AQ'S Corner

I was deep in the zone: sketching out AQ’s Corner’s Junior Incident Response Challenge, inspired by Emani and the CyberHero Response Team. Refining our Foundational Digital Forensics Simulation for Youth, and fine-tuning the Hacker Hunt Roleplay that puts kids right in the mindset of a cyber defender. These aren’t just lessons, they’re hands-on, real-world–inspired experiences designed to sharpen young minds and build the instincts to recognize and respond to online threats.

And then my phone buzzed.

“Parents sue Roblox claiming it makes grooming, kidnapping too easy.”  Read the article here. 

It wasn’t just a headline. It was a jolt. A reminder that while I’m here building the tools and strategies to prepare kids for the digital world, the threats we’re preparing them for aren’t theoretical; they’re happening now.

The Heartbreak Behind the Headline

The lawsuit alleges that Roblox’s platform, a place millions of children log into daily, has left the door open for predators, enabling grooming and even attempted kidnappings. This is just one of several such cases this year. While Roblox has rolled out Sentinel, an AI system that scans billions of messages a day for suspicious activity, the fact remains: children are still being targeted.

In fact, in a stark revelation from the lawsuit, *“Roblox said it submitted *24,522 reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2024.” (Live 5 News) That’s not a typo, twenty-four thousand, five hundred twenty-two potential cases in just one year. This isn’t abstract. These are real kids. Kids who look like the ones in our classrooms, our neighborhoods. Kids who could have been in my upcoming workshop.

My Mission at AQ’s Corner

At AQ’s Corner, my mission is to move past theory and give kids practical, lived experiences in online safety:

• Interactive simulations that let them act as cyber defenders in real-world-inspired scenarios.
  
• Engaging roleplay to help them spot social engineering and manipulation in action.
  
• Hands-on challenges that transform “cybersecurity” from a confusing concept into an empowering skill set.
  

I write, teach, and design these experiences because I know the greatest firewall is an informed and confident child. When that Roblox headline flashed across my phone, it only strengthened my resolve: we cannot leave our kids to learn safety by trial and error in dangerous online spaces.

Why This Matters for My Upcoming Event

When I walk into that room of young girls for our next workshop, I won’t just talk about online safety, I’ll put it in their hands. They’ll solve incidents, hunt “hackers,” and practice making the kind of quick, smart decisions that could one day protect them in real life. They’ll leave not with fear, but with confidence, the kind of confidence that comes from knowing what to do when something doesn’t feel right.

Moving Forward

The Roblox lawsuits should be a wake-up call for tech platforms, parents, and educators alike. Companies must tighten safeguards. Parents must stay engaged. And educators like me must continue to create learning spaces where kids can safely practice the skills they’ll need in an imperfect digital world. Because awareness is not enough, preparedness is power.

A National Call to Action

I’m not just building workshops for one school or one town; I’m building a model that can be implemented nationwide. My vision is simple but urgent: to give every child, in every community, the tools and confidence to stand strong in a digital world that doesn’t always have their back.

This is why I speak, write, and advocate not just as a mom and cybersecurity analyst, but as a voice for children’s digital safety on a national scale. And while headlines like this one remind us how much work is left to do, they also light the fire that keeps me moving forward. We can make the online world safer for our kids. But it will take every parent, educator, policymaker, and platform stepping up. I’m here for that fight, and I’m not backing down.

💬 Your turn: How are you preparing the kids in your life to navigate the online world? Share your ideas in the comments; your approach could be exactly what another parent needs to hear.