Parents Have Far Greater Concerns than Problem Gambling

February 24, 2010 | News Category: Online Casinos

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Parents spend much to their time worrying about the wellbeing of their children, and have concerns about any negative behaviors they may become involved in. While it would be the concern of any parent should their child develop a gambling problem, be it with online gambling or land based gambling, a recent study has shown that problem gambling is fairly low down on the list of worries that parents have.

The study took was done by the International Center for Youth Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviors at McGill University in Canada. The British Columbia Lottery Corporation partly funded the survey, Parents and Partners, which asked questions regarding parental concerns.

Dr. Jeff Derevensky, the co-director of the centre at McGill University noted that it seems that in general, underage gamblers seemed at more risk of becoming problem gamblers than adults are. Dr. Derevensky said, "These rates are two to four times that of adults but they go undetected because teenagers don’t lose their homes from it or their spouses, so it presents in different ways."

The Parents as Partners survey used a sample of 2,700 parents resident in Canada, and questioned them to find out how in touch they are with the potential problem of youth gambling.

The study found that underage gambling ranked last out of the issues that were brought up, such as drug and alcohol use, unsafe sex, and other known issues.

87% of parents worried about drug use. 82% of parents worried about alcohol use. 81% of parents worried about unsafe sexual activities. 81% of parents worried about drinking and driving. 64% of the parents were even worried about their children playing excessive video games, with only 40% of parents expressing concern regarding their children becoming involved in underage gambling.

Eric Merrkamper, from the organization, DECODE, noted that an important role is played by the parents. He explained: "For instance by not buying lottery tickets as Christmas presents for underage children.' DECODE played a role in the recent research exercise, and has done much research on youth gambling.

It has also been advised that apart from things such as lottery tickets, it is best if parents avoid buying gambling sets, such as poker sets, roulette sets, and other games that will encourage their children to gamble.

Derevensky made of point of letting people know that any reputable online gambling or other gambling organization, would not allow underage players to play in their online casinos and other gambling establishments. He does, however, express concerns that many Internet gambling sites do allow those that are underage to play gambling games for ‘fake’ money.