Gambling on children

The devil moves from the darkroom to the bedroom

A blacked-out room, a glimmer of light coming from the cracks of the door. A screen with a woman stripping her clothes bit by bit, and a 14-year-old watching. The teen wasn’t on any pornographic site but on Roblox, an online gaming platform. The woman was an absolute stranger.

This incident was shared on Reddit and is one of the thousands of posts on social media platforms on the dangers of online gaming platforms, which expose children to a dark world of which most parents are unaware.

Many children aged eight to 18 who play online games can be bullied, abused, or exposed to age-inappropriate content. Even parents who are aware of social media risks are unaware of the scale of danger lurking on these online gaming platforms.

The Netflix limited series Adolescence has triggered a discussion on cyberbullying and online toxicity across the world. What Adolescence also highlights is the devil creeping into a child’s safe space, his room.

Though Adolescence talks about the dangers of social media and incel culture, we look at the not-oft-discussed world of online video games, and how it brings the devil from their dark rooms into a child’s room. With teens getting hooked on online games, here’s what parents and guardians need to know about the secret rooms to keep children safe.