Survey: Free online gambling puts teens at risk
Perceived as safe, it can groom youths for wager activities
By Eunice Kim, Statesman Journal
Sex. Drugs. Alcohol. They're all topics that parents, teachers and community leaders tend to talk to children about in hopes of preventing risky behavior.
But there is another issue officials think should be discussed: online gambling.
Gambling for free on the Internet has become the most popular gambling activity among youths in Oregon, according to a new survey.
That concerns officials who say it introduces teenagers to gambling and grooms them for other forms in which money is waged.
"You're learning that gambling is fun, it's stimulating, and it's risk-free," said Wendy Hausotter, problem gambling prevention coordinator with Oregon Department of Human Services. "That's not true at all."
There's an estimated 1,700 gambling sites on the Internet that offer everything from casino-type gambling to poker to bingo. Many offer the option of gambling for free or for money.
The survey, commissioned by DHS last year, found that 33 percent of youths ages 12 to 17 — an estimated 94,659 teens — gamble online for free.
It's an activity that is convenient and easily accessible, officials say, because it can be done at home at any time, often under no supervision from parents. Its novelty, high level of stimulation and low level of physical exertion also appeal to youths, many of whom are tech-savvy.
"It's the game of choice among youth, which is surprising for us," Hausotter said. "It wasn't on the radar screen."
The last survey done on youth gambling in Oregon was in 1998. It didn't ask teens and their parents about free online gambling.
At the time, waging money on card games such as poker was the most common type of gambling among Oregon youths. It's now a close second.
Gambling on the Internet for money, which is illegal, has remained fairly unpopular, with less than 1 percent of teens participating last year, officials said. Overall, gambling among youths has gone down in the past 10 years.
"We're not saying don't gamble," said Yvonne Kays, a prevention health educator with Marion County Health Department. "Our message is, you need to recognize the risk factors and when it becomes a problem … It's a problem when you're spending too much time or money (doing it)."
Gambling, officials said, is when you bet something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome. That something often is money but also can be time, emotion or attention.
The fact that free online gambling doesn't involve money can be a draw for youths, who think they're not doing anything harmful, officials said.
Also, the odds of winning tend to be higher when there's no money waged, Kays said. That can lead kids to think they're lucky or skillful, or that they can win money at other games.
"It disconnects them from the reality of the situation," Hausotter said. "We're afraid that they're going to want to do this more and more. If they do this with money, they're at risk for many things."
That includes loss of money and identity theft, officials said. Online gambling, which is growing in popularity, also is unregulated, so there's no guarantee of a payout.
And even if money is not bet, officials have concerns, given that gambling in general has been correlated with other "risk" behaviors such as drinking.
This year's Oregon Healthy Teens survey found that the percentage of 11th-graders who binge drank, carried a handgun or attacked someone in the past 30 days was higher among those who gambled than those didn't.
Hausotter said state officials plan to meet with gambling prevention specialists next month to figure out how to curb free online gambling and get information out to parents and youth.
In Marion County, the issue already is being addressed in problem gambling prevention presentations given at schools, Kays said. The presentations include a national award-winning youth video that debunks gambling myths.
Deidre Eriksen, a health teacher at Jefferson Middle School, discusses gambling in her health classes along with other risks such as drugs and alcohol abuse. With the Internet, she said, students now can gamble without leaving their homes.
"It's so much more accessible now than it was before," said Eriksen, who received the Outstanding Teacher Participation award last year from the Oregon Problem Gambling Committee. "Now they just have to flip the computer on. It's being inundated in our lives, and we need to learn how to control it."
Statewide, a plan to tackle online gambling likely will be developed this summer in time to hit schools in the fall, Hausotter said. Strategies could include written material and classroom activities.
Internet safety is expected to be a focus, with officials urging parents to pay attention to yet another activity that children could be doing online.
"Just about every kid has a casino in their bedroom if they want," Hausotter said.
ekim@statesmanjournal.com or (503) 399-6721
Survey results
Results of the survey "Oregon Youth and Their Parents: Gambling and Problem Gambling Prevalence and Attitudes" found that:
- Six in 10 Oregon adolescents surveyed (63 percent) have gambled at some time in their lives
- 46 percent have gambled in the past year
- 3 percent gamble once per week or more often
Comparison
Comparing 1998 and 2007 survey results:
- Gambled in the past year: 66 percent in 1998, 46 percent in 2007 (an estimated 131,949 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds)
- Gambled on the Internet for free: 33 percent in 2007 (an estimated 94,659 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds)
- Gambled on the Internet for money: 0.3 percent in 1998, 0.6 percent in 2007 (an estimated 17,210 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds)
- Gambled via cards: 31 percent in 1998, 32 percent in 2007 (an estimated 91,503 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds)
Getting help
- Hotline: 1-877-my-limit
- Web site: http://1877mylimit.org/: live chat, instant messaging and e-mail available
Risk factors
Risk factors for youth problem- gambling include:
- Living in a single-parent household
- Being male
- Living in households with incomes less than the median
- Playing school sports
- Having lost more than $50 in a month
- Starting gambling before entering eighth grade
