Are communications during club sessions monitored?

Yes, club hosts monitor each communication channel that kids use during club time, including video/voice/text messages in Zoom and chat messages sent within Minecraft or in the Roblox games we play. Hosts keep an eye out for any content that is unsuitable for kids or which could constitute bullying or harassment and proactively address any instances of concerning behavior.

Are there any filters preventing the use of inappropriate language?

Roblox has built-in protections against inappropriate language, and our Minecraft server has been fitted with server plugins designed to detect and prevent messages that appear to be inappropriate. Additionally, hosts have the ability to delete Minecraft chat messages and mute/remove users if necessary to prevent further inappropriate messages from being sent.

How is the club Zoom call structured?

The Zoom call we use to meet each day is compromised of a main room, which users arrive in when first joining the call, and a variety of breakout rooms where kids can form smaller groups depending on what specific activities they're doing. Kids are allowed to move freely between the breakouts, and will often swap to different rooms depending on what's happening at the time.

"Primary" breakouts are dedicated to specific clubs/activities. For example, there are breakouts for Minecraft Survival, Minecraft Creative, and Roblox. Kids will typically gather in these breakouts based on the activity they're interested in, and then once they've found other users to play with they'll move to a different breakout room where they can communicate without having to try talking over other kids.

How do hosts supervise voice/video during club sessions?

At any time, there are a minimum of two hosts in the club Zoom call, one for Minecraft Club and one for Roblox Club. These hosts by default stay within the primary breakout for their game, but they'll cycle through other breakouts to check on everyone or to answer questions for users who utilize Zoom's hand-raise feature. As a result, kids will often interact directly with a host for a portion of their time in club on a given day.

Do hosts monitor communications in breakout rooms at all times?

Because of limitations with Zoom's functionality, hosts have limited visibility into what players are discussing in breakouts. Zoom only allows us to record/transcribe breakout room conversations if a user enables recording and remains within that room. As a result, comprehensive monitoring of all breakout rooms is not possible. In light of these limitations, hosts regularly rotate between breakouts to check on groups and see how things are going.

In the future, we hope to be able to invest in the development of a bespoke voice/video chat platform that can better handle our desire to monitor communications at all times. Because of the associated cost of developing such a platform and the amount of time that it will take to build and test it, we anticipate we will be continuing to host club sessions using Zoom for the foreseeable future.

Why can't every breakout be supervised by a host at all times?

In the same way that a teacher can't be listening to every play group during recess or every table during lunchtime, there are too many conversations happening during club time for us to keep tabs on all of them. At any given time we may have 10 or more breakouts being used for conversations/activities by club members, and the amount of money it would cost to pay individuals to monitor all of these rooms is prohibitive.

To afford such monitoring across 10 separate breakouts for all 96 hours a month of club, we would need to increase our subscription price massively, and as a result the club would no longer be affordable for many of our families. Our goal is to strike a balance between proper monitoring and reasonable costs while ensuring our hosts are paid a proper wage for their labor.

What should my child do if they hear/see something inappropriate in a breakout room?

If your child is concerned about content that another player is exposing them to in a breakout, they are encouraged to either raise their hand using the built-in feature in Zoom or move to a breakout with a host and inform them of what's happening so we can respond promptly.