Adolescents at higher risk to form gambling addiction, several studies show

Posted August 10th, 2009

Over the past decade, gambling has ballooned into a multi-billion dollar industry. According to a recent study, teens and tweens are using web-based casinos, lottery sites, and online gambling in huge numbers, and the provinces should be doing more to stop it.  Unlike real casinos, minors usually have unrestricted and unregulated access when online.  Numerous studies have indicated the rates of problem gambling are two to three times higher in adolescents compared to adults.

When students are living at home, parents have several options to allow them to restrict access to these sites, but once they are on their own and are old enough to legally gamble, parents lose their bargaining power.
According to Marie Mullally, "the best time to create effective prevention is when people are younger - particularly today, when they’re so exposed to the product." Mullally’s study found many youths were gambling three or four times more often than adults.

It does not hurt to keep an open dialogue about gambling with your son or daughter. Knowing how damaging gambling can be for a student’s mental health, budgeting, and school performance, make sure you make your child aware of the risks.

For more information on gambling and on these studies, see:
www.canada.com/technology/internet/Teens+tweens+rolling+dice+online/1866095/story.html