Big Issue With Teenage Gambling

October 12, 2007

Gamblers Anonymous says that they have not only seen an increase in online gambling over the past few years due to the advent of internet gambling, but they have also seen a rise in teenage online gambling. When you go to a B&M casino the people there can tell if you are of age, but online gambling does not discriminate and it is much easier to fake it online.

Many teenagers working the program say that they started simply enough, scratch off lottery tickets, penny games with their friends, but for those that are not likely to develop a problem these were fun things to do. With those that have a disposition to addictive behavior, they were only asking for trouble - trouble that would grow as they did.

With Gamblers Anonymous having just passed their 50th Anniversary, it saddens no one more than those that founded it that there is still a pressing need for the organization, and that the need has grown instead of abated over the years. They say that they have more than tripled the number of meetings that they have had to have over the past 15 years, and each week they get more and more requests for help – with a lot of them coming from teens.

They have found that 11.6% of 14-22 aged males are online gambling, and many are already exhibiting problems controlling it. Only 2% of women are in the same boat, but that doesn’t mean anything according to experts. It is the age of the gamblers that is cause for alarm. With it being difficult enough for adults with a problem not to participate in online gambling, how easy can it be for kids?




Back to October 2007 Archive