BOSTON--What are the main threats facing teens todays?
If you say drug use or alcohol abuse or the rise in teen smoking, you are right--of course. But you may be overlooking another major threat to today's teens. Several new studies indicate that gambling and the problems it causes may threaten the well-being of U.S. teens as much as the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco does.
"We call [gambling addiction] the silent addiction," said gambling expert Jeffrey Derevensky of McGill University in Canada. "You can't smile it on their breath; you can't see it in their eyes. But [gambling among teens] is going to become a huge social policy issues."
Although people under age 18 (or 21 in some states) cannot legally gamble in casinos or take part in state lotteries, many teens gamble among themselves or place illegal bets with bookies on the outcome of sports events.
New Survey Results
Last month, researchers at Harvard University's Children's Hospital in Boston released the results of a study of 17,000 U.S. high school students. The study found that more than half the students had gambled in the last 12 months.
The results of the Boston study are supported by a Minnesota survey of 200,000 middle school and high school students in the state. The Minnesota survey found that some 80 percent of teenage boys had gambled at least once during the previous year, and 20 percent had gambled every week.
"There is not a high school in the United States where kids are not making book gambling on sports events," said Durand Jacobs, a professor of psychiatry at Loma Linda University Medical School in California, who has studied teen gambling for years.
Serious Problems
Dr. Jacobs said his own studies show that, currently, one in seven teen gamblers has serious gambling-related problems. Those problems can include losing more money than one can afford to, giving up or selling objects to pay for bets, being unable to stop betting, and committing crimes to get money to pay off gambling debts.
Paul (not his real name) is an example of a teen who got hooked on gambling:
Paul started gambling in the eighth grade, when he and his friends began flipping quarters after school for fun. Though most of his friends simply enjoyed the game, Paul felt on top of the world when he won. When he lost, he wanted to play again--until he won.
By ninth grade, Paul was betting heavily, mostly on sports. Like most gamblers, he lost more than he won. To pay his debts, he sold his stereo equipment and computer games. By the time he was a junior in high school, Paul's gambling habit had become so severe that he broke into a house to steal what he could to pay his debts.
Paul was arrested and tried. As part of his punishment, the judge required Paul to join Gambler's Anonymous (GA), an organization for gambling addicts.
How many Pauls and future Pauls are there in U.S. schools?
"In any given classroom of 30 kids," said Dr. Jacobs, "two or three are having serious gambling-related problems."
A Society Hooked on Gambling
Many blame the high incidence of teen gambling on the widespread acceptance of gambling in U.S. society. They also say teen gambling is not seen as particularly serious or "that big a deal" compared to the dangers of drugs or alcohol.
"The attitude is that teen gambling isn't that big a deal. Let me tell you, it's a bigger deal," said Elizabeth George of the Minnesota Council on Compulsive Gambling.
George and others say it's not surprising that teen gambling is widespread in a society that seems to be hooked on gambling. In 1970, only one state Nevada--had legal gambling. Today, 48 states have some form of legalized gambling. The public mania(*) for gambling, say experts, is fueled by milliondollar TV and radio advertising campaigns for lotteries, such as the recent $295 million Powerball jackpot.
In this atmosphere, experts argue, it is unlikely that teen gambling will decrease. Indeed, gambling is likely to increase.
Yet experts point out that most gamblers lose money most of the time. And some people, especially teens, can lose far more than money; they can lose their self-respect and can destroy their future.
The message that experts want teens to hear is, Don't be a loser. Don't gamble, and if you do and can't stop, get help.
Consider This ... A friend says he likes to gamble, and it has become a problem for him. He asks your advice on how to stop gambling. What is the best advice you could give him?
(*) Words in red link to the back page. Check Word Link on page 4 for definitions.
RELATED ARTICLE: SIDE LIGHTS
* Gambling in some form is as old as humankind itself. Archaeologists have found shaped animal bones that were used in a gambling game by prehistoric people 40,000 years ago. Dice have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. The ancient Greeks were fond of gambling, as were the ancient Romans.
* In Colonial America, all forms of gambling were widespread (painting at right). Colonial governments often used lotteries as a way of raising funds. George Washington himself bought and sold lottery tickets. But then--as now--there were many people opposed to gambling on moral and religious grounds.
* Many people who get hooked on gambling are those who can least afford it. According to one least afford it. average adult hardcore gambler is between 50 and 70 years old and has an average income of less than $20,000 per year.
* Many states and local governments believe that legalized gambling is good for the economy. Lotteries provide billions of dollars in money for states to spend. Cities see casinos as a way to provide jobs and boost their economies by bringing in tourists and free-spending gamblers.
* Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell (right) stands in his office with the home page of an Internet gambling site on his computer screen. He and others regard Internet gambling as violating laws against illegal gambling.
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