Performance evaluation
Young people who are NEET — an acronym for Not in Education, Employment or Training — represent a serious problem for many countries.
According to Eurostat data, Italy consistently has one of the highest percentages of under-30s not in education or employment. There are over 1.6 million under-30s, or nearly one in five.
But NEET is a cold and impersonal acronym, which certainly doesn't help describe completely different stories, made up of disorientation, low self-esteem, relational fragility and, often, a profound distrust towards traditional educational institutions.
The role of serious games as a reintegration tool
From this perspective, serious games, while certainly not the solution to such a structural and multidimensional problem, can be a surprisingly effective tool for reintegration and personal development. Training games are video games designed not for pure entertainment, but rather to educate, raise awareness, simulate real-world scenarios, and develop skills.
Originating in the military and medical fields, they have gradually spread to the educational, corporate, and social sectors. Business management simulators, role-playing games for developing soft skills, virtual environments for career guidance: the applications are now vast.
Why do educational video games work with NEETs?
Through gamified training, young people practice and practice fundamental transversal skills:
Problem solving
Communication
Teamwork
Planning
Mechanisms such as points, levels, and digital badges for inclusion on CVs and social media profiles (LinkedIn, etc.) reinforce desired behaviors through repeated feedback. Another significant advantage concerns digital literacy. Many NEETs also have gaps in this area. Interaction with structured digital play environments helps bridge this gap naturally and progressively, improving familiarity with the tools and logic of the contemporary labor market.
a bridge to individual protagonism
It's important to emphasize that training games are not a panacea. They work best when integrated into broader programs, supported by appropriately skilled support personnel such as educators, tutors, and psychologists, to transform the gaming experience into informed reflection. Despite this, the potential is enormous.
With targeted projects, however, serious games can create a solid bridge between young people's difficulties and insecurities and a newly attainable goal of regaining self-esteem and individual leadership.
Bibliographic References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
World Economic Forum. (2016). New vision for education: Fostering social and emotional learning through technology. World Economic Forum. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_New_Vision_for_Education.pdf
Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & van der Spek, E. D. (2013). A meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious games. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(2), 249–265.