Your child is going to play either way. The real question isn't whether they game. It's whether those hours build friendships, focus, and skills that last. Here's what the research, and the people in the room, actually find.
Drawing on research from the NFHS, UC Irvine, NASEF, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and NACE.
If you play video games, you are welcome. We've had athletes and nonathletes, students with and without disabilities. Esports is bringing them all together.
They make friends. They learn about sportsmanship. They start believing in themselves.
It definitely taught me how to work with others and be a team player, even when times discourage me to.
Let's clear the air
Three of the most common concerns, and what actually happens when play is coached and structured.
The worryIt's just hours alone in front of a screen.
The realityCoached esports is scheduled, team-based, and supervised. Pediatricians recommend exactly this kind of structure over blanket screen-time bans.American Academy of Pediatrics, Family Media Plan
The worryGaming makes kids antisocial.
The realityMost student players say it helped them make and keep friends, and build real sportsmanship.Albuquerque Public Schools survey, 2025
The worryIt'll pull focus away from school.
The realityStudents in structured programs attend more school days and pick up fewer discipline referrals, not more.Marzano & Magana 5-year study, 100,000+ peers
The evidence
30,440
U.S. high-school students competed in esports in 2024–25, officially sanctioned across 22 states.
NFHS Participation Survey, 2025
33.5%
lower absence rate for students in esports programs, adjusting for demographics.
Riverside County Office of Education, 2023–24
Up to 50%
fewer disciplinary incidents in structured programs, measured across 100,000+ peers.
Marzano & Magana 5-year study, 2025
$16M+
in scholarships and aid offered by colleges across the U.S.
National Association of Collegiate Esports
Education and program findings are drawn from independent research and district reports; esports-program results are associational, not causal. Sources are cited per figure.
Why it's good
Beyond the scoreboard, structured esports builds things parents actually care about.
A team for the kid who never had one: a place to be known, and to be counted on.
70.8%of student players said esports helped them make and keep friends
Albuquerque Public Schools, 2025
50.5%reported more self-confidence
Albuquerque Public Schools, 2025
A squad that shows up for each other
A reason to show up, and to stay switched on once they're there.
More weeks present, term over term
+7–10more school days attended per year in structured programs
Marzano & Magana study, 2025
Communication, teamwork, and quick decisions under pressure: skills that carry well beyond the game.
17 of 18measured outcomes improved, from critical thinking to STEM interest
UC Irvine – NASEF study
Scholarships are one open door, but a global esports industry is the far bigger one, hiring well beyond the players.
200+colleges now offer esports scholarships and aid
NACE
640Mfans worldwide: an industry of jobs, not just games
Newzoo / Statista, 2025
A path that keeps opening, well beyond the players
The Valor difference
Everything above is true of esports in general. Coaching and curriculum are what turn loose hours into all of it, reliably and safely.
Unstructured gaming
Coached Valor esports
Pediatricians don't recommend banning games. They recommend structure. Coached, curriculum-based esports is that structure. Source: American Academy of Pediatrics.
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