What do you think of when you hear the word gambling? Your mind probably goes to Las Vegas. Flashy slot machines that beep and buzz, people in nice suits rolling dice, and showing off cards. Sounds fun, sounds lavish, sounds harmless. Yet, much like many dangerous things that have a glamorous image behind them, the truth can look much less pretty. Gambling’s as addictive as any drug can get, and nowadays, more and more young people are getting caught up in it. Why is that? What can we do to keep ourselves from getting sucked in and how can YOU stand to get lucky from dodging high-stakes dependency?
The normalization of gambling
Gambling doesn’t have to just involve cards or dice. All you really need to gamble is some money and something big to risk it on. Betting on horse racing was legitimized in 1928 Britain, and from then on, it created a culture based all around gambling on the outcome of sports events. For many, betting on sports has become supplementary to actually watching them. Gambling culture has also been helped through the constant evolution of the internet. The internet for all its benefits has made it so much easier for dangerous things to spread much faster than they did in the past. Gambling is no exception, as going online has made it much simpler to get into. It’s that normalization that makes gambling so tempting, and so dangerous. It’s easier to risk flushing away all that money, when you’re able to do so in the comfort of your own home, just a click away. If you’re a sports fan, it can be nice to get a little interested in betting on a match, as a means of adding a little extra excitement to the game. Making the game watching into the game itself. By the time you get really hooked however, you’re tossing away money. Tossing away time. The game is no longer a game. It’s an obligation. A high you need to keep chasing.
Gambling and young people
Most states have made it so online gambling is legally barred from anyone under the age of 21, much like drinking alcohol. However, much like drinking alcohol, there is still an overwhelming amount of people underage who find themselves getting sucked into it. What makes it more alarming is that it’s not just college students, or high schoolers getting sucked in, but even addicts as young as 10 years old, are being made every day. This has to do with how normalized it’s become. Even though actual official betting is illegal for anyone not old enough, there are enough loopholes to add in gambling elements wherever possible. One method has found its way into video games. Lootboxes are systems in games where, using real-life money, you make purchases on a randomized selection in-game content with the potential of giving you instant access to some of the best and most enviable items you can get. So many of these games are played by young people, you’ve probably even played a few of them, and they know this. They take advantage of these young, and impressionable minds respond to how good it feels when your gambles are rewarded by the game, and how tempting it is to try again when they aren’t. Once these young minds have gotten a taste for it, the drive intensifies, and they look for more outlets. A gateway drug found in the most mundane of childhood hobbies.
Gambling and you
No matter how many small moments you may win, getting hooked on betting and gambling is a scenario where you always lose. So, what can be done about it? Though, it might seem mundane, the answer is simple. Avoid it. Don’t go to that Campus casino, don’t buy that overpriced slot-machine for costumes or weapons in your video game, don’t watch the football game for any purpose other than enjoying the game itself. Addiction is perhaps the only game you can win by not playing at all. Life is already risky enough for better or worse, and there are so many more productive ways to get your thrills. Reach out to others, talk to anyone you may know who might have a gambling problem. There are many outlets like the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling, that are willing to help those in need.
With all that said, always be wary on the risk of addiction in all its forms, and how it can pop up in your everyday life, in ways you don’t expect. If you’re going to bet on anything, never let it be your own life.
