Teen Gambling Increases As More States Legalize Sports Betting
By Movieguide® Contributor
A teen warned parents about gambling addictions as sports betting becomes legal across a majority of states and is accessible to those under 21.
In an interview with Good Morning America last year, a 19-year-old shared his struggles with gambling, an addiction he fell into due to easy access to online gambling sites. In a follow-up with the pseudonymously named “Steve,” GMA found that it is incredibly hard for those exposed to gambling at a young age to overcome the addiction.
“I really felt like I had put it behind me,” said the teen, who relapsed after multiple months away from the addiction due to the proliferation of sports betting advertisements.
“It was just the temptation of sports betting, you know, all the ads. I’m not going to say that the ads are the reason I did it, but just constantly being reminded of it,” he said.
Steve had completed three months of rehab before his relapse and had been one month clean when he talked with GMA. He plans to continue battling the addiction as he heads off to college and will work with his sponsor while he is away from home.
As sports betting sweeps across the nation, stories like Steve’s become more common. The activity is currently legal in some form in 34 states and Washington D.C.
ESPN reported that a 2018 Supreme Court ruling enabled the “expansion of sports betting.”
Since then, about 57% of the U.S. population can legally access sports books.
While the legal age for gambling is 18 or 21, depending on the state, little regulation on sports betting sites allows teens of any age access to gambling.
“We’re introducing a potentially addictive disorder at a very, very early age, and yet it’s designed for 21 and older,” said Dr. Timothy Fong, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behaviors at UCLA.
In recent years, Fong has started to see patients as young as 15 with gambling problems – something he had not experienced before sports betting became legal across multiple states.
Gambling is especially dangerous because teens can hide it more easily than other addictions.
“It’s very easy [to hide],” Steve told GMA. “It’s one addiction that you can’t necessarily see or smell on them. You really need the addict to be honest about it.”
Technology helps enable this addiction.
“In many states, people can now wager from anywhere with the tap of a smartphone app, 24 hours a day, betting not only on the winners of games but on a seemingly limitless series of events that occur during the games,” ABC News reported.
However, as with any addiction, it is almost impossible to beat without a high level of support. Experts advise parents to have open conversations about gambling and support them if anything comes out.
“Encourage them that whatever it is that they’re dealing with,” Steve said. “You’re there to listen. You have their backs. You’re there to support them.
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