A new Save the Children report, 'Protecting Child Rights in Esports', says sleep loss, mental health pressures and online abuse threaten young competitive gamers and calls for common standards.
Children's health and wellbeing are not adequately protected in competitive gaming, according to a new report by Save the Children titled "Protecting Child Rights in Esports", published on Tuesday, October 27, as reported by Euronews. The report calls on the fast-growing esports industry to put children's rights, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ahead of competitive ambitions. It says up to 300 million children worldwide are young esports players. "Esports offers exciting opportunities for children, but participation should never come at the expense of their rights, wellbeing or development," said Theo Toresson, a psychologist and gaming expert at Save the Children, adding that children must be recognised "as children first and competitors second".
According to the report, young players can face disrupted sleep, musculoskeletal problems, sexism, anxiety, online harassment and depression, while intensive training can leave less time for education, family and friends. Long sessions, poor posture and inadequate breaks are linked to neck, shoulder and wrist pain, and late-night schedules can affect mood and cognitive performance. A representative of a national esports federation, quoted anonymously in the report, said there are no established guidelines on playing hours or training methods and no centralised body bringing best practice together. The report also notes that the picture is not uniformly negative: many professional players report satisfactory levels of physical activity, and higher-ranking players often place greater emphasis on fitness.
The report also points to risks online, where young players interact with audiences through in-game chat, Discord communities and platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. It cites an analysis of chatrooms during 302 gameplay segments from the top 20 Twitch streamers, which found sexist language in 62% of streams, racist language in 37%, ableist language in 84% and violent language in 97%. Some federations and teams require staff to take mental health first-aid training, the report says, but the practice is not widespread. It further flags unequal participation, economic exploitation through non-transparent contracts, children's lack of involvement in decision-making and inadequate supervision at live events.
