Jerry, sixteen years old and new to treatment, leaned forward restlessly and said, “I started by betting on sports games. I’m into football see, but soon I was betting on all of the sports, basketball, baseball, soccer, even tennis, you name it. I did pretty well at first. I was making good money, and I said to myself, ‘this is pretty neat.’ I couldn’t wait to get the sports page every day so I could work on the point spread. I guess it all started there. Soon I had a bookie, they’re not hard to find, and then I discovered Internet gambling. Sports betting and scratch tickets pale in comparison to that, it’s instant. I’d be up all night betting and then have problems getting to school. But who needed school. I had all this money I could win without an education. Education was for fuckers. Then I started loosing, I mean really loosing. I couldn’t make a good bet, and if I did win, I’d put it right back in. I tried to stop but I kept going back. It was as if the computer owned me. I was at it all day and all night sometimes, trying to make up the losses. I had to steal from my parents to pay back my credit card bills and then I used their credit card numbers, punched them in just like they were my own. Well that did it. I had to steal their credit card bills from the mail so they wouldn’t know what I was doing, but I knew if I didn’t win soon they would know. When the credit card companies started calling the house I was done. I couldn’t always get to the phone first even if I tried. When the truth came out, the family was thousands of dollars in debt. That night I tried to kill myself. I couldn’t stand hurting my parents like that. That’s when I ended up here.” (Teenage Gambling).
The internet and television is causing under age gambling. Through a look of Definitions for underage gambling, the number of websites for gambling, the addiction, the unclear age restrictions, the effect on students, how gambling provokes to other problems in life, and the tragic case of seventeen year old Dan Myers, these examples will explain that under age gambling is becoming more frequent.
Before supporting the evidence, the terms must be identified and how they will be used in this essay. The definition of gambling could be defined in many ways but for the purpose of this paper it will refer to, “to stake or risk money, or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance” (Gamble/ Define Game at Dictionary.com). Now if this is combined with underage, a new definition received that under age gambling is: to stake of risk money or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance without the required age or of legal maturity.
Underage gambling is evolving and is beginning to hit close to home. There are over forty-one million and seven hundred thousand websites listed when the word “gambling” is searched on Google. While only twenty-five and one hundred thousand websites are listed when searched “gambling help”. There are always more sites being built and created each day, of this rate it becomes easier for younger players to gamble in the comfort of their own homes. That’s not only it, even television, displays the glamorous life of gamblers late at night for anybody who wants to watch it.
“Poker has moved from the smoked-filled backrooms of yesterday to the suburban living rooms and basements of today. Many of the players are not rough hewing grownups chomping on cigars, but baby faced teens munching on fast food burritos. It’s all been triggered by gambling on the internet and an explosion of poker programming on Cable Television” (Online News Hour: Gambling).
The quotation above shows how close gambling is hitting home. Even though it’s not widely made public. It is taking away some focus among life experiences. Starting the addiction is made so simple, since it is so easy to be done at home. As if the internet was not easy enough, television is even more dangerous, as evermore channels compete against each other for ratings and publicity.
“ESPN hit the jackpot with the World Series of Poker program, with ratings comparable to its Major League Baseball coverage. The Travel Channel, Bravo, and even the History channel also present tense poker matches with cunning, engaging contestants. Chris Money Maker has won $ 2.5 million in television tournaments” (Online News Hour: Gambling).
As the children and adults watch more television, there will be a higher chance of seeing one of these programs that will eventually lead to the curiosity of gambling. The enticing part is that someone can also become rich and famous with the publicity of winning a televised poker tournament, which sets bait for the person who wants to be rich. If making money was this easy, they would then try it themselves, which will eventually cause them to be isolated from the world and socially absent. The truth is inevitable, gambling is hitting so close to home that the ability to gamble is to easily in front of one’s face. Silently gambling begins to hypnotize one into an uncontrollable addiction.
Under age gambling is beginning to attack education silently by creating addiction among young teens. As more gambling sites are being created more frequently, the easier access, and more exposure each generation is being hit by repetitious advertisements that makes them believe that they themselves must gamble. “According to a study of college students across the country participate in some form of gambling each year” (Problem Gambling). As this continues many peers of these students will try gambling due to peer pressure or the need to belong, which will turn these first timers to long timer addicts. A main part of the addiction is that many teenagers think that gambling makes them more attractive. “The main things kids are getting are gambling is glamorous, fun, sexy, and cool.”(Problem Gambling). With thoughts such as these, it takes the focus away from education, as it is pushed away by teenagers. When gambling and gambling money is more important than education, it will cause larger problems down the road such as economic problems, risky behaviors, or a less competence society.
With all the age limits and some games having some limits, the rules and laws are just unclear about the age required to be able to gamble. There are some states with requirements such as being at least eighteen to play poker or bingo but in some other states you need to be at least twenty-one to enter the casino.
“In the state of Iowa one has to be at least twenty-one to play the lottery or participate in pari-mutuel betting, or play pull tabs compared to being allowed to a casino at age eighteen and there is no age restriction for playing charity bingo. In another state such that of Delaware you only have to be eight-teen to play the lottery, participate in pari-mutuel betting, and to play pull tabs but as in Iowa, in Delaware, to enter the casino though the have to be at least twenty-one and have to be six-teen to play charity bingo.” (Casino age directory).
The information above shows how it can be confusion to know what age it is legal to gamble. As each state has own rules and regulations, one can easily drive to another state to gamble and drive back with a group of friends or so during a vacation such as spring break.
Being with a group of friends is always a good time until it’s breaking the law. As mass media begins to televise the life of gambling progressively, there will be a draw away from education. If the addiction begins at a younger age the risk one has to become a problem gambler increases, such as the picture of the baby above. (Underage Gambling Addiction.
“Recent studies indicate that more than 70 percent of youth between the ages of 10 and 17 gambled in the past year, up from 45 percent in 1988.
Almost one in three high school students gamble on a regular basis, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Playing cards, the lottery, and scratch tickets as well as betting on sporting events are the most popular forms of gambling among teenagers.
“This is the first generation of kids growing up when gambling is legal and available virtually nationwide,” George Meldrum of the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems told CBS News.” (Underage Gambling Addiction).
From the studies one can conclude that their own children will have likely participated in some form of gambling illegally. Anything for a form of entertainment can easily be used as a gambling device and should not be taken lightly, since the gambling frequency of teenagers is increasing.
“Middle-schoolers are following suit, as evidenced by the uncovering of a sports-betting ring at a Glenview, Ill., middle school last year. In Delaware, Meldrum’s agency recently conducted one of the largest-ever surveys of student gambling; nearly one-third of 6,753 participating eighth-graders said they had gambled in 2002.” (Kids Gambling and Losing).
As the survey indicates more students are attempting to gamble at a younger age, it appears to the middle schoolers as cool. These behaviors in fact shows the power of peer pressure when it comes to gambling. This can explain why underage gambling is leading to low test scores for education throughout the United States and it adds to the want of more money among middle-school students.
All habits good or bad can become a tragedy. The tragedy being that they can not stop till everything is gone. All addictions lead to other addictions that involve riskier and deadlier behaviors. Gambling is no exception; it is a major cause for some abusive behaviors.
“Like most states, Florida does not allow gambling by persons under age 18. A recent epidemiological study found that 70% of teens ages 13-17 reported that they had gambled during their lifetime. The median age for starting to gamble was 12.5. Underage use of alcohol, marijuana, crack or cocaine, and stimulants – along with tobacco use – was “strongly and significantly” associated with gambling in the study.” (Teen Gambling and Substance Abuse).
The quotation adds to link that under gambling will lead to a life path of problem substance abuse, which will certainly cause a mental state of a young person’s mind to be distorted. Being distorted the mind can’t function at its best which leads to unpredictable behavior.
“You could figure out which ones were drunk, and the school would be concerned and they would want them to get treatment or whatever,” said George Meldrum, at the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems. “But the kid who is gambling in his dorm room, at his computer, no one is seeing that.” (College Students Gambling).
This leads to the problem that all underage gambling can’t be seen, which is why it’s a hidden danger. The isolation of the student leads to risky behavior to miss own classes at school, and then leads to failure of their college education. The ones isolated, that are all alone, where no one knows anything about their addiction, are most at risk for doing things where they will lose control.
The path of underage gambling and will lead to risky behavior. Dan like any other seventeen year old he was living like normal high school student, before he became a gambling addict by his friends. As soon as he took a chance at gambling his entire life was turned around.
“Within a few weeks he was playing for jackpots of more than $1,000.”It’s kind of weird to think that video games are almost the more wholesome thing to do now,” he said. Myers is an underage veteran of local casinos, using a self-made fake ID to sneak in at least 20 times. He found himself spending eight hours a day in a casino, losing more than $500. Myers decided to quit, fearing his after-school hobby was becoming an addiction “I’d say it’s equally as bad as alcohol as any other drug,” he said. (Underage Gambling Out of Control).
Dan Myer’s path of risky behavior started progressing continually till he admitted it was an addiction, like any other substance. He agrees that under age gambling is like any other drug and with out care it would’ve been bad for him. It turns out though quitting it wasn’t easy . He went back to using fake ids and started gambling again.
In review, the internet and television does cause underage gambling. Through a look of Definitions for underage gambling, the number of websites for gambling, the addiction, the unclear age restrictions, the effect on students, how gambling provokes to other problems in life, and the tragic case of seventeen year old Dan Myers, these examples will explain that under age gambling is becoming more frequent. Underage gambling is to stake of risk money or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance without the required age or of legal maturity. The reason for the extra exposure of underage gambling is due to such channels like ESPN, Travel, Bravo and even the history channel for showing these shows. This promotes that gambling is cool to the students that participate. As they begin to participate the get misinformed about the age restrictions for gambling. This leads to peer pressure of younger students, such as middle schoolers to try underage gambling. Like all addictions it can be come a pathway to more dangerous behavior such that of drinking and drug abuse. This behavior is what led Dan Myers to compete for money before he felt it was like becoming an addiction. Underage gambling is a gamble on life itself.
This quote is from the movie twenty-one where a student falls in to the addiction of gambling. “Ben Campbell: I had a 1590 on my SAT, I got a 44 on my MCAT, and I have a 4.0 GPA from MIT. I thought I had my life mapped out, but then I remembered what my non linear equations professor once told me, always account for variable change… I let down my good friends, but as it turns out, they weren’t too bad at simple math either. I scored the prettiest girl in school. I got beaten down by an old school Vegas thug who was having trouble accepting his retirement, but I worked out a deal with him that got him a nice pension… And I lied to my mother, but I confessed a lie and well, she still loved me… So my senior year of college I joined this team and I learned this new skill. I went to Vegas 17 times to use it. I made hundreds of thousands of dollars counting cards. And then I had it all stolen from me, twice… How’s that for life experience professor? Did I dazzle you? Did I jump off the page?”
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