Tackling Youth Online Casino Gambling
A recent survey from the Department of Human Services in Oregon found that the
youth in Oregon are increasingly turning to free gambling sites to occupy their
time. This might not seem like an alarming fact because the teens are
participating in free gambling sites rather than the online casinos. And while
that is certainly a positive, some researchers and politicians worry that the
prevalence of free-online gambling could lead to problems in the coming years as
these same youth are able to gambling with real money. Oregon officials worry
that online gaming is conditioning these youth toward a certain attitude about
gambling that is unhealthy.
The current fear about the prevalence of online gambling, even though it’s not
at the online casinos is that the youth are "learning that gambling is fun, it's
stimulating, and it's risk-free," commented the Coordinator of problem gambling
prevention at the Oregon DHS, Wendy Hausotter. She stresses, “That's not true at
all.” As the pastime gains in popularity the with the youth, the Oregon
officials are looking for a way to educate young gamblers and their parents
about the dangers associated with developing a penchant for online gambling.
Hausotter elaborates on just why even free online gambling can have a long-term
negative effect on the youth; free online gambling "disconnects them from the
reality of the situation.” Young gamblers then take that care-free gambling
attitude to the online casinos when they are old enough and they have not yet
learned the skills of self-control and managing addiction since there are no
real consequences at the free online gambling sites.
The Oregon DHS plans on developing an action plan for the situation over the
summer and launching a full program in the fall to address online gambling.
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