“Stacked Deck”

Class warns of dangers of gambling
by Keith Strange
Staff Writer Mount Airy News


A first-of-its-kind class on gambling addictions is hitting the jackpot among students taking the course at Surry Central High School, school resource officer and co-instructor Randy Simpson said Wednesday.

The course, called “Stacked Deck,” is comprised of six classes that include pre-tests, presentations, interaction with students and a post-test used to gauge the effectiveness of the class. It is designed to cover the history of gambling and the pitfalls that can result.

“The entire six-course class took two weeks to work with the students’ schedule,” said Simpson, who helped teach the class with instructor Greg High.

After completing the class, the students were asked to design posters for placement around the school that warn others of the dangers of compulsive gambling.

The first class was attended by 22 students, Simpson said.

“We were the pilot school and this is the first class,” he noted, adding that officials are considering expanding the class to other schools in the region. “During the course of the class, we had representatives from other schools who may be interested in teaching it in their curriculum.”

The take-away from the class, Simpson said, was students coming away with a clearer view of problem gambling. He said he was impressed with the students’ maturity and point of view.

“They asked a lot of good questions and were very interested in what was being taught,” he said. “I’m not a teacher, I was the guy standing there in a police uniform, but I noticed that they were very attentive during the presentations and they asked good, valid questions. Some of the stuff we covered during this class included the kinds of things to look for if you suspect a family member has a gambling addiction.”

To that end, Simpson said he left some materials laying on the table “for students to take anonymously if they wanted to.”

“I noticed that quite a few of them were taken,” he said.

The impetus for the course was a noticeable rise in problem gambling across the state, Simpson said.

“There are a lot of people spending their paychecks in the Internet cafes or buying lottery tickets,” he said. “That’s money that could and should be used for other things like a house payment and groceries. These kinds of problems have been reported throughout the state, and we saw this class as a way to address the problem.”

Simpson said he hopes the class can open a dialog in the community to raise awareness about problem gambling.

“People have addictions. They’re going to gamble,” he said. “But this is a way to make us more wise to the problem and more capable of diagnosing the signs and symptoms.”

Simpson said the program was funded through state grant money, and called the experience “very rewarding.”

“The kids taking the class were going home and telling their mothers and fathers about it, and we’ve gotten some positive feedback from the parents as well,” he said.

Asked how they liked the class, the students were unequivocal.

“We loved it,” they said. “It was really interesting.”

As for the “coolest” thing they learned, just ask 15-year-old Kyle Scritchfield.

“You have a better chance of dying going to buy a lottery ticket then you do of winning the lottery,” he said.