Steve Watts is the founder of independent gambling charity GamFam and an experienced senior education professional. Through GamFam, Steve delivers tailored programmes in schools to educate the whole school community on the dangers of online gaming and online gambling.
His knowledge and passion for supporting and educating local communities led Carolyn Harris MP, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Gambling Related Harm, to become a trustee of the charity, despite GamFam’s relative youth.
Steve has worked in education for over 15 years across a number of senior leadership roles and over the course of the last 7 years, has been a Deputy Headteacher at a secondary school in Essex.
Through his own lived experience of dealing with a son who developed a gaming addiction which escalated into a gambling disorder, GamFam now helps families recognise the early warning signs associated with an online gaming addiction and how this could possibly lead to a child developing a compulsive gambling disorder.
From Online Gaming to Online Gambling: Recognising the Signs
This week's free online safety guide focuses on ‘From Online Gaming to Online Gambling: Recognising the Signs’. The digital world that we live in can be a mine eld for families and parents/carers. The guide takes a look at how to tackle a range of potential risks such as excessive use of devices, spending money online without permission and compulsive eating.
A free online safety guide ‘From Online Gaming to Online Gambling: Recognising the Signs’.
“The industry, as far as we can see as families, are grooming the next generation with a whole set of online games and these are aimed at 7, 8, 9 year olds – that’s the next generation who are going to be their income generators” - Liz Ritchie, Gambling With Lives
The digital world that we live in can be a mine eld for families and parents/carers. The way in which children ‘game’ now is completely di¬fferent to how modern day parents and carers would have experienced. The ‘monetization’ of gaming is at the forefront of research and there are increasing concerns surrounding online gaming and the subsequent links this has with underage gambling.
In the guide, you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as excessive use of devices, spending money online without permission and compulsive eating.
