Only ten years ago, adolescent wagering wasn’t seen as being a substantial problem. Today, gambling counselors state an average of 7% of their case loads entail adolescents. New studies indicate that teenage vulnerability to obsessive gambling hits every economic stratum and ethnic group. Subsequent to surveying 2,700 high school students, psychologist Durand Jacobs came to the conclusion that students are 2 1/2 times as likely as grown ups to turn into problem gamblers. In yet another analysis, Henry Lesieur, a sociologist at St. John’s University in New York City, identified eight times as many wagering addicts amongst university students as among adults.

Experts agree that informal gambling, in which participants wager modest amounts, is just not conclusively bad. Compulsive betting, however, almost always entails destructive conduct.  AS reported by Time Magazine, last year police in Pennsauken, N.J., charged a teenage boy on suspicion of theft. The youth explained he took items worth $10,000 to support his wagering habit. Bryan, a 17-year-old from Cumberland, N.J., sought help after he was not able to pay back the $4,000 due a sports bookmaker. Greg from Philadelphia says he started placing weekly $200 wagers with sports books during his sophomore year attending college. “Pretty soon it got to the point that I owed $5,000,” he says. “The bookies threatened me. One said he would cut off my mother’s legs if I didn’t pay.” Still Greg continued to wager. Now 23, he was recently terminated from his work after his boss busted him embezzling.

How come betting fever run so high amid teenagers? Analysts point out the legitimization of gambling in America, observing that it’s easy to place a legal bet in every state with the exception of Utah and Hawaii. Furthermore, ticket sellers hardly ever ask to view evidence of age, despite lotto laws in thirty three states and the District of Columbia demanding that buyers be a minimum of eighteen years old. “You have state governments promoting lotteries,” suggests Valerie Lorenz, director of the National Center for Pathological Gambling, located in Baltimore. “The message they’re conveying is that gambling is not a vice but a normal form of entertainment.” Professionals also point to unstable families, low self-esteem and a societal preoccupation with money. “At the casinos you feel very important,” states Rich of Bethesda, Md., a young recovering addict. “When you’re spending money at the tables, they give you free drinks and call you Mister.”

Efforts to battle teen problem gambling remain pretty minimal. Few states provide educational programs that warn young people regarding the addicting characteristics of gambling; treatment programs made for youths are virtually nonexistent.  Parents do have resources accessible to uncover online wagering like Keylogger software for desktop computers and products like Netnanny Mobile and mobile-spy for cell phones.

Adolescent Gambling Is Rampant With Few Attempts To Stop It is a post from: WiredWriter