With more access than ever before to online casinos, sports books, you name it, it is no surprise that teenage gambling addiction is becoming more of a problem with every passing year. As more gambling horizons open up every year for teens through gambling on video games, gambling with their friends, gambling online, the problem is definitely deepening with no end in site. Recent studies have shown that gambling in teenagers is on a steady rise since the beginning of the last decade, and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Warning Signs
Gambling addiction in teens can occur very easily for several reasons. One being the adrenaline rush it gives teens and another being the lack of income many teens usually have. With many teens relying on their parents for income, it is not surprising that the lure of easy money attracts teens by the thousands into gambling every year. Studies show that it doesn’t take much for a teen to become addicted to gambling, and gambling addictions can become much harder to break if the habit was started at a young age.
If you suspect your teen of having a gambling addiction, here are a few warning signs that many teens usually exhibit who have an addiction problem with gambling.
- Cutting school or have many unexplained absences
- Grades become worse and worse
- You find money missing out of your purse or wallet on a regular basis
- Constantly needing money for poorly explained reasons
- Unexplained mood changes
- Use of drugs or alcohol
What Can Parents Do for a Teenage Gambling Addiction?
So what do parents do if they suspect, or find out that their teen or adolescent might have a serious gambling problem? Because every situation is different there is no one size fits all approach parents must understand there is not a single silver bullet that will solve the problem. However, there are a number of proactive steps that parents can take to help to curtail this problem.
- Make sure your teen has no access to cash or credit cards, and keep your cash and credit cards locked up so that your teen can not get access to it
- Insist that your teenager visit a gambling counselor or therapist that can help them resolve their gambling problems. There are plenty of specialists in teenage gambling addiction that can give your child the best professional help possible.
- Insist that your teenager attend Gambling Anonymous meetings.
If you suspect your teenage son or daughter to have a gambling problem, do not hesitate to confront your child about it and ask them what is really going on. This doesn’t mean that you need to approach the situation with anger or punishment, but speak calmly and clearly with your teen to find out why they may have resorted into gambling and if there is anything you as a parent can do to help your teen. You may be surprised how much your teen will open up to you if you ask them in the right manner.
