What Happened To The Online Spaces For Kids?
Club Penguin, Neopets, and Toontown Online weren’t just regular video games, they were vibrant digital playgrounds built specifically for kids, with safety, creativity, and community at the center. For many millennials, they were our first taste of the online world. As we raise our kids, it’s hard not to notice what’s missing. Those kid-first spaces gave us training wheels for the internet, offering self-expression through customization and community building with safe, moderated interactions. Today’s digital spaces for kids don’t have the same sense of security or intention. What happened to those spaces, and why aren’t new ones stepping up?
Modern Online Spaces Aren't Built For Kids First
Most social media platforms are for everyone, with child safety tacked on as an afterthought. Most rely heavily on automated systems, with minimal human moderation. That’s a sharp contrast from the platforms we had designed around kid safety as the priority. Real people were actively moderating chats and content in real time. Roblox is one of the most popular games among kids but is built around user-generated content with limited oversight. Most platforms today keep engagement high and monetization flowing, not necessarily to foster safe or meaningful digital development for kids. That change came at the cost of the online experience our kids face now. Screen addiction and brain rot are all associated with kids mindlessly consuming content over engaging with purposeful content. Our old games provided a balance of social interaction, creativity, and problem-solving in the game world that benefited development.
What's Missing for Our Kids
Aside from Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite, the most popular online games among kids, there are a few central hangout spaces exclusively designed for kids to explore and socialize safely online. The rise of algorithm-driven content has replaced creativity and exploration outside the already limited gaming communities for kids. Our parents thought gaming would negatively affect our brains. However, these online spaces became the training grounds for us to develop digital literacy and the skills necessary for digital networking. We know firsthand the benefits of a positive digital space for kids because we lived it.
Why Kid-Friendly Digital Spaces Matter
Kids need to practice navigating digital communities before they jump into the chaos of the internet, now more than ever. Toontown Online struck that balance perfectly. It was one of the first massively multiplayer online games built specifically for kids. Its innovative SpeedChat system allowed players to communicate using pre-set messages, creating a safe and controlled chat environment. That approach set the standard, later inspiring kid-focused platforms like Club Penguin. These games evolved into large, thriving communities that allowed young players to focus on learning, imagination, and safe independence online. It served as a training ground that prepared many of us for the internet outside of those spaces as we got older. A lack of similar safe spaces online for kids these days pushes them to platforms that aren't meant for them, increasing their risk of being exposed to inappropriate content and interactions. Their digital literacy is crucial to their success, and we are their best guides.
What We Can Do
One of the best things we can do for our kids is encourage them to learn and practice tech literacy with readily available online games for kids. Minecraft is the most qualified for this task. Like the games we grew up with, Minecraft has a proactive approach to child safety. They offer servers dedicated to kids, chat filtering with additional human moderation when needed, and parental control systems. We are the ones who can vouch for the importance of child-safe online spaces by advocating for the need to bring back child-focused platforms that can help teach our kids digital literacy. The internet isn't going away, nor is our kids' interest in it. They don't need to be subject to the social media algorithms that push mindless consumption toward them at a young age. They need more digital spaces that help them develop the tech literacy and digital skills that will benefit their long-term digital journey.
