Local mental health professionals are seeing young and teenage boys who are exhibiting impulsive and risky gambling behaviors, with sports betting as a common component.
March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month nationwide — and the problem does not exclude Rye.
Where once problem gambling conjured images of middle-aged adults pulling the arms of slot machines in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, gambling is now all around us. Approximately 2.1 percent of U.S. residents aged 14 to 21 struggle with problem gambling, while another 6.5 percent are at-risk, according to the New York Council on Problem Gambling.
According to the same report, 39.5 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 have gambled this past year, and 30 percent of those children report they began gambling at age 10 or younger, around fourth or fifth grade. Studies have shown that the younger children are when introduced to gambling, the more likely they are to develop a gambling addiction. Children who are introduced to and begin gambling by age 12 are four times more likely to become problem gamblers.
Whether betting with friends on sports, games of skill or taking dares for money or possessions, betting is everywhere. It can include scratching off lottery tickets, poker, or card and dice games, or gambling online in video games or on the outcome of those games.
Not only that, but kids perceive gambling as a low-risk activity. After all, it is legal and being modeled for them in unprecedented ways.
Many children learn gambling through video and internet games and by watching their parents. A father who bets on sports teams using a legal, online gambling platform may not realize he is showing his child how to do it.
For boys, especially, gambling has been normalized in the media, particularly with sports broadcasting and advertising from companies like DraftKings and FanDuel. Today, many middle and high school boys watch sports on their tablets, laptops, and smartphones, and sponsorship by gambling companies is frequent and ubiquitous.
“When exposing their kids to gambling through play — sports betting on a smartphone, for example — parents are likely not aware they are putting their children at greater risk for pathological gambling,” said Kim O’Connor, a Rye resident and Clinical Social Worker.
Sports betting became more prevalent after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and permitted states to decide whether to legalize sports betting. That ruling spurred the major sports leagues — NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and also the NCAA — to not only abandon their opposition to betting on games, but to embrace it. Now televised sports often include an on-screen display of betting odds, making it difficult for adolescents to avoid exposure to gambling.
Mental Health Counselor Anthony Palombi, of M. Kim O’Conor & Associates, said many adolescents view gambling and betting as socially acceptable. They see no connection between gambling addiction and drug or alcohol addictions, nor do they see it as risky. Gambling isn’t something they put in their bodies, like alcohol, and their parent or older siblings often partake.
But the neurological addictive nature of gambling often begins at a young age with video games, online games, and social media, like TikTok. These activities trigger a dopamine release in the brain, creating a pleasurable feeling that users want to repeat. The more you play, the more you crave the dopamine release, and the more you feel that, the more you want to play.
It’s similar to the addictive response pattern. Video games leverage this same pattern, offering kids a prize after several plays. They anticipate the prize and that keeps them engaged in play. This prize-reward system of getting to the next level, and in-game purchases with real money, “may promote a transition to ‘pay-for-play’ activities, which is a subtle shift into gambling,” notes the New York Council on Problem Gambling.
Early exposure to these reward systems creates neural pathways in children that make them more susceptible to addictive behaviors later in life. As their synapses form, kids connect this pattern of behavior with feeling great. In gambling, their brains recognize the pattern and want to engage, knowing it will make them feel good. They don’t think about the danger associated with that feeling, and it leaves them more susceptible to problem gambling.
According to NYCPG, kids who gamble are more likely to get lower grades, use tobacco, drink alcohol (and binge drink), experiment with marijuana, use illegal drugs, get into fights, have low self-esteem, have mental health issues, attempt suicide, experience behavioral problems, be involved in crime, and get addicted quickly.
Ensuring Your Kids’ Safety
• Delay your child’s use of online games, video consoles linked to the internet, social media, and smartphones.
• Talk with your children about gaming and gambling, even if they’re very young.
• Engage in a collaborative discussion with your child about the apps and games they use. Be curious to learn about those games: what might appear harmless may be using manipulative systems.
• Educate your children on how video games, social media apps, and other forms of digital play are often designed to manipulate them to want to play more and why that can be dangerous.
• Together, set realistic boundaries for gaming (both which games and for how long) and restrict the use of credit cards for in-app purchases (or bets).
• Be vigilant — closely and regularly monitor your child’s use of video consoles, online games, social media apps, and other digital platforms.
For more information or help related to problem gambling contact the NY Office of Addiction Services and Support HOPELine, at 1-877-8-HOPENY(46-7369) or texting HOPENY (467369). Toll-free and confidential.
Lisa Dominici is the executive director of the Rye Youth Council.
