CRANBERRY TWP — More than 150 million users are active every day on Roblox, the free gaming platform that has drawn controversy for reported cases of child harm, like financial exploitation, sexual predation and self-harm.

That concern is the focal point of a new Pennsylvania State Police online safety program, which started in March, and also was the subject of state Trooper Rocco Gagliardi’s presentation at Haine Elementary & Middle School on Wednesday, Oct. 21, which was attended by some parents of Seneca Valley School District students.

In his presentation, Gagliardi delved into safety concerns on Roblox and the lax parental controls on the popular game platform. He also discussed types of child predators, and how these platforms can facilitate engagements which lead to exploitation of minors.

Gagliardi said child predators are mainly either looking for some sort of a role-play with underage users or to inflict immediate violence.

“Both predators have the same end goal: they want the kids to harm themselves, or they want the kid to harm somebody else,” he said.

Gagliardi, who is a public information officer for the state police, noted that contrary to popular notion, users do not play Roblox — they play on Roblox.

As a gaming platform, Roblox offers millions of gaming experiences and a social hub, rather than a singular game. Almost every game on Roblox is created by users.

“(Parents) don’t understand how far their children can go with that simple device on a platform,” Gagliardi said. “Your kid does not have enough time in their life to play every single game.”

He said more than 24,000 cases of child exploitation were recorded on Roblox in 2024.

While the number is lower than other social media applications, such as Discord, Snapchat or TikTok, he said role-playing often begins on gaming platforms, through which children are guided to the apps.

While there is a minimum age to be a user, there is no maximum age, Gagliardi noted. What attracts predators to Roblox is the avatars or characters users create for themselves; parents get a false sense of security under the assumption that it's a game for children.

The platform’s approach to parental controls, Gagliardi said, makes matters worse.

While there are restrictions parents can impose on their child’s accounts to control use, the process is tricky, he explained. To set up limitations, parents have to set up their own accounts and link it to their child’s account after submitting photo identification and a face scan.

Restrictions limit chats and lists of games available, but after a child turns 13 years old parents lose the ability to block any access, Gagliardi said.

Avatars with breasts fully exposed, or characters wearing clothes with text that have sexual innuendos, or in one instance, a shirt depicting the death of Charlie Kirk, have all materialized on the platform, Gagliardi said. The visuals Gagliardi shared with parents were blurred out, which he noted is not the case while actually playing the games.

Roblox does not have a built-in feature for parents to block certain avatars, Gagliardi said. Additionally, many games have voice chat options to facilitate a higher level of back and forth.

The platform has made efforts to filter chats with inappropriate language or personal details, but Gagliardi said users can circumvent the blockers by simply switching one letter in a word.

A series of class action lawsuits were filed by several U.S. states in 2025, starting with Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas and Florida. Earlier this year, Nevada settled with the company for $12 million.

In response, Roblox introduced age groups to prevent cross interactions.

Gagliardi said users have used artificial intelligence for face scanning to bypass the age grouping, and some are even selling accounts of specific age groups online.

While many of them have been shut down since, Gagliardi listed several games that have been on the platform with access to children that involve sexual activities, or role-playing as gangsters, prostitutes or even school shooters.

With Haine Elementary School students ranging from kindergarten to fourth grade, Wednesday’s discussion holds relevance to staff and community members, said Kristen White, the school’s principal.

“We want to make sure we’re informed,” White said. “We want to make sure our parents are informed, because we know that as quickly as we think we have it figured out, our kids are ahead of us.

Addressing parents in attendance, Marie Palano, an assistant superintendent at the district, said, “Now that we have this information, I think it gives us the opportunity to think more critically about other platforms because sadly, this probably isn’t the only dangerous platform students may be engaging with.”

Wednesday’s session covered Phase 2 of the state police’s Roblox Safety program, which has been and will be shared at not just schools, but community centers, religious spaces and relevant businesses, Gagliardi said.

He visited Haine in April for Phase 1, and said he received positive feedback from parents for that introductory step.

“This program does not exist anywhere else in the country,” Gagliardi said. “We’re the only program of its kind.”

Going beyond sharing information and offering any legal advice, Gagliardi said, would mean violating his chain of command.

“You guys are my next step,” Gagliardi said to parents. “This is as far as I can go.”