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The Gamers, The Grandchildren and Me
How Roblox Helped Me Through The Pandemic
Like many early learners, my own grandchildren’s budding autonomy with mobile devices was accelerated by the pandemic. At seven and four years old, my little pioneers of remote learning were suddenly equipped with portable screens, and a new argument over screen time limits muddied the horizon. I saw a silver lining: the ability to contact them in real-time without having to go through their parents, a twist of technological fate that bonded us for the better in the age of coronavirus.
Living 50 miles away, a virtual platform could never replace in-person visits, but it answered a need to step in from afar and assist with homework and engage in free-time activities.
Their mother, my daughter, set up each of their private accounts. She curated a few child-friendly video, chat, and gaming apps with parental controls. Soon my digital native grandchildren were texting me stickers, emojis, and GIFs. We played games that demonstrated their aptitude in visual-spatial, problem-solving, creativity, and literacy skills.
The novelty of a sustainable platform took a fairly predictable turn when one of them wrote the word “poop.” A thread of poop emojis measured longer than my arm. I scrolled to the bottom and texted “How was school?” Their response…