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Ollie is a sports betting and online gaming expert, with nearly ten years writing and editing experience. He most enjoys deep-dives the fineprint of regulation or data-led reports to bring nuance to his analysis. Away...
Read Full BioUK charity Ygam has launched a harm-prevention program focused on safeguarding young gamers.
Ygam’s Gaming & Esports Programme is designed to educate young gamers, their parents and carers, as well as professionals working across the video game and esports sectors.
The release reads that: “Ygam’s new programme will actively address the growing need for more effective education on digital safeguarding.”
Data cited in the report suggests that 80% of 16-24 year-olds play video games, and of that sample, 83% play online.
What the YGam Programme Covers
The program developed by Ygam includes education surrounding pertinent topics such as microtransactions and virtual currencies, the role of advertising, and evolving gaming mechanics. It also features modules on the potential impact of gaming on mental health, the benefits of pursuing a career in esports, inclusivity within gaming,, and how to foster safer virtual spaces.
Sacha Kent, Programme Lead for Gaming & Esports, commented: “It’s vital we recognise the central role gaming plays in the digital lives that children lead today. This new programme marks an important step in helping young people enjoy gaming safely, with the knowledge and tools to better understand potential risks and harms.
“Through our work with parents, young people, and professionals across sectors, we know there is a real demand for this kind of education. We’re incredibly proud and excited to begin delivering it to communities across the country,” continued Kent.
Ygam delivered a pilot to students from the Sheffield United Community Foundation and students from Sheffield Hallam University. The charity believes that the pilot was “well received” by both staff and young people.
Ygam has already delivered the programme to nearly 100 people through two open sessions and to the Newcastle United Foundation. A full program of open sessions will take place in April and May.
Lia Thompson, President of the Gaming & Esports Society at Sheffield Hallam University stated: “I think the new Ygam programme is really important – the Gaming and Esports industry is going in the right direction with the increasing ability to report inappropriate behaviour, but safeguarding needs to start before that. There needs to be more awareness of the behaviour that is actively happening, so that it stops being normalised. If we can get young people to think about this early on, we can stop it from happening in the first place, and Ygam’s new programme really helps to achieve this.
She added: “As a woman in gaming, you see these behaviours normalised from a young age, so you begin to think that’s how you should act to be accepted by the community. This is not the true version of yourself, and toxic behaviour online should not be enabled like this. Ygam’s training is bringing attention to the impact of these behaviours, changing mindsets and helping others feel more comfortable calling it out to make their communities and peers safer.”
Linking Gaming Behavior to Gambling Risks
The UK Parliamentary Committee on Public Health and Social Care recently met and discussed in depth the intersection of gaming and gambling with specific relation to gambling-related harms.
Although Ygam’s campaign covers more than just gambling, an understanding of microtransactions and virtual currencies and their wider use is integral in safeguarding against the early development of behaviors that can later lead to gambling-related harms.
A DCMS inquiry into loot boxes and their potential harms ruled that they should not fall under the same regulatory requirements as traditional gambling products.
