Gov't teaching kids to gamble?

Gov't teaching kids to gamble?
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow

The United Kingdom is getting behind a proposal to teach children how to gamble, but opponents are already putting on their boxing gloves.

The Labour Party welcomes the idea of teaching children as young as 12 how to gamble "safely," as they claim it will help children prepare for the adult world. But critics say the proposals from GamCare, a gambling addiction charity, will lead to more problem gambling. Les Bernal of Stop Predatory Gambling says it mirrors what has been happening in America.

"We have state lotteries in this country that are running programs on the Internet, Facebook, and so forth that are really encouraging people not just to gamble, but to teach them how to gamble," Bernal notes. "And the notion that this is a government program actually encouraging people to learn how to lose their money on government-run gambling games, it symbolizes more than any other issue what's broken about American government today."

In order to generate more money, children are being targeted for training.

"What you see … in the U.K. and elsewhere in our country here in terms of what government's daily voice is is its lottery advertising and casino advertising, and it needs to change," the Stop Predatory Gambling spokesman contends. "If we want to get our country going in the right direction, we've got to get government out of the gambling business."

He goes on to note that the purpose of using the Internet and Facebook is to reach people who are well versed in technology, and that is today's young people.