The motivation behind promoting this booklet was to look within school communities and realize this The problem of online betting was going through themlike many other teenagers. Hence the idea of working, investigating, and opening dialogue in classrooms and homes about this reality. This was the background for launching this campaign Network of Marist Colleges and Community Centers, “When Betting Stops Being a Game” is a booklet that invites you to ask questions about the reasons for betting, the consequences, effects and effects on children and adolescents.
This is an initiative of the Marist Schools Network, which includes 26 institutions across the country and in neighboring countries, which has launched materials that are available in digital and print format and can be ordered free of charge at any of the schools in the network, and are intended for the entire community.
“From the specific situations we encountered in our communities in which we had to intervene, and from the conversation with other educational institutions, we realized that this was a problem that if we wanted to address it, we had to first identify and investigate it,” sums up Marcelo De Brito, Director of the Marist Schools Network. “We found cases of very young children who were trapped in debt, or who went days without eating or with little sleep, because they were trapped in the whole underworld that is the digital betting environment,” says de Brito. “We also found cases of very young children who were physically contacted by other people they knew on the platforms and began blackmailing them into sending them intimate photos, in exchange for betting credits or as a mechanism to settle the debts they had supposedly signed.”
From there, they decided they had to start investigating in order to propose Deep discussion On this topic and the ability to create safe and protected environments in the digital sphere of the adult world, but with the participation of children.
The first thing, De Brito says, is to listen to the kids. For several months, they held meetings with high school students and students in the final years of primary school, where a group of teachers addressed the topic, getting the point of view of the children themselves, and understanding how the platforms work and the logic behind them, to begin to understand how they become a spider’s web that is easy to get into and difficult to get out of.
“There is the logic of speed and the social pressure of having to be in certain areas, and the social anxiety of not being present comes from the logic of video games and is transferred to the digital world of children. When I was a child, my mother would invite me to eat and I would pause the video game and then continue. Games now do not allow that, there is no pausing, and since you play as a team, the social pressure from your friends is very strong. If you pause, they kill you and the whole team loses. Something. That is transferred to the environment of digital betting, social pressure, anxiety and searching for Dopamine and adrenaline The system is constantly moving. When children are in digital environments they play things that adults have no idea about and that affects their social identity. “We have to stop ignoring what is happening there, because that is the first way to leave them unprotected,” De Brito says.
During the launch of the guide on gambling addiction, students of Marian schools participated in a My neighborThe competent authorities presented the results of the investigation, and specialists in this addiction also attended.
“Online betting among young people is expanding day by day through the use of devices. The exposure of gambling sites and the number of advertisements promoting them leads to exposure and ease of access, all of which are components that lead to what we know as gambling addiction, or an addiction characterized by the inability to resist the urge to bet. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers gambling addiction or gambling addiction to be a disease and includes “digital games” or “video games” in this problem. More and more people are betting on online gambling, especially in sports betting Public, this is done covertly, almost without them even realizing it, and the exposure to multiple risks and the impact on mental health and overall well-being is increasing Understanding, preventing and taking care of the material they have posted after nearly a year of research.
This is revealed by an opinion poll that included 500 children, distributed by UNICEF, and mentioned in the booklet 8 in 10 teens and young adults aged 13-24 have bet online in the past year. Furthermore, half of those who said they bet said they did so with the goal of making money. Finally, 7 out of 10 indicated that it is difficult to break the habit. According to a poll conducted by Opina Argentina this year, 16% of young people between the ages of 16 and 29 said they “bet regularly online.” While a report by the Observatory of Addiction and Problematic Consumption of the Ombudsman’s Office in Buenos Aires indicates that 12.5% of young people aged 18 to 24 have made online bets at some point in their lives.
“Many children who bet start doing so at the age of 12, an age when the majority already have a mobile phone with which they can easily access casinos or online betting houses. This beginning is associated with economic independence and the use of virtual wallets. The gateway to this activity is usually sports betting, which is very popular thanks to the fact that online casinos and betting houses advertise football teams and other popular sports. Betting houses employ influencers, connectors and athletes And celebrities so they can nail this idea amazing A quick, easy and fun way to “get rich without working”. In some countries, such as Spain, advertising was regulated and limited because they saw its effects on young people.
Among other topics, the booklet addresses the crisis of enjoyment among new generations, the culture of instantaneity, the overvaluation of effortless money, as well as the disconnection and lack of knowledge that exists in the adult world about the values that are at stake for children in digital environments. It also talks about how adults, both parents and teachers, work to build safe environments for children, where staying out of this world is the worst option.
“Something I’ve heard a lot among families is the concept of parenting in a tribe or parenting in a network. Groups of parents who get along with others who use similar parenting guidelines, so that their kids can’t tell them, ‘I’m the only one who’s not allowed to do this or that.’ These are valid and increasingly popular strategies,” De Brito contributes.
The booklet invites you to do some practical activities, from teaching teens how to manage personal finances at an early age, to getting them to ask themselves questions about the interests behind the platforms, as well as interest and awareness in managing their digital wallets.
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