ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO/WCCO) – A new campaign is raising awareness about the problem of youth gambling.
“The younger someone is exposed to gambling, the greater likelihood they will develop an issue in adulthood,” Minnesota Alliance for Problem Gambling Executive director Sheridan Tucker said.
Tucker said kids’ and teens’ brains aren’t fully developed, and they don’t understand risk, but they do know how good it feels to win, and that can be a problem.
“A big win for a teenager could be $50 [or] $100,” Tucker said. “They’re experiencing that dopamine hit and that feels good.”
The program is part of a state lottery-backed awareness campaign. The most recent Minnesota Student Survey found more than 6,000 high schoolers having issues with gambling, online or otherwise.
“Everything is being gamified in our world today,” Tucker said. “We are greatly concerned, not just with lottery tickets, but all forms of gambling that are more accessible than ever before, particularly to youth.”
Tucker said young men are more susceptible to gambling disorders than young women.
“If they’ve been exposed to that good feeling with the gambling, if they start to feel depression, or anxiety, or life really isn’t going the way they want it to, they may go back to gambling because it feels good. It gets that dopamine rush going,” Tucker said.
Tucker encourages parents to have conversations with their kids about gambling, even if it involves something as simple as a scratch-off lottery ticket.
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