Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. facial
    • ex. Her facial expression showed surprise.
  2. verify
    • ex. Scientists verify results through repeated tests.
  3. a feature
    • ex. The phone’s best feature is its long battery life.
  4. a selfie
    • ex. She posted a selfie on social media.
  5. high-risk
    • ex. The doctors treated a high-risk patient carefully.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Roblox announced that children under 16 in Indonesia must complete facial scans to verify their ages before using some platform features. The gaming company said the new system follows Indonesian government rules for protecting children online. Roblox vice president Nicky Jackson Colaco described the rules as some of the strictest used by the company. Indonesia has about 45 million Roblox users, including around 23 million children, according to government officials.

The company created two special account types for younger users in Indonesia. Roblox Kids, for children aged 5 to 12, will not allow chat features. Roblox Select, for users aged 13 to 15, will only allow chats with parents, family members, or approved friends. Users who do not complete the facial scan will automatically receive a Roblox Kids account. Players must send a short video selfie for the age check, but Roblox said the images will be deleted immediately.

Indonesia classified Roblox as a high-risk gaming platform because of concerns about children’s safety and screen addiction. New controls will also limit playing time and game choices by age. Parents can now choose hours for children to use the platform.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Protecting Children Online

  • What online risks do you think children encounter today (ex. social media addiction, online harassment)? Discuss.
  • Imagine you are a parent. How would you protect your child online? Discuss.
  • Who do you think should be more responsible for making sure children are safe in online platforms: parents or gaming platforms? Why do you say so? Discuss.

Online Games and Gaming Platforms

  • What online games or gaming platforms are famous in your country? Discuss.
  • Roblox in Indonesia now requires facial scans to verify their ages before using some platform features. Do you think it’s okay for all gaming platforms to have that kind of checking feature? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Do you think all gaming platforms should have child protection features? Why or why not? Discuss.