NSW Government Appeals to Parents to Prevent Underage Gambling
The NSW Government is recruiting parents for its initiative to safeguard children from the dangers of gambling after new data revealed that parental actions significantly affect teenage attitudes toward gambling.
NSW turns to parents to prevent underage gambling.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:A public awareness campaign has been launched by The Office of Responsible Gambling following research that found parental behaviors and routine gambling advertisements heighten the risks of gambling harms. The NSW Responsible Gambling Fund backed the research, with findings showing nearly 70% of parents who gambled in the past year did so in front of their children.
Additional risks include playing gambling-like video games, inadequate parental supervision, and strained parent-child relationships. Among 947 surveyed parents, over a quarter reported that their teenager engaged in at least one gambling activity in the past year, with instant scratchies and lottery tickets being the most common.
Related: Study Shows Parents Clueless about Their Children's Gambling Habits
Gambling-Like Video Games and Advertising
The NSW Youth Gambling Study confirmed earlier conclusions that parental influence, peer pressure, gambling ads, sports betting, and monetary as well as simulated gambling products shape young people’s gambling behaviors and attitudes.
The new campaign, being run with GambleAware and visible on social media and other advertising platforms, aims to promote conversations about the dangers of exposing minors to gambling. It provides videos for parents and caregivers on reducing children’s gambling exposure, along with fact sheets, extra information, and support service contacts.
The campaign focuses on three key factors affecting young people’s gambling perceptions:
1. The impact of parental influence on children’s gambling attitudes.
2. The overlap between gaming and gambling, and how to create a safer environment for children.
3. The effects of gambling advertising on children and how to limit their exposure.
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Support and Resources for Families
Director of the Office of Responsible Gambling, Alison Parkinson, emphasized the importance of educating children and young people about gambling risks.
Young people are now, more than ever, exposed to gambling via video games, advertising, watching sports and through social media so it’s vital we educate children and young people about gambling risks. Parents and carers have the greatest influence on youth gambling and their children’s attitudes towards it, and I encourage them to monitor their children’s exposure to gaming and gambling and to talk to them about the risks. Things you can do include not gambling in front of your children or teenagers, not helping them to gamble, talking to them about the risks of gambling and supervising them online.
Kaitlyn Sturges, the Gamble Aware Community Engagement Officer South-Western Sydney, urged parents to take an interest in the games their children are playing. She explained that gaming can be a positive experience but that games containing loot boxes can expose children to gambling-like activities.
She added, “Many parents and carers haven’t reviewed their own attitudes towards gambling, chance and luck, and how that might trickle down to young people. A lot of young people are ill-informed about the concepts of randomness and chance, but I firmly believe that they can make informed decisions if we provide them with the necessary education.”
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