News

Carlow Regional Youth Service and socialCORE at IT Carlow Announce ‘Game-Fest’ Gaming Summer Camp

29/07/2019

Carlow Regional Youth Service and socialCORE at IT Carlow Announce ‘Game-Fest’ Gaming Summer CampCarlow Regional Youth Service and the socialCORE hub at Institute of Technology Carlow are rolling out a gaming-themed summer camp, Game-Fest,  beginning today (29th July - 2nd August) for young people aged 12 to 16 years.

The idea behind ‘Game-Fest’ is to expand the interest of young people heavily engaged in gaming into new areas such as rudimentary electronics, coding and software configuration in order to increase their engagement with education and improve their employability

Young people’s interest in digital games can present many new challenges for parents such as cutting down screen time, monitoring game content and responding to sometime obsessive behaviour.

However, the thinking behind this week’s camp is that the interest in digital gaming presents opportunities such as developing skills in building gaming computers, coding websites and managing online servers that could provide the foundation for careers in the digital sector, with appropriate encouragement and guidance.

The camp, which is funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA),  will teach young people digital skills, team-working and problem-solving skills; foster creativity and promote positive mental health by encouraging inclusion. Participants will have the opportunity, amongst other things, to co-design, co-construct and artistically express themselves by creating their own arcade machine.

The camp was born out of the work socialCORE is currently undertaking with IT Carlow’s with gameCORE and Carlow Regional Youth Service around gaming as a tool of youth work. The collaboration was designed to contribute to innovative and inclusive youth work and is a model of what is possible in developing research-informed practice within the social professions.

“Game-fest will draw on, encourage and celebrate the positive parts of gaming, whilst also imparting skills to counter issues that might arise for young gamers”, said Tom Manning, a postgraduate researcher who is leading the camp.

This week’s camp is fully booked but socialCORE hope to run similar projects in the coming months. For further information, contact Tom Manning, IT Carlow socialCORE on 086 7525587.