What is Going On with the Gambling Epidemic?
New iPhone. Robot cleaner. Fancy watch. As I sat down on the couch to watch the Steelers play on Sunday Night Football, I was scrolling through Amazon, just thinking of everything I would buy once that $6,600 slip cashed. I had made it through the Saturday and Sunday Afternoon games, and my 5-leg parlay was almost complete. The only thing I needed was George Pickens to have a single reception in the 1st quarter. But 45 minutes later, I stared in disbelief as he failed to do something so simple he’s done thousands of times, as a little red X appeared in the final checkbox and my $20 was lost forever. But that’s just the problem with gambling. It’s so addictive, with the “but what if…” mindset propelling millions of people every day to spend, and mostly lose, much of their hard-earned money. While sports gambling used to be a small part of making bland days or uninteresting days more entertaining, it’s turned into a dangerous addiction affecting much of this country. The most concerning of which, is the large number of teenagers and young adults developing these sports gambling problems that will likely continue into adulthood and affect much of the next generation. So how did this widespread calamity start, what does it entail, and how can we try to stop it?
The current issue alone isn’t the most worrisome part about all of this. If this addiction were just isolated to a few individuals, we would look at it as just another minor issue in society. The major dilemma is how fast the situation is growing. Online gambling sites and a widespread pro-gambling culture mean that this current generation has more access to and does more gambling than any previous generation, and the numbers back that up. A report put out by the National Council on Problem Gambling showed that “60-80% of high school students reported gambling money in the past year, even though the legal age ranges from 18-21”(NY Post). This is up heavily from even pretty recent years, as studies have shown, like one published by Webroot, data showing that 8.3% of all high school students were actively participating in gambling, with that number being as low as 1% in only 2008. Increasing access to the internet and gambling sites makes it much more convenient for high schoolers to gamble, as shown by the 10x increase over the last 15 years alone. To intensify the situation, many gambling sites are putting ads in places that, while not directly targeting kids, are exposing them to the world of sports gambling way earlier than they should be. This article by 800-Gambler explains how kids watching family-friendly entertainment like the NFL are now being exposed to ads as children and young adults which show how easy it is to gamble, prompting many kids to start gambling way younger than they should be. Sportsbooks use tactics like having well-known sponsors to promote their sites, like the renowned Shaquille O’Neal endorsing WynnBET. Many adolescents will see his ads, and looking up to him, try out sports gambling, which can turn into a frequent hobby. While the sheer number of people who gamble is a problem, widespread sports gambling can’t be prevented until we fix the way that young adults are being introduced to it at such a young age.
The reason that this epidemic is so worrisome is that the worst consequences of these newly developing addictions in adolescents likely won’t show up until they’re in adulthood. Many students will gamble with change or small dollar amounts, just as a way of making watching sports a little more entertaining; for example, a college student named Tino Taylor, who explains that he “sees his weekly ritual as a fun way to test his luck and hang out with his friends, who also bet on sports. Together, they congregate around the TV screen on game days, cheering for their teams and discussing their parlays”(alligator.org). However, for many people, this seemingly “harmless” activity can end up turning into a full-fledged addiction, which would be a problem once people leave their parents and need to have a better understanding of managing money to take care of themselves. Aside from monetary consequences, many long-term gamblers also suffer serious side effects, as a poll by Medium on gamblers in the UK during 2018 showed that 60% also suffered from depression, 43% and 25% from alcohol and drug addictions, respectively, and 17% seriously contemplating self-harm. These serious mental effects show the disastrous effects that gambling has, apart from the aspect of losing money. If we as a society don’t recognize the problem and take action soon, we could be looking at a generation with serious gambling addictions.
So what steps can people take to start rectifying the situation, both gamblers and non-gamblers? For a start, people who actively gamble and recognize the effects it can have, both current and future, should take a step towards stopping by either ceasing to participate, or, if too hard, can call a gambling hotline or talk to someone who can support them in quitting. That is something which isn’t being done nearly as much as it should be, as the study done by Medium showed only about 2% of all gamblers polled received support at the time of the study. Additionally, the New York State Office of Addiction Services or Supports shared steps that people can take to assure they keep gambling as a hobby and not an addiction, such as developing “a budget for how much you can afford to gamble without interfering with other financial obligations”, or setting “a limit on how much you will bet and [sticking] to it”. As a society, we’ve come to accept gambling as commonplace, and high school students have come to think of it as “cool” and “fun”, something that I know is accurate as I’ve heard those exact words come from friends of mine who actively participate in sports gambling. We’ve created a culture where it’s just accepted as a normal activity, with most people not even understanding the dire consequences that can come of it. While individuals can help themselves deal with this addiction by some of the methods above, if we are to fix this issue, we need to go back to thinking about gambling like the problem it is, and recognizing that young adults and adolescents shouldn’t be participating until they can truly understand the economic and mental toll it could end up taking on them as an adult if the problem persists into adulthood.
In past years, sports gambling was an adventure; after a long week of working, you and some friends would drive out to a bar where you would put maybe a couple of dollars on your favorite team to make the games more entertaining. But in the modern day it’s become something far less innocent; people not even paying attention to the games they’re betting on, just spending hours analyzing sports trends in attempts to craft a parlay with the highest chance of cashing possible, with some people even relying on the income of sports gambling to pay their rent. It’s become an addiction, and unless action is taken to prevent it from spreading further, it will haunt the current youth generations for years to come.
Works Cited
Cotrone, Colby. “High Stakes for High Schoolers: Wanna bet teens need gambling education?” NY Post, 7 May 2024, https://nypost.com/2024/05/07/lifestyle/high-stakes-for-high-schoolers-wanna-bet-teens-need-gambling-education/. Accessed 9 April 2025.
800-Gambler. “Are Sports Betting Ads Targeting Your Kids?” Are Sports Betting Ads Targeting Your Kids?, 800-Gambler, 2025, https://800gambler.org/are-sports-betting-ads-targeting-your-kids/?utm. Accessed 9 4 2025.
Moffatt, Scott. “Problem gambling explained in six graphs.” Problem gambling explained in six graphs, Medium, 6 3 2019, https://medium.com/we-are-with-you/the-problem-with-gambling-in-seven-graphs-219bbda83077. Accessed 9 4 2025.
New York State Office of Addiction Services or Supports. “Problem Gambling Resources.” Problem Gambling Resources, New York State Office of Addiction Services or Supports, https://oasas.ny.gov/prevention/gambling?__cf_chl_tk=3EWF9rnmSEh.9qVUBqAVse3L6BtXbEz5h9B32qPKBQI-1744233905-1.0.1.1-6o.xkwYjq3lpQ4JEsZBs3xfFmTLxsyuCCVJGichIU2I. Accessed 9 4 2025.
Webroot. “Internet Gambling Among Teens and College Students.” Internet Gambling Among Teens and College Students, OpenText, https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/internet-gambling-among-teens-and-college-students?srsltid=AfmBOoql8xgameKVKtttRMAMiHNiMySDRUlyN6x9QhtWtL4im3_ZJoKG. Accessed 9 4 2025.
