Gambling and Teenagers: More Kids Are Exposed to Online Gambling Nowadays

Not so long ago, gambling was preserved for adults with some little money to spare. Gambling places such as casinos or lottery ticket booths were not so common. Back then, one had to cover some distance to access any gambling place. Then online gamble opportunities happened!

Online gamble has made it easier for literally anyone to access the gambling world. You only need access to a good internet connection, a device and just like that, you are good to go. No more walking or driving over a distance to quench your gambling desires.

The ease of accessing gambling apps and online casinos should be a source of worry to every parent. Children have found ways to access the “forbidden” parts of the internet. Therefore, one way or the other, your child will be exposed to online gambling. Given the risk and dangers associated with gambling, the discourse on gambling and teenagers is a must-have.

The dangers of online gamble

Online gamble comes with many disadvantages when compared to traditional gambling. Below are disadvantages attributed to online gambling, additional features, and how easy it is to access them.

• It encourages overspending

Unlike traditional gambling, online gambling comes with several and diverse ways to make payments. One can use direct bank transfers, Visa, MasterCard, as well as virtual currencies.

What's more, these payment options come customized to each individual’s preference making them easy to use regardless of age. With online gambling, players end up spending more because they never get the breaks. In traditional gambling, players take breaks to look for change or withdraw cash.

The few minutes during the break could at times keep you from gambling. Now, imagine that those breaks are eliminated. You are likely to find yourself overspending because there is nothing to withdraw you from the spending thrill.

• Online gamblers are highly likely to be scammed

Users of online gambling sites and gambling apps are often exposed. This is why most countries are against online gamble activities, with some going to the extent of outlawing them. Many scammers take advantage of this legal lacuna to prey on and scam vulnerable online gamblers because they will not suffer any legal consequences.

It also means that many online sites and apps are not regulated and therefore, not trustworthy. It, therefore, means only a handful of online gambling apps out of the current thousands are real gambling apps and the rest are just scams and a tragedy waiting to happen.

It is not uncommon to hear of online casinos that promised their customers bonuses upon spending a certain amount of money only to renegade on the promise. There are also cases of online sites that never cash out money when it materializes. The common phrase, “the house always wins” comes to play.

• Online gambling is more addictive

There are high chances that you can become easily addicted to gambling through online gambling as compared to traditional gambling. The difference is due to the convenience and privacy of online gamble offers. You can gamble online using your personal computers or mobile phones. Further, you can do it at any time of the day or night and in any location.

The addiction that results from online gambling has far-reaching effects on teenagers. These effects include plummeting school grades as well as teenagers developing personality disorders such as anti-social behaviors.

Which gamble sites and gamble apps do teens use most?

Online gamble poses many dangers to teens. Let us look at the three most popular gambling sites and gambling apps teenagers use most.

• Vegas Casino Online

Vegas Casino Online uses software developed by Realtime Company, which is famed for supplying online casino games worldwide. The software enables it to avail hundreds of online casino games on its platform. This site literally brings Las Vegas to the palm of your hand.

• Cherry gold

Cherry gold online gambling site is popular with teens because of its video poker games. It also has regular games found in casinos such as Russian roulette.

• BetNow

Teens that frequent BetNow online sites are those with an interest in popular sports like basketball and football. The site lets users bet and gamble on major sports activities.

On the other hand, the top three most popular gambling apps amongst teenagers are;

1. Betway app
2. SpinPalaceapp and
3. Jackpot city app

These Apps offers both casinos, sports, and poker experience to their users. With the availability of different platforms and increased ease of accessing gambling sites and apps, parents can use these three ways to prevent their children from gambling.

Tips to help parents prevent kids from online gambling

• Have a sit down with the child

Are you a parent? And are you looking to prevent your child from online gambling? Then one of the best ways is to have a one on one discussion with your child. The discussion should mirror the potential risks of gambling.

Let it be a conversation, don’t just talk to your child but also listen to him or her. From listening to the child, you will be able to get who their friends are, what they do with their friends, and whether there is any negative influence from the friends that may drive them into gambling.

Also so as not to be like the proverbial ostrich that buries its head in the sand, also talk about responsible gambling habits. You can set limits to gambling activities and proceed with moderation.

• Setting a good example and gambling free environment for the teen

Teenagers just like little children tend to imitate what adults do. As a parent, you should, therefore, be conscious of what recreational activities you indulge in, in front of children. This is so given that your teen is likely to take after your gambling habits.

Leading by example alone is not enough, as the immediate environment your child is exposed to, should be gamble-free. You should, therefore, eliminate any type of gambling activity at home and replace them with other fun family activities.

• Lastly, you can also monitor your teen’s personal computer and phones

When kids know that their activities online are being watched by their parents, they are not likely to visit inappropriate sites such as gambling sites.

The beauty of it is that there are applications that allow you to watch what your child is doing online without hovering around them or being in the same place physically. These applications can also block websites like gambling sites from accessed by your underage child.

After knowing how to prevent your kid from online gambling sites, what if they are already into it, how will you know whether your kid is an online gambler?

How parents can find out whether kids are gambling online?

Dropping grades, personality change, and borrowing or stealing money from friends may not be conclusive indications that they are gambling online. However, parental control applications such as FamiSafe can conclusively tell if your child is gambling online.

The beauty of FamiSafe is that it can be installed in both android and iOS devices. After installing it on your children’s phone, you can monitor and control what your child does online. It would be easy to notice which websites they frequent a lot and if those sites are gambling sites or not.

The Screen time feature limits the time the kid spends online. Using the feature, you can set the number of hours your child is allowed to spend on the phone. Once the set time lapses, the app will automatically block the child out.

Web filter & browse history

The feature sieves harmful internet content from your child’s phone. It also has an option for setting exceptions for some sites.

Furthermore, FamiSafe puts the websites into categories as a result, making it easy and convenient for parents to block or allow websites. App activity & app blocker

The app activity and app blocker feature of FamiSafe enables it to collect all app activity of your child’s phone(s). The activity it collects includes amongst others, the date an application was used and the duration that application was used.

In conclusion, the sure way to keep your child from falling into the pit hole that is gambling is by investing in a parental control app such as FamiSafe.