Why Is Gambling Illegal For Minors
- Why Is Gambling Illegal For Minors
- Why Is Gambling Illegal For Minors
- Why Is Gambling Illegal For Minors Allowed
I n most countries it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to gamble. Although a few underage gamblers certainly manage to sneak into land-based casinos, they are generally quite good at stopping teens at the door. Underage gambling is illegal. Any licensed casino found to be knowingly allowing someone underage to gamble will at least be fined, and may well lose their license (if it occurs a lot). A casino that discovers someone underage gambling (say, a 17 year old in an out of the way slot machine bank) will immediately remove them. For others, you have to be aged 16 or over, like playing the lottery. But for most gambling activities, the legal age is 18. For example, going to a casino or placing bets or gambling in betting.
Have your children watched a footy match recently? Well, if they watched AFL on TV they also consumed about 50.5 separate episodes of sports betting marketing, from TV and stadium ads, to footy jumpers and even the footy commentary. If they went to the ground they would have seen, on average, 58.5 gambling ads.
Australia is a lucrative market for the sport gambling industry – we have the biggest gambling losses per capita of any country in the world. Key players centrebet, sportingbet, TAB Sportsbet, tomwaterhouse.com and bet365 are competing for market share and advertising has been their number one weapon. This year alone there has been a 20% increase in spending on gambling advertising.
So, what’s wrong with these gambling agencies advertising their product everywhere? After all, gambling is legal, advertising is legal, adults can make their own choices and it’s just a bit of fun.
Actually, these arguments are false on all four counts if they relate to children:
It’s illegal for children to place bets
It’s illegal to advertise gambling during children’s programming, but sporting telecasts are exception.
Children don’t understand the persuasive intent of marketing messages and can’t critically evaluate them to make informed decisions
It’s not just a bit of fun for many children. Family breakdown, poverty, or even the loss of a parent to gambling-associated suicide is not fun.
Pathological gambling remains a psychological diagnosis in the new diagnostic manual for mental illness (the DSM-5) and continues to cripple thousands of Australians.
The Productivity Commission estimated in 2010 that 80,000 to 160,000 Australian adults were severe problem gamblers, with a further 230,000 to 350,000 at moderate risk of developing problem gambling.
Kids think betting is normal
The saturation of advertising normalises gambling and kids come to associate gambling as integral part of the sport. Rather than talking about their favourite team, kids are now talking about the odds of that team winning.
This inevitably translates into more under-age gambling, as kids can now anonymously gamble online and on smart phones. Online checks are insufficient, as ABC1’s 4Corners revealed last night, with kids as young as 12 placing bets and pressuring their peers to bet as part of the fan experience.
At a population level, normalising sport gambling will mean more people take up the habit, and more people will gamble at risky levels. There is also evidence of more risky gambling behaviour when online betting options are used.
Barriers to reform
So if regulators recognise that gambling advertising to children is inappropriate, why are we even having this debate?
We have to remember that the gambling industry pours millions of dollars into sport and it’s not altruism. They pay millions of dollars for advertising rights, naming rights on jerseys, to TV stations, to club sponsorships. Clubs, codes, media companies and advertisers are all businesses and right now there is much money to be made through gambling.
Why, then, doesn’t the government regulate to prevent advertising that is damaging children? After all at election time it is a good idea to do what voters want.
Why Is Gambling Illegal For Minors
The powerful gambling and advertising industry has significant sway over the government and has pressured governments to drag their feet. The Gillard government, for instance, was pressured into reneging on the deal with independent MP Andrew Wilkie to introduce effective gambling reforms.
Another factor might be just how addicted our governments are to gambling revenue. Revenue from the gambling industry props up our deflated government coffers. In Australia, the government revenue from gambling is in the order of A$5 billion or around 10% of total tax revenue. The simple proverb “don’t bite the hand the feeds you” might explain the government’s lack of action.
Perhaps another reason for lack of action is the fear of a backlash from industry. This worked for the mining industry but seems to have been ineffective for industries whose name is not so trusted. The tobacco industry opposition to plain packaging, for instance, fell on deaf public ears. The trust and public support for the gambling industry might be similar to that of the tobacco industry.
The road to real reform
In response to pressure, FreeTV Australia (representing the broadcasters of Australia) today announced it will submit a revised code to Australian Communications and Media Authority to “ban promotion of live odds during play and by commentators during the game”.
On the surface this seems like a positive step, but it’s more an attempt to deflect from the real issue. This ban will only limit live odds promotion and will mean the industry can continue to advertise gambling to our children 58 times during an average footy match.
What we need is real action. The Joint Parliamentary Committee On Gambling Reform will report back before the election. Several independents and the Greens have suggested the removal of the sporting exemption to bans on gambling advertising during children viewing hours, including weekends. Such bans should also include advertising which is included in match commentary and pre- or post-match reviews.
It’s not only the Greens and independents who are speaking up. There is even support from the conservative side of politics, with Tony Abbott promising to limit gambling advertising to kids during sport. But will the Gillard government act in this area?
This may well win some much-needed votes but more importantly, it will protect vulnerable children from the powerful gambling industry. As a society, we need to be much more aware of the dangers of trapping a new generation into addiction and debt.
Every teenager eventually runs into prohibitions based on age. To a 15-year-old it’s understandable why a 5-year-old shouldn’t be allowed to drive.
But why do you have to wait another year to get a driver’s license?
And if you have a summer job, why can’t you spend your money on alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling the way 18-year-old or 21-year old friends and relatives do?
Everyone feels “mature enough” to make mature decisions before their elders say they’re ready.
Reflecting upon all the factors a gambling establishment, either online or land-based must consider, several reasons come to mind.
Age of Majority
This seems to be the most important factor.
Despite any precocious emotional or intellectual maturity young people may possess, in most jurisdictions, an age of majority prevails.
The age of majority determines when an individual can enter into legally binding contracts. A law-abiding gambling company cannot do business with minors.
Every member of an online casino must register and honestly affirm their age. To collect winnings they must prove their identity and age eligibility.
If a minor successfully enters a land-based casino, plays a game, and collects a modest stake, the casino has broken the law. The young player may get away with it.
Not only do they not have to honor the win they legally cannot.
Laws Governing Gambling Activities
Governments around the world decided not to allow minors to gamble in licensed establishments. Gambling laws take the decision out of the casinos’ hands.
Many teens learn how to play blackjack, poker, roulette, and other gambling games at home or from their friends.
They may even play for money in unlicensed gaming situations.
If caught by authorities the teens may not be prosecuted, but game organizers would almost certainly be arrested.
Teens’ parents are also held accountable for the behavior of their children.
Age restrictions on gambling fall into a complex system of laws designed to protect young individuals from making life-destroying choices.
Emotional and Intellectual Maturity is Vital to Managing Risk
While few fully mature adults (estimates range from 5% to 10%) are considered gambling addicts, many acquired addictive habits while still adolescents.
Science is still uncertain about when people become fully mature adults. In 2014 the National Academy of Sciences proposed that ages 18-26 be considered the final stage of emotional and intellectual development.
The truth is that science has yet to show at what age the general population can make good choices about risky behavior. This goes well beyond gambling and into many types of activities.
Teens are not permitted to compete in many types of professional sports. They may lack the physical characteristics and training to compete, but their mental abilities are not yet ripe.
Social concerns about teens’ readiness to make important choices are reinforced by one disturbing study: a 20-year study found that children experiencing stress do mature faster than their peers.
This is not a justification for allowing some teens to gamble, smoke, drink, or take other risks. It’s clear confirmation that young people are not naturally ready to make adult choices. Gambling is all about risk, and society has deemed it’s too risky for young individuals.
Gambling Requires Financial Responsibility
If you gamble, you’re staking something of value. In both online and offline gambling establishments, money is at stake.
And gamblers are expected to cover their losses.
Unfortunately, this is easy to do with debt. You can borrow $1000 and take it to the casino. All the casino can do is insist you put money on the table before they allow you to pay.
Online casinos can only insist you deposit funds into your account before playing.
An emancipated teenager has the right to earn a supporting income, but most teens are not emancipated. Without the ability to enter into legal contracts, they can’t even borrow money.
Ironically, even though casinos don’t care where you get your money, they need you to bring in new money every time you gamble.
They’re counting on your losses for their profits.
Having a steady income, being able to support yourself, and budgeting a reasonable amount for entertainment makes you a more desirable customer for a casino. A business that depends on financially unstable teenagers accepts greater risks than most casinos do.
Younger People Are More Susceptible to Addictive Behavior
Although science still has much to learn about how the brain develops and works, recent findings show that adolescents are more prone to addiction than adults.
An individual who grows to adulthood in a supportive, healthy environment is less likely to become an addict.
There are no guarantees in life, but requiring teens to wait before taking some risks helps them later in life.
Gambling addiction is the number 1 reason why some organizations oppose the spread of organized, legal gambling. The cost to society of treating addiction is calculable.
But that cost rises as one considers secondary issues, such as criminal behavior driven by addiction. Many crimes are committed by non-addicted people, but the connection between addiction and crime is undisputed.
Age-restrictive laws are intended to ensure that young people have a fair chance to grow to full maturity in safe environments. By holding adults accountable for how they interact with teenagers, society hopes to prevent some exploitative situations. And let’s face it: some adults are unscrupulous enough to intentionally manipulate less mature teens into bad situations.
What Is the Youngest Legal Gambling Age in the World?
It’s impossible to be sure, but this Wikipedia article lists no age restriction for a Category D gaming machine in the United Kingdom.
The same article includes a few other restrictionless forms of gambling:
- Private or non-commercial gaming and betting
- Equal chance gaming (prize gaming permitted or licensed family entertainment)
- Prize gaming at an unlicensed family entertainment centre or traveling fair
- The United Kingdom also permits 16-year-olds to gamble in:
- National lottery
- Scratch off ticket games
- Football pools
Another country enacting unusual gambling laws is Afghanistan.
They forbid all land-based gambling activities, but anyone of any age can gamble in an online system. Afghanistan may not be known for its high-speed Internet, but cell phones are widely used there. The Wikipedia article says that Tunisia may have inadvertently made gambling legal for all ages by failing to make it illegal for all ages.
The country of Malawi in southeastern Africa allows children as young as 5 to gamble in land-based casinos.
Also, the Wikipedia article may not be up-to-date, and some of the points listed above could be inconsistent with current laws in the countries named.
Why Is Gambling Illegal For Minors
Conclusion
The ancient Roman writer Tacitus wrote in his famous treatise, The Germania, that the ancient Germans of his time had a reputation for gambling:
“An amazing thing to us is that they practise gambling as the serious occupation of their sober hours; and they hazard to win or lose so recklessly that, when all he has is gone, a player will stake his personal liberty on a last and decisive throw.
If he loses he goes into voluntary slavery; and, although he may be the younger and the stronger man, he suffers himself to be bound and to be sold. They exhibit herein a most perverse obstinacy, and call it paying a debt of honour.
Successful gamblers get rid of the slaves held under this title by selling them to the merchants in order to escape their share of the shame.”
While some historians question the accuracy of Tacitus’ description, there is some universal truth to the matter. Gambling has earned a hard reputation through the centuries. Some people do lose everything. For that reason society has learned to protect its youngest members (in most countries) from taking such risks until they have grown to an age to make sound decisions.
Why Is Gambling Illegal For Minors Allowed
Life doesn’t promise we’ll always make the right decisions. That’s why we make laws to slow us down when we’re most apt to rush in where angels fear to tread.