The term “metaverse” seems to be everywhere right now, conjuring up images of a faraway future where people are spending all their waking hours clamped into virtual headsets and living in a virtual space. Think Ready Player One, in which kids escape their dystopian surroundings by playing as avatars, or The Matrix, in which unwitting people are living their lives completely plugged in.

But in some ways, the metaverse is with us now. More than 30 million people own virtual reality headsets, and kids spend hours on immersive games like Roblox and Minecraft. And that means that as the technology continues to expand and engulf kids’ lives, parents need to understand it and strategize for how they and their families will