Roblox is assembling its first Teen Council in the hopes of making its platform a more civil and respectful place for 79.5 million daily active users. 

The company has posted an application form on its site to recruit 15 individuals between the ages of 14 and 17 to participate in a five-month pilot program that will run from March to July 2025. 

The Teen Council will be expected to share their thoughts on Roblox’s existing features, policies and resources for safeguarding players and providing a positive user experience, as well as offering their own insights into what online safety should look like on the platform. 

As of Q2 2024, Roblox had more than 32 million daily active users under the age of 13, which is up from 28.2 million the year before, according to Statista. And an internal survey of 530 13- to 17-year-olds in the US last September shows that 87% said gaming is important for helping them improve their mental health. Findings like this point to the value of launching a council to bring kids into the process of building communities and more inclusive online spaces, says Andres Cuervo, Roblox’s youth engagement program manager.  

Now a teenager itself (having launched in 2006), Roblox has periodically come under intense fire from critics who say the platform is not doing enough to keep kids safe and build an online space that promotes respect. 

But the company insists that it has made great strides to address civility and safety. In 2019, Roblox created a Civility Initiative designed to teach users about the tools and resources provided to developers and to assist in the creation of healthy online experiences. And early last year, it partnered with the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital on a white paper asking experts what it would take to make a genuinely safe and respectful online hub for kids. One of the report’s key recommendations? Involve children in the design of apps, platforms and policies intended for them.

Photo courtesy of Roblox.