RAFFLES, SCRATCH CARDS AND LOTTERY GAMBLING

4 May 2007

Easy access and sometimes a need for money, push Canadian teens to VLTs, poker and lotteries says Catholic newspaper

Bishop Fred Henry revealed general gambling statistics among Canadian youth this week in an article in the Catholic Weekly, which claims to be Canada's largest religious weekly publication.

The religious leader says that young people are growing up in Canada with gambling options not only widely available, but eagerly and openly advertised and promoted. The long-term consequences of this cultural shift are still unknown," he writes "But for many adolescents, gambling is now seen as the new rite of passage."

Bishop Henry quotes a study conducted by the Responsible Gambling Council, an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to the prevention of problem gambling, which found that one-third of Ontario teens who participated in the first-ever study to examine the gambling habits of students aged 15 to 17 are already gambling, and their ranks will likely double by the time they're 20.

Of the sample of 2 140 teens surveyed, 34.9 per cent said they're already gambling. 40 percent said poker is their game of choice, while another 36 percent admitted to regularly buying raffle tickets, including scratch-and-win lottery tickets.

Sports betting was next at 23 percent, followed by throwing dice at 15 percent.

The lowest figure was for online gambling, which 10 percent of respondents said they had tried.

The bishop appears to be particularly concerned about video lottery terminals (VLTs) with bright colours, lights, sounds and high speed repetition of transactions such that these constitute an addictive combination, for which the bishop borrows the phrase "crack-cocaine of gambling".

While the majority of teens surveyed cited entertainment as their main reason for gambling, 20.7 percent said they did it because they needed the money, and 15.3 percent said it was to win back cash they had already lost. 13 percent of teens surveyed who play poker admitted they spend more money than they can afford on gambling.

Of those respondents who admitted to gambling, 3.9 percent said they're already experiencing gambling problems. That number jumps to 6.9 percent in the case of gamblers aged 18 to 24.

Without citing under which law, the bishop claims that online gambling is illegal in Canada.

A 2003 report titled Understanding the Audience: the Key to Preventing Youth Gambling Problems, is quoted by Bishop Henry. This strongly suggests that Canadian youth are being groomed to gamble, he says revealing that while only 10 percent of the 11 to 16 year olds reported betting on the Internet, 95 percent said the site didn't require a credit card for free trial gambling at online casinos.

As the researchers pointed out, although players do not actually have to risk their own money, their wins and losses are displayed in terms of dollars. Essentially, youth is learning to gamble on "adult" games and the long-term impact of such sites on later gambling practices remains unknown. Given that young people are much more technology savvy than their parents, this becomes another compelling reason for putting gambling on the "to-talk-about-and model" agenda with the family.

The Bishop rounds off his article with a guide for recognising a gambling problem, taken from the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems .

"Changing attitudes and parental modeling, rather than simply dispensing information, seems to be the critical factor in reducing gambling activity," the article concludes, adding a note of humour from R.E. Shay:

"Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit."

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

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