RSPH brands YGAM’s ‘ParentHub’ as an essential education resource  

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has praised YGAM for developing its ‘ParentHub’ website, labelling the service as a ‘vital resource’ for parents educating children on the risks and harms of problem gambling.

The RSPH stated that the education of adults and younger audiences has played a fundamental role in establishing the core objectives of its subsidiary Gambling Health Alliance (GHA) launched in 2019.

The objective of the Alliance is to bring together organisations and individuals who have a shared interest in reducing the damage caused to health and wellbeing from problem gambling – in which YGAM is noted as a key contributor making fundamental progress.

YGAM’s ParentHub is recognised as a vital education resource for parents understanding and controlling the risk of their children engaging in digital experiences such as loot box purchases.    

Research from the Children’s Commissioner has suggested that 93% of children play video games, while UK Gambling Commission research has shown there are 55,000 11-16 years olds classified as problem gamblers in England, Scotland and Wales.

 Duncan Stephenson, Chair of the GHA and Deputy Chief Executive of RSPH said: “Most children and young people have instant access to a largely ‘wild west’ digital world and this can include exposure to gambling.  Even gaming, a pastime which is a fun and positive experience for many young people is now crammed with gambling-like features.

“We, therefore, welcome the new YGAM Parent Hub as a vitally important and much-needed resource to help parents better understand some of the issues around  gambling within gaming, and to support families to maximise the positives of gaming and mitigate the negatives.”

 Further YGAM education directives have seen the charity collaborate with research departments from Newcastle and Loughborough Universities to help parents and carers understand the latest digital gaming products accessible to children such as loot boxes.

Amanda Atkinson, Head of Parental Engagement at YGAM said: “In many households, we find that parents have limited knowledge of what games their children are playing online. 

“Our new website answers many of the questions that parents have and will provide them with the tools to make informed decisions for their children. As schools break up for the summer holidays and many places remain closed, children will be spending more time online so the launch of our ‘Parent Hub’ website has never been more important.”