Boston Union Teacher

Below is an article that will appear in the October edition of the Boston Union Teacher, the newspaper of the Boston Teachers Union (BTU) on Youth Gambling forwarded to me by the author, Tom Larkin.

This newspaper will be delivered to all BTU members, including retirees, in a few days. It references Scott Harshbarger' s research, when he was Attorney General.

This needs to be a crucial part of our discussion regarding predatory gambling and the flawed public policy of relying on gambling revenues to resolve temporary budget problems.

I have witnessed children buying Scratch Tickets, yet nothing is done to address the issue.

Commentary: Tom Larkin
Youth Gambling
“We will face, in the next decade
or so, more problems with youth
gambling than we will face with
drug use.”
– Howard Shaffer,
Harvard Medical School

Public officials promoting expanded legalized gambling
should pause, do some independent homework and re-think the
consequences. Independent studies consistently demonstrate long
term costs easily outweigh short term benefits by $3 to $1. (Gambling
in America-Costs and Benefits by Earl Grinols, 2004)

The costs of expanded gambling include increases in crime,
bankruptcy, addictions of all kinds. Youth gambling is an existing,
under recognized and poorly understood cost.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC-1999)
provided evidence that more money is spent on college campuses
on gambling than on alcohol.

They cite a study by former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger
that minors as young as 9 years old were able to purchase
lottery tickets 80% of their attempts, 60% of minors were able
to place bets on Keno machines and 75% of high school seniors
report having played the lottery.

The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery reports 80% of those
between 12 and 17 say they have gambled in the last 12 months and
35% report they gamble at least once a week. Robert Goodman,
in The Luck Business (1996), reported evidence that gambling is
the fastest growing teenage addiction, with the rate of pathological
gambling twice that of adults. A McGill University review of the literature
(Youth Gambling Problems- 2005-on line) cites research
correlating adolescent problem gambling with delinquency, alcohol
use, adult criminal behavior, depression and suicide. They confirm
that 4% to 8% of adolescents (compared to 1% to 3% for adults)
have very serious gambling problems, while another 10 to 15% are
at risk.

Habits like smoking, gambling and alcohol use are learned. Gambling
is the only addiction promoted by government. According
to one NGISC study a new gambling facility doubles the problem
and pathological gamblers within a 50 mile radius.
Internet gambling is a potentially dangerous habit, especially
youth gambling. Electronic gambling becomes available at every
school desk, work station and living room. The US International
Gambling Report, (John Kindt, editor, 2008) cites research on the
dangerous link between gambling sites and video games. In a 2005

Media Awareness Network survey, 23% of male students in grades
10 and 11 reported visiting a gambling internet site in the past year.

Of particular concern is the special attraction of on line sports wagering
to youth.

The NGISC unanimously recommended legislation to ban
internet gambling. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement
Act Legislation of 2006 was passed, with the support of 49
state Attorney Generals. Despite this, Massachusetts Congressman
Barney Frank has filed a bill to repeal it. (Kindt)

Uninformed advocates belief gambling is economically beneficial
and will support educational funding. In most states, legislators
reduced educational allotments from the general fund by about the
same amount raised through gambling revenues. Independent
economists cite evidence that gambling is economically sterile,
ultimately destabilizing mature economies. (Kindt)

The values of hard work, doing the best you can (win, lose or
draw) and long term thinking are in conflict with the “casino culture”
values of materialism, dependence on luck and instant gratification.

Youth learn to gamble in the same ways they learn to smoke, to
drink, to over eat or to acquire any other healthy or unhealthy habit,
by acquiring a value-based attitude.

Young people today are the first generation to grow up with video
games, computers and an environment in which gambling has been
legal their entire life. They are particularly vulnerable to its lure.

The gambling industry, like the tobacco industry before it, is a
predator. Public officials should be alarmed and alert to their influence.

(Tom Larkin is a retired Boston
School Psychologist and SMART
Recovery Facilitator.)