- SEMA and CPS-AEP detect an increase in minors with self-harm, anxiety, and insomnia linked to Roblox chats.
- Families are encouraged to review usage, discuss risks, consult their pediatrician, and report to the police/Civil Guard and the AEPD (Spanish Agency for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities) if appropriate.
- Pediatricians should ask about Roblox during consultations and activate protocols: report, social work, injury report, and follow-up.
- Roblox ensures 24/7 parental controls, filters, and moderation, and states that safety is a priority.
The Spanish Society of Adolescent Medicine (SEMA) and the Health Promotion Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (CPS-AEP) have issued a warning after observing an increase in minors with associated signs to the use of Roblox (Madrid, September 22, 2025), with special concern for interactions through its chat.
In recent weeks, children and adolescents have come to the clinics with symptoms consistent with harmful exposure to the digital environment: self-harm, anxiety, sleep disturbances, sudden mood swings, social withdrawal and unusual comments about sexuality, identity or violence, as described by both entities.
What they are detecting in consultation
Professionals point out that the focus of risk It's in the chat interactions of the platform, where behaviors that impact the physical and mental health of minors have been observed.
The president of SEMA, Mª Angustias Salmerón, and member of the Digital Health group of the CPS-AEP, points out that they have identified incitements in chats to self-harm, access to pornography, pressure to question sexual identity or requests to send content of child sexual violence, situations that alarm families due to sudden changes in behavior.
Many parents come to the clinic after observing visible self-harm or intense mood swings in their children, as well as isolation, marked anxiety and insomnia related to the time they spend online and the conversations they have.
Scientific societies emphasize that cannot always be determined whether the incidents occur within the official Roblox environment or in external spaces that mimic its design, but they emphasize that the patterns detected fully justify the alert and clinical and family surveillance.
Roblox is a very popular online video game platform among children and adolescents, allowing them to play, create experiences, and chat with other users. This social component, pediatricians point out, requires supervision and clear support criteria from adults.
How to act: guidelines for families and pediatricians
Societies recommend to families find out If minors use Roblox and its chat, have an open conversation about the risks of talking to strangers and agree on reasonable usage rules.
- Review with the minor if he or she participates in chats and with whom he or she interacts.
- Talk about boundaries, privacy, and how to ask for help if something makes you uncomfortable.
- Notice changes in sleep, mood, or school performance.
- If you experience any warning signs, make an appointment with your pediatrician.
If a case is suspected or confirmed, experts advise report to the Police or Civil Guard and report it to the Spanish Data Protection Agency, providing evidence such as screenshots of the chats to facilitate the investigation.
In the health field, the alert urges pediatricians ask explicitly for the use of Roblox and its chats, even if the consultation is made for another reason, to detect risk exposures early.
- Activate established protocols: draft medical reports.
- Refer to social work when appropriate and issue an injury report.
- Accompany the family in the process of reporting to the authorities.
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics brings together Nearly 13.000 professionals of hospital and primary care, and works to ensure the best care, promote training and research, and advise institutions on issues affecting child health and development.
When asked about this issue, the company responsible for Roblox maintains that the safety is a priority and that the platform incorporates specific restrictions for younger users, limits on chat (such as the inability to share images or videos), filters to block personal information and parental controls to limit who you can chat with or disable the feature.
The company also points out that its community standards prohibit sexual content and any promotion of self-harm, and which have a 24/7 moderation system to remove illegal content, block malicious accounts, and escalate to authorities when appropriate.
With the increase in cases in consultation While awaiting further investigation into the origin of the incidents, pediatricians insist on active surveillance, digital support for families, and the use of reporting and healthcare channels at the slightest suspicion.
