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Why Do Teens Gamble?

• History of gambling in the family
• Problems at home
• Low self-esteem
• Peer pressure
• The action of the game
• To win money
• To gain attention from peers

Warning Signs of Teenage Problem Gambling

1. Asking for money, borrowing from friends and family
2. Having gambling "stuff" at home (lottery tickets, betting sheets)
3. Unexplained debts or windfall cash
4. Telephone calls from strangers and higher phone bills
5. Unexplained absences from home, school or work Increased day dreaming and anxiety
6. Extreme moodiness
7. Withdrawal from relationships, school groups or activities

Researchers say a shocking number of kids are gambling, whether they’re doing it online with credit cards, sneaking into casinos with fake IDs, holding their own Texas Hold 'Em poker games or betting on sports events.

The National Council on Problem Gambling, in fact, says a “vast majority” of kids have gambled before their 18th birthday, and researchers who study the issue, such as Lia Nower, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, say that anywhere from 24 to 42 percent of adolescents gamble weekly. Of these gamblers, about 3 to 5 percent will become problem gamblers.

Last year, a study in the Journal of Gambling Studies found that teens who had parents who gamble were more likely to try gambling and were more likely to develop a gambling problem. That same study also found, however, that parents who spent more time monitoring and supervising their children were less likely to have children who gambled.

Yet, still there is too little parental concern about gambling. In one study conducted by the Minnesota council, only 9 percent of parents of children 15 and younger said they’d be concerned if they discovered their children were gambling.

More teens are gambling

Recent studies indicate that more than 70 percent of youth between the ages of 10 and 17 gambled in the past year, up from 45 percent in 1988. Almost one in three high school students gamble on a regular basis, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Playing cards, the lottery, and scratch tickets as well as betting on sporting events are the most popular forms of gambling among teenagers.

While 4 percent to 5 percent of adult gamblers will develop a serious gambling problem, underage gamblers are three times as likely as adults to become compulsive gamblers.

Teens' gambling habits can lead to stealing from others and abusing their parents' credit cards. Researchers at the National Council on Problem Gambling suggest that teens with a gambling problem are more likely to engage in risky behavior such as unsafe sex, binge drinking, smoking marijuana and skipping school.

Gamblers also have the highest suicide rate of any addicted group. In 1997 a 19-year-old New Yorker killed himself, leaving a suicide note blaming a lost $6,000 bet on the World Series.

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