Ages six to ten. Where the real setup starts.

This is the age range where online life properly begins — Roblox, Minecraft, a school Chromebook, a group chat, maybe a first device. It's also the last stage where you can set things up without much negotiation, which makes it worth doing thoroughly.

What changes at this age

• Multiplayer games with chat. Roblox and Minecraft are near-universal, and both connect children to strangers by default.
• School devices. A Chromebook or iPad arrives with the school's filter, which usually stops at the school gate.
• Searching independently. They can type, and they will type things.
• Group chats. Often through a game or a shared family account rather than a phone.
• Awareness of what they're not allowed. Which is when the workarounds start.

The setup

1. Content filtering on every device

Not just the adult category at this age — scams, malware, and gambling matter too, because "free Robux" sites are aimed squarely at this age group. Category filtering on each device, plus filtering DNS at the router for the console and TV.

2. Lock down game chat

Roblox:

1. Set the account's birthdate accurately — under-13 accounts get stricter defaults.
2. Settings → Privacy → set who can chat, message, and invite to Friends or No one.
3. Settings → Security → turn on Account PIN so those settings can't be changed back.
4. Turn on Allowed Experiences to restrict by age rating.

Minecraft: manage through the Microsoft family account — restrict multiplayer and communication under Xbox privacy settings. Consider a private Realm with known friends rather than public servers.

Consoles: set communication to friends-only at the console level, not just per game.

3. Purchases off

1. No stored payment method on any account a child uses.
2. iOS: Ask to Buy on; In-app Purchases set to Don't Allow.
3. Android: Play Store authentication required for all purchases; parental controls PIN set.
4. Gift-card balance instead of a card, which caps the maximum loss.

4. YouTube

Most 6–10s have outgrown YouTube Kids and aren't ready for open YouTube. Options: keep YouTube Kids with the older age setting, use a supervised account through Family Link, or allow standard YouTube with Restricted Mode, watch history off, autoplay off, and a rule about watching in a shared room.

5. Screen time that's predictable

Set limits per day of week rather than a flat daily figure, and give a warning before a cutoff. Ending a Roblox session mid-game is where most of the conflict at this age comes from, and a five-minute warning removes nearly all of it.

The rules worth setting now

These are much easier to establish at 7 than at 12:

• Devices in shared rooms. Not bedrooms. Establish it before it's a battle.
• Charging outside the bedroom overnight. Same reasoning, and it sticks if it's always been the case.
• Only play with people you know in real life. Clear, concrete, easy to follow at this age.
• Never move a conversation off the game. The single most protective rule there is.
• Tell me if anything is weird — you won't be in trouble. Say it often, and honour it the first time it's tested. That first response determines everything later.

The school device

Worth doing once:

• Ask the school whether their filter applies off-campus. Many run 24/7 filtering and never mention it; many don't filter at home at all.
• Assume you can't install anything on a school-managed device — enrollment blocks it.
• Filter your home network so the school device is covered there regardless.
• Check whether Guest mode is available on a school Chromebook, since that bypasses profile-level controls.