- The NSPCC’s ‘Game Safe’ festival features a range of workshops and an in-person esports safeguarding conference which covers child protection within the gaming industry.
- Professionals, parents and gamers are invited to attend sessions which educate individuals on how to keep children safe when gaming online.
- Childline continues to be here for young people who are concerned about experiences on gaming platforms.
Staff from NSPCC Scotland will lead a workshop on keeping children safe while gaming as part of a new ‘Game Safe’ festival.
The children protection charity is inviting professional, parents and gamers to attend the festival, which aims to raise awareness and educate parents, carers and professionals on how to keep children safe while playing games online, as well as provide opportunities to fundraise for the charity.
The NSPCC’s ‘Game Safe’ festival features a range of workshops and an in-person esports safeguarding conference which covers child protection within the gaming industry.
Euan Graham (above), a Local Campaigns Officer in Scotland, will lead an online workshop on 7th February. More than 900 people have signed up so far.
The festival, taking place on the 5th – 11th February, is launched with several key partners. Vodafone has partnered with the festival and will feature across the week to promote the work they are doing with the NSPCC to ensure every child has a happy and safe online life. Also supporting is The British Esports Federation, who is advising on the esports activation.
The festival comes as a recent report by the NSPCC saw an 82% rise in online grooming crimes against children in the last 5 years. With 89% of children in the UK playing video games, the NSPCC is committed to ensuring that online protections extend to gaming platforms.
One of the key opportunities within the festival is the Safeguarding in Esports Conference, an in-person event being held at Confetti X in Nottingham on the 9th February. This gives esports industry professionals the opportunity to learn more from safeguarding experts about how to protect children who take part in esports competitions. There are also virtual tickets for those unable to attend in person.
The conference features a panel of experts who will share insight on the world of esports, including:
- NSPCC’s CEO, Sir Peter Wanless
- Wolves FC / Wolves Esports Head of Safeguarding, Lisa Carter
- Child Protection in Sport Service Head, Michelle North
- Sport England Head of Children, Alex Moore
Alongside the esports conference, there are a variety of online workshops for parents, carers and professionals working with children. These sessions will tackle the topic of keeping children safe when gaming online.
All events will be designed to equip people with the tools and confidence they need to protect young players, bring together key industry stakeholders to improve safeguarding practices across the sector and encourage everyone to fundraise for the charity.
Visitors will also be able to bid for exciting auction prizes. During the week, creators and streamers will be offering prizes during livestreaming, including state-of-the-art gaming furniture and equipment. Another prize is the opportunity for two winners to watch the senior Cymru men’s team train as they prepare for the Euro 24 play off, semi-final against Finland.
Tickets for all Game Safe Festival events can be found here.
Childline counsellors are listening to concerns from children who contact the free helpline, as well as hearing how young people play games online to relax, they are also hearing cases of abuse in the virtual world.
The most commonly mentioned gaming consoles in 2022/23 were Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo (including the Switch) and the top gaming sites discussed Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite.
One boy aged 18 told Childline: “I’m contacting Childline today because of something I’ve seen online… I was invited to a Discord group chat room by someone on Reddit who I didn’t know and in this group chat they were sharing naked photos of underage children!
“I left the chat as soon as I realised what it was and reported it to Discord. But then I discover that Discord had banned MY account?! Now I’m scared I’m going to get in trouble for it even though I’ve not done anything wrong!”
One young person aged 13 told Childline: “During the break from school I was spending lots of time on Roblox. These two older guys were talking to and flirting with me, they complimented my selfies but then made me send sexy pictures to them. I feel so stupid for doing it.
“My parents helped me report it and everything, but I don’t want to go back to school now. I feel like everyone knows what I did.”
Euan Graham, Local Campaigns Officer at NSPCC Scotland, said: “Gaming and technology is a huge part of young people’s lives, so it is crucial parents and carers to better understand what their children enjoy about gaming so they can better support them to navigate these digital spaces safely.
“Gaming is an increasingly social activity, meaning it is more important than ever that parents and carers have the skills and resources to keep children safe while gaming.
“Parents and carers will finish the workshop with more confidence and knowledge and come away with practical skills to ensure they are well equipped to help keep their children safe.”
Lewie Procter, Associate Head of Gaming at the NSPCC, said: “The NSPCC is thrilled to announce the launch of Game Safe, our new gaming festival. A huge number of young people use gaming platforms, and so it is crucial that they are designed with child safety in mind.
“The NSPCC is dedicated to protecting children from abuse both online and in person. Our esports conference is a fantastic opportunity for professionals to learn more about the industry, and the role we all have in keeping young people safe.”
Nicki Lyons, Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at Vodafone UK, said: “As a partner of NSPCC, we are proud to be supporting the Game Safe Festival 2024 and bringing more people into the online safety conversation through the event.
“At Vodafone we have been committed to the online safety space for 14 years and have been working with the NSPCC since early 2023 to create new resources and support via the Vodafone UK Digital Parenting platform, helping equip parents and carers with the information and tools they need to help ensure children are safe and happy online.
“We’re proud to be launching a new online toolkit together in the coming weeks to further support families feeling confident about starting their online journey together.”
Any adults concerned about a child’s safety or wellbeing can contact the NSPCC Helpline at help@nspcc.org.uk or by calling 0808 800 5000.
Children can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or childline.org.uk.