In your teen years, it is not uncommon to begin working and saving your own money. This is a great way to learn the value of a dollar and it teaches you the responsibility behind spending and saving. However, what happens when you fall into unhealthy spending habits? Teen gambling is becoming more prevalent in Canada, studies are now showing.

Teen Gambling

Teen Gambling

According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the University of Waterloo, teenagers are finding their way into online gambling. A majority of these teens are male and find interest in poker, betting on sports, and gambling games on Facebook. This study also was the first to use a problem gambling scale, which asks questions such as how frequently someone’s life is impacted by gambling, in order to score the individual on how problematic their addiction might be.

“A substantially high proportion of young people are gambling in general, and mostly in unregulated forms, like in a dare or a game of pool, which are accessible to youth,” explained Dr. Tara Elton-Marshall, lead author of the study.

The study suggests that when people begin to gamble early on in life, it can become more problematic as they grow up. Problem gambling can be linked to:

Symptoms of Gambling

 

Teen Gambling Statistics

  • 42% of teens have put at stake their own money or belongings in both online and offline gambling
  • 10% of teens have gambled online within the past three months
  • A score which indicates problem gambling was found in 36% of all teens who gamble online

 

Source:

Global News