The headteacher of a Holybourne school is warning parents and carers of a serious online safety concern within the popular children’s gaming platform Roblox.
Gemma Gundry, headteacher of Andrews’ Endowed CE Primary School in London Road, said: “It has been reported that a malicious pop-up is appearing within Roblox, encouraging children to download an external application known as Pollybuzz - or occasionally spelled Pollyfuzz.
“This application typically starts as a simple question and answer tool that generates an artificial intelligence 'friend'.
“While the initial interactions may appear innocent, the app quickly escalates to displaying extreme and harmful content, including references to self-harm, suicide and pornography.”
Mrs Gundry issued a list of essential online safety rules for parents and carers to discuss with their children.
She reminded children not to click on pop-ups such as unexpected advertisements or app download links that appear within games.
Mrs Gundry also encouraged children to report anything that was worrying, inappropriate or made them feel uncomfortable to a trusted adult, such as a parent, carer or teacher, immediately.
She advised parents and carers to make the best use of parental controls on their children’s devices.
Mrs Gundry said: “While we understand that managing online safety can be challenging, leveraging available platform tools is vital.
“Roblox offers robust parental controls that can help manage and restrict your child's in-app experience.”
Detailed instructions on setting up and customising these controls are available on the official Roblox support page at https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/30428310121620-Parental-Controls-Overview
She said: “While parental controls are highly effective in blocking certain content and pop-ups, they are not a guaranteed solution for all external threats.
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