As the U.S. Supreme Court removed legal barriers that prohibit states from allowing gambling, about 31 are now permitted to bet on the phone or website, and seven states have authorized online casino gambling. The result of the legal shift “is a crisis, gambling barriers and economic downturns, especially for young people,” wrote Jonathan Cohen, author of “Losing Big: America’s reckless bet on sports gambling.”
According to the Siena Research Institute, nearly half of 18 to 49 men (or 22% of all Americans) have an active sports betting account. A national poll conducted by Farleigh Dickinson University found that 10% of men aged 18 to 30 may be problematic gamblers, a feature of online betting on online sports and slot machines. Gambling in underage is also on the rise. The largest demographic group says the gambling hotline is teenagers and young people in their twenties, and Yale Medical reports say a lot of trouble begins when players are teenagers. Gamblers who start young are more likely to develop a problem in adulthood. Although betting may be another form of entertainment for many, people with problems have higher suicide rates than alcoholics or drug users. In addition, the Journal of Pediatrics reported that gambling in underage is associated with substance abuse.
“If you think your child isn’t gambling, either it’s an exception or you’re cheating on yourself,” Cohen told me, adding, “If your son plays video games or likes sports, he’s almost certain to be gambling in some way.”
Like Minnick, some teenagers play games on sites their parents may not realize: underdog fantasy, prizepicks and sleeper draft picks, for example, fall into the category of fantasy sports, and most states allow 18-year-olds to participate. (All other states except a few states require players to bet at least 21 on large online sites like DraftKings and Betmgm.) Tech-savvy and more determined teenagers may also find ways to browse the age needs of famous websites, using their Apple salary to fund Apple by sneaking into their parents’ social security numbers. Cool high school students are the ones who can use their parents’ Fanduel accounts and be allowed to place bets there, Minnick said.
“Most parents don’t know what their children are targeting for predatory gambling,” said Les Bernal, who chairs the advocacy group to stop predatory gambling.
Experts in the gambling industry encourage parents to take action.
Talk about gambling
“The information the kids received about gambling came from ads and ads,” Cohen said. Some of the most prominent sponsors were the biggest stars in sports: football legends Ellie and Payton Manning, golf’s outstanding Jordan Spies, basketball’s great LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal, Red Sox batsman David Ortiz.
“These athletes have built a certain amount of trust in gambling,” said Samantha Thomas, a public health professor at Dickin University in Australia. She added: “They think, ‘If Shaq is doing this, it’s not a bad thing’.”
While challenging the wisdom of the stars can be daunting, caring adults need to offset that message. Many people have talked with their children about pornography, drugs and alcoholism. Gambling should also say the same. “Unless parents talk about it, that won’t change,” Bernal said.
News about kids gambling
DraftKings and Fanduel sold the idea of gambling that it was fun to make money, and those with expertise in track and field may have an advantage, which is overconfident in some boys’ sports knowledge.
Thomas advises parents to follow information about industry motivation: it promotes gambling, not help others make money, but to make money on their own. Remind them that the gambling industry does not have the greatest interest of players. They need to realize what most adults already do-the house always wins.
Kids need to know that no matter what they know about athletes and teams, there is no career in sports betting and that gambling addiction is real. They need to understand that “pursuing loss” (betting after losing a lot) is a symptom of addiction. If they are in trouble, the kids need to be assured that they can ask for help.
How to talk to kids about gambling
Threat and intimidation strategies can backfire.
“If my parents said, ‘Never gamble again!’ I would do it faster,” Rob Minnick told me. Bernal said the kids respond better to the message. He recommends telling kids that gambling is highly addictive and telling them that the whole scene is a robbery-the company thinks you can easily mark it.
Minnick encourages parents to keep talking about it and makes it easy for your child to reveal his questions. And if the teenager reveals gambling problems on any level, such as betting or losing more than expected, take it seriously as if it were drugs or alcohol.
Practice your preaching on gambling
“Don’t take the kids to the casino,” Bernal said. “It’s like taking drugs in front of a child,” he added. Gambling parents should model safety habits and bet responsibly.
On November 12, 2022, Minnick accepted his last bet. It was after a 12-hour gambling spree, where he lost all his money and accumulated debts, which took six months to pay back. He went to a rehabilitation facility for the second time in his life and “detoxified” by habit. Minnick said he had no urge to bet because he found the meaning of helping other problems gamblers give up. He formed an organization called Odaat (One Day at a Time), which provides resources to gamblers and their families, including information on rehabilitation, financial counseling and educational videos.
