Youth gambling: Nipping it in the bud

Studies show that youth-gambling is a problem that needs to be tackled early. Nearly half of the Singaporean gamblers started between age 18-24. The one problem faced is getting the "don't start" message across in a way that does not turn the youths off. A way to solve this problem is to come up with interactive ways to engage the youth, such as open forum to discuss why teenagers start gambling at a young age. Did the young ones gamble because they enjoy taking risks? If so, perhaps youth organisations can organise games that instill the same level of thrill but without money involved. But why do teenagers start gambling at a young age? In my view, it has to do with the technology advancement. Now with online gambling teenagers have easy access to gambling. There is no need to leave the house, find gambling partners, or worst still, their parents may not even know. The most common type of gambling is soccer-betting. The legal age limit for soccer-betting is 18 years old. Some of the people I know start soccer-betting at a mere age of 19. These people are soccer fanatics, they start by watching a lot of soccer and when this becomes boring, they try to add a little fun into it by betting on the score. Usually they would start small by betting $10. When they win, they gain more confidence and have a craving to win more money, as such they slowly increase the sum of money they bet. This is how most gambling cases start. Even pre-teens are demonstrating risk behaviours such as saying things like 'I bet with you' so often. In my opinion, this issue is a very urgent one and needs to be resolved quickly. With the Integrated Resorts in the pipeline gambling will be made easily accessible to more. I am against the idea of the casinos being built but it does bring some benefits to Singapore's economy. Gambling does not only affect the gambler but his family as well. If the gambler loses his earnings in gambling, he may borrow money to make ends meet. When he is unable to pay back his loan, creditors will come after him and his family. Another mistake many families made is to encourage a casual game of mahjong or Black Jack card game during the Chinese New Year period when families gather together. Teenagers may misconstrue this as 'healthy' family activities. I personally feel that gambling is something that will cause a person and his or her family to suffer and it should be discouraged at all ages and at all costs. Teenagers should learn to channel their time and interests at healthier activities.