If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Politicians and social leaders never tire of labeling things they hate as bad for “the children.” A new survey commissioned by Oregon’s Department of Human Services is the latest in a long line of such campaigns, this time claiming a link between online gambling and the safety of teenagers.
According to the survey, free online gambling has become a popular pass time among Oregon’s youths, specifically teenagers. The survey indicts some 1,700 websites that offer the ability to play Internet versions of popular games like poker and bingo, both for free and for money. Survey findings state that roughly 33% of youths aged 12-17 (or 94,659 teenagers) gamble or have gambled for free on the Internet.
In the eyes of Oregon’s state government, the mere act of gambling - even for free - plants the latent seeds of “gambling addiction” into kids. This view is captured perfectly by Wendy Hausotter, the “problem gambling prevention coordinator” at Oregon’s Department of Human Services. “You’re learning that gambling is fun, it’s stimulating, it’s risk-free”, says Hausotter, who adds, “that’s not true at all.”
State officials also note that free online gambling is problematic because it can be “done at home, at any time, under no supervision of parents.” Now, the problem with all of this is captured in a final note from officials, who conclude that youths “think they’re not doing something harmful” by gambling for free.
Well, here’s a blinding flash of obvious: they are NOT doing anything harmful. No money is being exchanged or lost, nor can it be in a free game. Furthermore, it’s nowhere near a given that kids who gamble for free will become problem gamblers at real casinos as they age. Politicians are simply unwilling to realize that gambling - like MANY perceived “vices” - can be responsibly enjoyed without becoming a full-blown addiction.
The cold truth is that people who become “addicted” to gambling are pretty much the same as people who become “addicted” to anything else. They have addictive personalities and emotional deficiencies that create a natural tendency to over-rely on things they enjoy, or that relieve their stress. This is a clinical and/or psychological condition that should be addressed by professionals in those fields, NOT by government.