Students alerted for warning signs of addiction

Students urged to be on alert for warning signs of gambling issues


Sarit Mukhopadhyay doesn't gamble, but he said he's surprised at how broad the issue is defined.

"I don't think a lot of people notice that they gamble," said the first-year engineering student as he attended the kts2 display Thursday at the University of New Brunswick.

He said activities such as playing poker online or participating in betting pools are defined as gambling, but he thinks these activities are easy to overlook.

"While I don't think gambling is a big problem at this age, maybe they get into it now and then it develops into a real problem later on," he said.

"If you gamble once or twice, you might not notice or think you have a gambling problem, but then after a while it could develop into a problem."

Representatives from the not-for-profit organization kts2 are talking to students about the myths and realities of gambling as part of the group's 2011-12 campus tour.

Developed by Canada's Responsible Gambling Council, the group will visit 40 campuses across Canada this year and focus on four key messages: the chances of winning and losing; the signs of problem gambling; where to go for help; and how to gamble safely.

The Responsible Gambling Council said 1.3 per cent of New Brunswick's adult population falls into the category of problem gamblers, with the majority saying they started gambling before they turned 19.

Sarah Rothman, UNB's student development co-ordinator, said even though she doesn't see gambling addiction as a problem on campus, the statistics make it important to get as much information as possible out to students.

"We don't have any indication that problem gambling is a real issue on our campus, but we do recognize that this is the age group at which people who develop gambling problems later on tend to start," she said.

"That said, we still have a responsibility to educate our students."

Rothman said she thinks it's important to educate people at a young age about gambling so it will be easier for them to know when they've crossed the line into addictive behaviour.

"I certainly know a number of people, whether they're students or in my own age group, who do participate in betting pools sometimes, basketball pools, buying lottery tickets, you know, poker on Saturday night with a group of friends. Not necessarily in a problematic way, but certainly participating in gambling in some way or another," she said.

"So we want them (students) to know where the line is between a fun, recreational activity and when it becomes an issue."

Danielle Ayee, a kts2 representative who spent Thursday morning handing out surveys to students in Head Hall, said there's no indication in the research to suggest why most people who gamble for money start before they turn 19, but she thinks it has a lot to do with the nature of the age group.

"This age group is made up of greater risk-takers," she said.

"They're away from home for the first time, they're experimenting with different things, (so) gambling just may be one of those things."

Based on the two days she spent at UNB, Ayee said, she thinks students here have a good handle on the signs of gambling problems.

"We don't find that the majority doesn't know about gambling and the signs," she said.

"There were a few exceptions that needed a little more information on how to make their own informed decisions, so we provided signs related to students such as skipping class or work to gamble, borrowing money to gamble or lying about money or time spent gambling.

"But most people do know about the signs."