With schools across the world closed due to the Coronavirus, there is a growing fear among parents that sexual predators will take advantage of the increased number of children on online games such as Minecraft. In response to this, ParentsTogether, a national parent-led organization with over 2 million members, has drafted and sent a petition to Mojang and Microsoft asking that the companies better protect children.

For those unaware, the FBI released a statement warning parents that increased supervision of online gaming may be necessary as a result of an increased risk in online sexual exploitation, so this petition looks to add more layers of protection to kids playing Minecraft online.

RELATED: Minecraft Player Sculpts Insane T-Rex Head

Minecraft offers many ways to communicate, from regular chat which is only readable by those nearby in game to shouts which broadcast to the entire server and everything in between. Players can message each other privately, create groups within the game to message each other, and more.

With that in mind, the main topic that these parents want addressed is the chat function. In the petition, they call for improvements to be made to the chat function, such as adding moderators or limiting private messaging, but these things are easier said than done for a couple reasons. For one, group chats on Minecraft servers are typically the result of plug-ins and mods, meaning there isn't much that Mojang can do to about that. Furthermore, limiting private messaging based on age would be difficult as well and could restrict kids from communicating with each other as well.

Still, it stands to reason that something should be done to improve children's' safety when playing Minecraft online, as the concern of predators using the game is a real one. Perhaps allowing parents to put parental control on their children's accounts which limit certain types of communication or somehow keeping logs of private messages stored would help parents to feel more comfortable allowing their kids to play Minecraft. This game fosters creativity and friendship among children, and shouldn't be outright avoided because there are those that want to use it for the wrong reasons.

In total, the petition received over 120,000 signatures before being sent out to Mojang and Microsoft, and so far neither company has responded to it in any way. That said, both companies are respectable and take the safety of its players seriously, so some word may come soon about what the companies can do.

Minecraft is available on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

MORE: Minecraft Blockdown Map Simulates A Pandemic Situation