Report: Increase in gambling-addicted youth
09/01/2014
The Bosco Youth Service Network (BYS) has published a report on the gambling situation of Macau youth in 2013. It found that the number of students who may be on the edge of becoming gambling addicts has risen to 16.4 percent, the highest amount since they started conducting the survey several years ago. The number of respondents that show symptoms of addiction also increased from 1.9 percent (2012) to 2.2 percent (2013).
BYS has received 705 valid questionnaires, with the majority of them filled out by young people aged between 13 and 18 years old. The questions asked concerned the respondents’ frequency of gambling and their dependency on and addiction to it. One of the more noticeable findings is that the number of young people who would lie to their families and friends about their gambling has risen compared to the result in 2012. It has also been indicated that more people would use their families’ or others’ money for gambling without notifying them.
Moreover, the survey found that young people mostly participated in playing poker, mahjong and online gambling. Figures show that families that don’t allow their children to gamble don’t necessarily forbid them from playing poker and mahjong, which are perceived as socializing activities by some. This leads to some youths’ misconception of gambling and results in an increased participation in this kind of “social gambling”.
Commenting on the survey results, the Head of the Bosco Youth Service Network (BYS)’s “Praca de Ponte” Family Service Centre, Vincent Yp Wang Keong, suggested that there is a contradictory mindset among young people regarding their attitudes towards gambling. Vincent Yp also stated that more education is needed to teach young people about the nature of gambling as well as their teachers and parents.
“Young people understand gambling is not good for them. But they don’t resist it, thus creating a paradox. This led to the result that they know they have to stop before going too far, but they can’t figure out how far they can go and this will bring them problems,” said Mr Yp. He stated that the attitude in Macau society is that responsible gambling is allowed. If that’s the case, then he believes that it is crucial to fully implement all policies to make sure that residents are truly gambling responsibly instead of only saying it as a slogan: “When they (young people) grow up in Macau, they are growing up among the casinos. If they are naïve about gambling, they won’t understand what responsible gambling is and why people would be addicted to gambling. They would even come to believe in some myths. These will result in a greater chance for young people to become gambling addicts once they start trying it.”
Moreover, Vincent Yp believes that the current system is not sufficient enough in terms of the teachers and parents’ knowledge about gambling, and that they should learn more about it as well. He asks: “When teachers find out that their students have gambling problems, how do they process the issue with the students? This is difficult for the teachers as teachers are under a lot of pressure [from work]. They were not trained to handle these kinds of things.”
As for at what stage educators and caretakers should start discussing gambling with their children, Mr Yp said that there is not one particular suitable time. Instead, parents can take the opportunities in everyday life to launch the discussion: “This is all about timing. Children might ask at different ages.
For example, when you and your children are going to enjoy a buffet (in a casino-resort) and they go past casinos, this would be an ideal opportunity to talk about it if they ask… I don’t think that there is a fixed time-frame for this issue… The question and answer might not be long. It could be just several seconds. But the answer can be essential for the child.”
In addition, the social center head said that parents don’t seem to be very interested in learning how to teach their children about the issue. There are not that many schools that are willing to sacrifice their teaching time to hold gambling education activities either. JPL
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