The New Problem Gambler is a Teen Addicted to Sports Betting, RI Has No Detectable Program to Help – GoLocalProv

Saturday, September 17, 2022

GoLocalProv News Team

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PHOTO: State of RI

The sports betting program in Rhode Island has missed every revenue target. But the biggest problem with the program is emerging now, according to researchers.

Pew Research says, "The portrait of a new problem gambler is emerging: the high school student. Although the legal age for gambling ranges from 18 to 21 depending on the state, between 60% and 80% of high school students report having gambled for money in the past year, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling."

The report says the pandemic and easy access to online gambling have heightened risks for young adults. And 4% to 6% of high schoolers are considered addicted to gambling, the group says.

We believe that the risks for gambling addiction overall have grown 30% from 2018 to 2021, with the risk concentrated among young males 18 to 24 who are sports bettors, said Keith Whyte, the councils executive director, in an interview with Pew.

The council is a nonprofit group that advocates for helping problem gamblers but is neutral on legalized gambling.

According to Pew, "The percentage of high school students with a gambling problem is double that of adults, research has found. About 5% of all young people between 11 and 17 meet at least one of the criteria for a gambling problem, such as liking the rush felt when gambling, writing IOUs to stay in the game and wanting to win 'the big one' so much that they keep playing even when losing a great deal."

The SportsBook Rhode Island is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting its gambling app.

But for a student or parent worried about a gambling addiction, it is nearly impossible to find information about sports addiction treatment programs and there is no specific information regarding teen compulsive gambling.

What is there however pages and pages of information on how to bet. There is information on how to bet on the major sports -- football, baseball, basketball, and hockey -- but there is also info on how to on betting on golf, boxing, and soccer.

Indications are that the ease of access coupled with the endless promotion of marketing now integrated into every sports broadcast is creating a generation of compulsive gamblers.

In North Carolina, "More than 9% of middle school students who participated in 2020 said their gambling had led to serious psychological, financial and legal consequences and impaired their functioning. The follow-up indicated students attitudes changed and they gambled less," according to Pew.

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The New Problem Gambler is a Teen Addicted to Sports Betting, RI Has No Detectable Program to Help - GoLocalProv