, how is this allowed? The dictionary definition of Leadershit. The perfect example of what happens when there’s no one left in the room to say, “This is bollocks.”

I had some mild rage reprieve checking out Replacement.AI’s website; I won’t spoil it for you, but I snorted wine up my nose, company or parody? you decide.

Anyhoo, to me leadership isn’t about jargon, slogans, or rebranding empathy. It’s about taking responsibility and occasionally admitting you’ve cocked it up.

Most of us have had that moment: you pick up your phone and open it without even realizing. Suddenly, it’s 40 minutes later, and you're amped up because you've joined a debate about whether it's okay to eat in front of a client.

This week's tool, Screen Self-Audits, is for therapists and clients alike.

Spend time during the week noticing not just what you're doing on screens, but why. Take mental or written notes using prompts like:

1. What device am I using?
Phone, tablet, laptop, TV. Each often has its own “mode” (scrolling vs. zoning vs. productivity vs. relaxing).

2. What app or activity am I on?
Social media, email, games, news, streaming - different categories often serve different emotional needs.

3. How long was I on?
Is this an amount you’re comfortable with?

4. What was my emotional state before and after?

5. Why did I open it? Was it intentional?
Was I seeking connection, escape, information, soothing, or mindlessly reacting to a notification?

Remember: the goal of this exercise is awareness, not shame.

Once you notice your patterns, the next step isn’t to panic. It’s to play. Try small, doable experiments: delete one app, switch your phone to grayscale, or add one offline micro-moment a day.

Awareness first, then choice. That’s how digital habits start to feel intentional again.

Bear with me here.

I know sauerkraut doesn’t exactly scream “breakfast,” but this grilled morsel of goodness has kind of changed my life as I’ve been cutting down on meat in my diet. The tang cuts through the richness of the egg and cheese in a way that feels both indulgent and slightly virtuous.

To make: fry an egg or two, then basically make a grilled cheese, but layered with sauerkraut (I use one with turmeric), cheese (Monterey Jack or sharp cheddar works best), and the eggs. I’m sure it would also be delicious with some kind of aioli.

It’s five minutes of effort for a filling, probiotic-powered start to the day.

My friends have just opened an all-you-can-eat (and drink) karaoke spot. It promises chaos and absolutely delivers.

Thankfully, our group of ten had a private room, which spared the rest of the restaurant from our collective enthusiasm and creative interpretations of key changes.

It was, in short, epic. Highly recommend for anyone needing to blow the work week off.

If you ask most parents how they manage screens, you’ll get a list of rules: no phones at dinner, no games before homework, no YouTube in bed.

But a 2022 review in Perspectives on Psychological Science suggests that “digital parenting” has been defined far too narrowly. It tends to primarily focus on control and monitoring, while overlooking connection, creativity, and context.

Researchers in this systemic review analyzed nearly 200 studies on how parents support (and supervise) their children’s tech use.

They learned that we’ve spent years studying what rules parents set, but not enough time exploring how families actually live with technology, especially in a world where phones, social apps, and games like Roblox or TikTok shape social life as much as school does.

1. Most digital parenting models focus on control, not autonomy.
Whether in research or real life, we tend to measure digital parenting success by the rules parents set, (e.g., when kids can use their phones, which apps are off-limits), rather than by the skills kids are building in self-regulation and digital literacy.

2. Families are not all the same - obvs
Socioeconomic status, culture, and family structure shape what “screen time” means. For some families, screens are about safety, connection, or access, not luxury or distraction, reminding us that digital use is as contextual as it is behavioral.

For therapists, that means exploring the function of technology in each family system before making recommendations.

4. The mindset needs to shift.
The authors argue that digital parenting shouldn’t just be about stopping harm but about supporting opportunity while managing risk. In other words, tech can be both a threat to mental health and a tool for personal growth, depending on how it’s used.

Source: Perspectives on Psychological Science, July 11, 2022

So while no one else seems to be running a side hustle feeding the local fauna, Marianne’s badgers continue to dine like kings, and Ann’s deer, foxes, and occasional bears and wild horses (yes, really) are still treating her yard like an all-inclusive resort.

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