A private school in Melbourne, Australia, took a hit last week as reports emerge of student gambling within a local gaming store. According to The New Daily, a group of young men—still dressed in their private school’s uniform—frequently visit the local TAB outlet and bet large sums of money that one local bystander described as “staggering.” The outlets didn’t notify the school that students in their uniform were placing bets, and the headmaster has found himself unable to address the problem without knowing who the gambling students are.
But Australia isn’t the only country that’s been affected by student gambling. Advances in technology and lack of oversight have resulted in a new wave of addictive gaming behaviors that have been ridiculed by media and leave administrators floundering to regain control.
A quick online search reveals other nations’ struggles to contain student gambling:
- Thailand: Surachai Chupaka, a professor of mass communications at Ramkhamhaeng University, told The National that as many as half a million students participated in gambling, typically following football predictions or card games. One Thai student used her loan money to gamble on football betting machines until she ran out of tuition money and had to drop out.
- Canada: The 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey reported that 42.6% of student respondents had participated in at least one form of gambling over the past year, with scratch-off cards and lottery tickets as their vice of choice. Students identified in the survey as “problem gamblers” were six times more likely to struggle with substance abuse, and 18 times more likely to report a suicide attempt.
- United States: The Annenburg Public Policy Center, an organization tracking use of gambling sites by American youth, has noticed a rise in online gambling by high school students, particularly young men. The organization estimates that as of 2010, more than 530,000 male students regularly participate in online gaming. Female students, while less likely to gamble than their male counterparts, seem to prefer offline sports betting to online venues. These findings seem to be more relevant than ever, as New Jersey’s Executive Director of the Lottery Commission Carole Hedinger announced a new awareness campaign on Dec. 8 to educate sellers of lottery tickets about underage gambling, to prevent illegal purchase of tickets by minors.
Encouraged by high-tech games that allow participants to bet with credit cards and highly televised tournaments of chance-based “sports” like poker, gambling seems to be on the rise for all age groups. In fact, the problem has become so pervasive, comedian John Oliver mocked fantasy football websites that masquerade as “skill-based games” to avoid legislation monitoring traditional gambling websites:
Note that while DraftKings and FanDuel both require participants to be 18 years or older to open an account or claim an award—theoretically avoiding the question of student gambling—age verification of accounts seems to be scanty at best overall. FanDuel is (slowly) taking steps to verify its account identities, but only selected accounts are required to verify themselves with a Social Security number.
Students typically start gambling before they’re at risk for other destructive behaviors, yet often receive fewer warnings about addictive tendecies in gambling games than for illegal drugs or other risky activities. To keep tabs on whether your students are at risk for underage gambling, keep a weather eye out for these early warning signs:
- Students can no longer pay for items that they once had money to cover (e.g., lunch money, field trips, tutoring) and there are no extenuating family circumstances that would result in struggling finances.
- Students sell, give away, or “lose” their possessions under odd circumstances.
- Students steal school items or skip class.
- Students obsessively monitor sports results, becoming either excited or depressed at games’ verdicts to an extreme extent.
- Students turn everything into a bet. They become obsessed about money and quick ways to make it.
- Students lose enjoyment in activities they once enjoyed.
Students may enjoy the thrill of winning big and fast, but they’re playing fast and loose with their futures—and it’s up to us as educators to help them overcome temptation and lay the firmest foundation for the uncertain road ahead.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Development Directors Vol. 8 No. 3 Organizing a Casino Night Fundraiser? Check the Laws!
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 34 No. 5 Student Discipline, Policies, and Risk
I&P Vol. 34 No. 8 The Student Culture Profile and Your Purpose and Outcome Statements
