A recent study conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission indicates that Arizona may be facing a growing problem of gambling addiction among its teenagers.
The commission’s study states that as many as half of all Arizona teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17, have already been involved with gambling, and that out of 60,000 eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students, as many as 61 percent admitted to gambling at least once in their life with 27 percent claiming to be regular gamblers.
The report by the commission also indicates that adolescent males engaged in gambling exceed females by nearly 50 percent.
Research conducted by McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, states that 60 percent to 80 percent of youths (in the U.S. and Canada) admit to gambling at least once within the last year.
The same study indicated that between 4 percent and 8 percent have a serious problem, and 10 percent to 14 percent are categorized as being at a high-risk of developing an addiction. The report also says that those same youngsters experience a higher occurrence of problems with drinking, smoking and drug abuse than adolescents not involved in gambling.
The McGill study says that adolescent gamblers are also more likely to report thoughts of depression, low self-esteem and even suicide.
While male youth tend to focus on cards, sporting wagers and games of skill, girls lean towards bingo, cards and lottery tickets, with lottery being the favorite overall among all teenagers.
Authors at McGill say that Internet technology and accessibility to gambling venues on the Web, along with growing profits reported by the gaming industry (47.6 billion in the U.S. in 1996) are all factors in adolescent gambling.
Here in Arizona, some schools have been offering what they call “Casino Nights” at graduations which have had the affect of making gambling seem more acceptable among teenagers.
The commission plans to target secondary and post-secondary schools with prevention and education programs.
Tim Christensen, treatment administrator for the Arizona office of Problem Gambling, said, “One of the biggest problems we have is a lack of parent awareness when it comes to their children and gambling.”
He added, “Another problem is that there is very little information regarding particular age groups, so it is difficult to target any given group as a starting point for prevention.” Christensen said, “We do have some data that shows that some kids are getting involved as young as age 10.”
He said the Arizona Office of Problem Gambling plans to sponsor community education events to educate both parents and their children to the dangers associated with gambling.
“We are already working closely with the Paradise Valley and Scottsdale school districts to put together comprehensive programs to try and address the problem.” Christensen said.
Christensen added that the office is in the process of developing a comprehensive prevention and education which can be used at all Arizona secondary and post-secondary schools.
FYI: www.problemgambling.az.gov The hotline is 1-800-639-8783.