Resources for Parents and Guardians

The team at NASEF has found that esports is an incredible vehicle to help high school students grow in many aspects of their lives.

Our technical advisors and advisory committee are comprised of some of the best minds in the fields of education, human development, psychology, engineering, information systems, and more. They’ve aligned with NASEF because they believe in our mission:To provide opportunities for ALL students to use esports as a platform to acquire critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life.

We’ve compiled the following resources to help parents who want to learn more about esports and the benefits of activating a high school esports club including:

Resources for parents who want to speak to school administrators about allowing esports clubs on campus.
News on video game research conducted by thought leaders within the field of neuroscience.
Ways that parents can support their students academically and with extracurricular activities.

Esports in the Family

Parents: wondering if there are really benefits to high school esports? Is it all hype?

Watch this video to see the heartfelt joy these parents are experiencing as a NASEF esports club provides a positive growth environment for their son. “It does teach cognitive skills, but most importantly I see a difference in his overall behavior. His grades have improved significantly since last year.”

Thank you again to the Dang Vu family for sharing their story!

Download Our Parent's Guide to Esports!

Parents' Frequently Asked Questions

About esports and gaming

What is esports?

The North America Scholastic Esports Federation has more than 100 clubs across the country and is growing fast! Fantastic, you say! But, what are esports?

Esports is a term derived from “electronic sports” and is essentially competition in video games at a very high level, similar to traditional sports.

Esports titles vary from team-based games to individual games with each title assuming a certain genre. Genres vary from multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBA) to real-time strategy (RTS) and first-person shooters (FPS).

To learn more, visit our blog on NASEF 101!

Why should educators embrace esports?

You might be thinking, it seems a little contradictory to form esports clubs on high school campuses… After all, aren’t teens supposed to stay away from video games? You’d be shocked to find out the incredible benefits we’ve seen by combining the worlds of esports and education, including:

Going where the students are
Forming communities
Helping students invest in their own education
Learning valuable skills
Enhancing education with esports curriculum
Using esports to elevate STEM interests

To learn more, visit our full blog on why educators should embrace esports!

Are video games good for a developing brain?

Yes! Dr. Constance Steinkuehler, Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine, explains her findings in our interview below.

About NASEF

How does NASEF use esports as a learning platform?

NASEF has developed a research-based method to incorporate significant educational elements into league play of popular video games while maintaining an authentic gamers’ experience.

With the guidance of several partners, including the Orange County Department of Education, Connected Camps, researchers from UC Irvine, and UCI Esports (the 2018 College League of Legends National Champion), the experience is much deeper:

Near-peer coaches guide students to develop social-emotional skills and build a positive gaming culture, as well as improve their gameplay.
Professionals lead career-focused workshops incorporating engineering, technology, and entrepreneurship principles.
Students are mentored to build crucial 21^st century skills in communication, collaboration, and teamwork.
A new high school English Language Arts curriculum teaches timeless reading and writing skills with next-generation esports at its core, with STEM[1] principles and elements of Career Technical Education woven throughout.

Want to hear more? Be sure to download our #GametoGrow podcast!

What do they do during an esports club meeting? Is it only playing games?

NASEF's club model puts the students first, using the esports ecosystem (above) as a model to go beyond the players of the games. Through the club, students will receive the tools needed to use their interest in gaming as a way to improve on critical real world skills!

Hear from the students themselves:

Resources to Share with School Administrators

IMPROVING ACADEMICS

"New educational opportunities arise as competitive mainstream video games and education continue to mix."

Link to Article

INTEREST-BASED LEARNING

"...the most resilient, adaptive and effective learning involves individual interest as well as social support to overcome adversity and provide recognition."

Link to Article

INTEREST-BASED LEARNING

"Through a new initiative in California, students can pursue their love of competitive gaming while developing career skills and fulfilling curriculum requirements."

Link to Article

Encouraging STEM Learning

“Having a mentor who shares an interest
with you — that encourages people to stay in STEM.” This strategic move aims to provide kids with relatable role models in STEM fields."

Link to Article

Creating an Inclusive Environment

“We are going to be an example of how girls can play, and I definitely don’t want to let that up."

Link to Article

Building Character

"These are places where kids learn to negotiate conflict, become independent, and explore what kind of person they want to be."

Link to Article

Enhanced Social Skills, Scholarships, & More

"Esports is a great way to prepare students for the increasingly digital world they live in, too. They learn how to apply lessons learned through gaming to real-life situations that require decision making, teamwork, and perseverance."

Link to Article

Additional Resources for Download

Frequently Used Gaming Terms and Lingo

Confused between "Lag" and "LAN?" Struggling to figure out the difference between "MMO" and a "Mod?"

Check out this Glossary of Terms and Acronyms.

Commonly Played Games

The following is a list of games commonly played by our high school esports clubs.

Overwatch
League of Legends (LoL)
Hearthstone
Super Smash Bros.
Rocket League
Fortnite

Esports College Scholarship Opportunities

Playing high school esports can open up some fantastic opportunities for students seeking a college education!

The following are some programs with esports programs that you may consider:

Please visit the ESPN's list of varsity esports programs in North America for additional schools.

Esports College Degree Programs

Esports has created more than just an opportunity to compete. Just like a Major League Baseball team needs a front office staff, esports has opened up an entire industry for women and men to fill a number of different roles within their organizations.

Some colleges have recognized the need by creating esports-specific programs to train these future professionals:

Lead Researcher Dr. Constance Steinkuehler and researchers from the Informatics Department at the University of California, Irvine are recruiting participants for a research study that aims to identify key points of interest from parents/guardians who have children that play video games. Specifically, parents who have children that participate in the NASEF program. This study may help us to better understand the intersection of video games, family units, and student learning impacted by NASEF.

You are eligible to participate in this study if you are at least 18 years of age or older and are a parent/guardian of a child in a NASEF club.
The study will take place either online or over the phone. Your participation will last up to 2 hours hours each day for a total of 1 day.

As part of participating, you will be asked to participate in a 1:1 interview either over the phone, or through Discord.

You will be paid for your participation in this research as follows: An Esports Jersey, valued at $50. Sizing and contact information will be collected at the end of the interview.

If you participate, there is no anticipated direct benefit.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact Dr. B. Remy Cross at bcross@uci.edu or 949-824-8291.

For more information, please visit the Connected Learning Lab website.

Be sure to follow us on social media, as we’ll be regularly adding new content, articles, and resources! If there’s a question not answered within our website, please contact us at info@nasef.org.

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