FACTS

This photo was taken at the 2007, the Volunteer Fire Company carnival in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The slots machines were on a trailer brought in for the occasion.
(Photo altered to protect child's identity)

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According to the Oregon State Department of Human Services, one in ten teens is at risk
for developing a gambling problem. And one in every 25 is a problem gambler. (7/1/07 - Oregon teens at risk from gambling)

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A 1998 Oregon State Lottery study found that 19% of Oregon youths had gambled in a casino, with 12 percent having done so in the past year. The study, which was paid for by the Oregon State Lottery and the Spirit Mountain Casino, identified four percent of the state’s adolescents - about 13,000 - as problem gamblers. Another 11 percent showed signs of being compulsive gamblers. (Casinos in Alabama, Alabama Policy Institute, 2004)

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Like tobacco companies and drug dealers, casinos are looking to the future -
creating their next generation of addicts.

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Casino's Effect on Children

• Adolescent gambling was found to differ strongly from that of adults
• Given these differences between the gambling experiences of adults versus youth, the use of traditional problem gambling screens are likely inappropriate for assessing gambling impacts for youth and will be irrelevant for youth in self-evaluating (i.e., self-reporting) their gambling involvement
• Many of the differences observed directly contribute to reduced rates of gambling problems among adolescents (i.e., act as protective factors) while harms and risk factors unique to adolescents may not be detected by adult screens modified for use with youth
• Adolescent gambling harm and risk was also found to be associated with involvement in commercial gaming activities that specifically target children’s involvement in gambling for prizes, points or prestige and can be seen as training youth for adult gambling (e.g., arcade gaming machine, online gambling for points, gambling toys) (2008 Nova Scotia Adolescent Gambling Exploratory Research)
  

• Research indicates that 60-90 percent of youth engage in gambling, and that youth problem gambling rates are 2-4 times higher than those of adults. Surveys of Oregon teens tell us drugs, alcohol and gambling often travel together, yet many parents see gambling as a relatively safe pastime and encourage it as an alternative activity. (Danger of gambling gifts for kids, 11/20/06, Jeff Marotta, Oregon Department of Human Services Addictions and Mental Health Division)
  
  
• The 2006 report by the California Attorney General's office concludes an alarming number of problem gamblers, nearly half, are youths. (Gambling in the Golden State, 2006)
  
  
• Gambling "camp" for kids 10 to 18 - "Targeting kids as young as 10 years old, I think is reprehensible, and our government is certainly opposed to minors being targeted this way." "They want to come in here and get kids involved in poker. I think their objective is clear, they just want to raise customers for tomorrow.'' First we allow our kids to be exposed to various abuses, and then we scream for justice when some pervert takes advantage of their vulnerability. Now we have a gaming business using deceptive techniques based on educational concepts wishing to turn young, innocent members of society into gamblers.
  Shame on Nevada North, and shame on us if we sit back and do nothing about it. (Kids' Poker Tour, 5/23/06) Solicitor General John Les has amended B.C.'s gaming regulations, targeting businesses that teach children how to gamble. "There is some evidence based on research that kids who are taught how to gamble at an early age have a greater likelihood of developing gambling addictions later in life," said the solicitor general. (Gambling not for kids, BC government, 6/27/06
  
  
• "They're taking money from their kids' college funds. I've seen cases of parents breaking into their kids' piggy banks so they can gamble." Renee Wert, gambling addiction counselor (Hidden costs of gambling, 4/17/06)
  
  
• "He was an A student, talking about going to M.I.T.," the mother said. "He was playing online in free tournaments and won enough to be given credit. Now he won't go out with his friends, won't do his schoolwork. He says, 'What do I need to learn chemistry for when I want to be a poker player?' " Parents of those 13-year-olds now being conditioned to think that a good hand is as cool as a gold glove, are you listening? (11/4/05 - Fold 'em before poker can hold 'em)
  
  
• If anything sealed the fate of video poker in South Carolina, it was the sad tale of Joy Baker, a 10-day-old baby who suffocated in a car while her mother played the machines at a roadside casino in August of 1997. "Precious little Joy is dead because her mom is addicted to video poker," read the newspaper ad from the Palmetto Family Council.... (link to full article, June 2005)
  
  
• "5% of the younger gambling group report gambling problems, compared with 2% to 3% of adult gamblers. There is an enormous amount of undocumented student gambling -- and with $3,000 to $4,000 limits on credit cards, most gambling problems go undetected, says Sheldon Steinbach, spokesman for the American Council on Education." ("The Senior Trip to the Strip" - To Lure College Kids, Casinos Try Bikini Bars, Card Tips, Wall Street Journal, 4/8/05, page W4)
  
  
• Too many new casino employees plus too few rental properties equals budget problems for some area schools. As reported this week, one Norwich school now has 36 percent of its students with a parent employed at the casino, while 25 percent of the students don't speak English as a primary language and 71 percent of the students require free or reduced meals. At so many levels, children pay a bitter price when casinos flourish. While teachers and education officials scrounge to provide essential services, the problem will get worse. (2/13/05 - Jeff Benedict, The Day - The Region's Gambling Addiction: More, More, More ...)
  
  
• Age of onset may be decreasing in Oregon.  Younger respondents (13 and 14 years old) were significantly more likely to report gambling in grade school than older respondents (15 to 17 years old).  In addition, respondents who reported gambling in grade school were significantly more likely to be problem gamblers. (Adolescent Gambling in Oregon, 1998)
  
  
• Oregon - “The Siuslaw Area Women’s Center has indicated that they project a possible
  50% increase in incidences of domestic violence and child abuse will occur as an indirect result of the gaming establishment in Florence.” (City of Florence, Oregon, Letter to Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1/17/96)
  
  
• New Mexico - As executive director of Española public housing, Leroy Salazar sees the underbelly of gambling. "I deal with that all the time," Salazar said. "It's sad when I have to go and evict a family because ... the single parent who lives in the home has spent all the family income at the casino and they don't have any food and they can't pay their utilities, much less their rent. "It's kind of hard for me to go home and sleep at night when I know there are young children who don't have a place to sleep." He doesn't blame solely Indian gaming, "but more Indian gaming than anything else. Ever since it became as open as it is, and as legal as it is, it has created a big epidemic among the lower-income families I deal with." (1/7/05, Albuquerque Journal, Dark Side of Gambling)
  
  
• Take a look at the statistics of a study conducted by the Oregon Gambling Addiction Treatment Foundation (Carlson & Moore, 1998), which studied adolescents 13-17 years old throughout the state: (Lane County, Oregon - Problem Gambling Prevention)
  
  
• Local gambling operations also target and trap young people with such tactics as cartoon-character-themed machines aimed at children. As many as 1.1 million adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 are pathological gamblers - a far higher percentage than adults. Families and children often frequent neighborhood gambling establishments where adults play slot machines with their children seated immediately behind them. (Gambling Exacts High Cost on Kids, 2002)
  
  
• It's often called an "invisible addiction," but for a rising number of students, gambling is proving as addictive and destructive as crack cocaine. (Getting high on gambling, 10/23/97)
  
  
• * Seventy-five percent of teens reported having gambled (4% reported gambling every day)
  * One in ten teens is an "at-risk" gambler (he or she may be moving toward problem gambling)
  * One in every 25 Oregon teens is a problem/pathological gamble
  * Almost 1/3 of teens have played the Oregon Lottery within the last year (minimum legal age to participate is 18 years old)
  * The rates of problem gambling among youth are 2-4 times higher than the rates for adult gambling (Carlson & Moore, 1998; Gupta & Derevensky, 1998a; Shaffer & Hall, 1996), and Oregon youth are gambling at a younger age than in the past
  * Youth can hide gambling problems well - there aren’t outward, notable physical signs (e.g., smell on the breath, needle marks)
  * Many pathological gamblers report having started gambling at an early age-approximately age 10 (Gupta & Derevensky, 2001; Gupta & Derevensky, 1998a; Gupta & Derevensky, 1997; Wynne, Smith, & Jacobs, 1996)
  

Casinos Cash In With Child Care

• With computer games, basketball court, children's cafe, movies and cribs for infants as young as 6 weeks, children can stay as late as 2 a.m. on weekends and 11 p.m. on school nights while their parents play. While providing a fun and safe environment for children, Kids Quest centers, which are located in 20 casinos nationwide, are in fact bottom-line enterprises, intended to attract high-rolling parents, increase casino profits — and create the next generation of gamblers.

• Effects of Casino on Children
  
• Adolescent Gambling Research (Nova Scotia)
• Adolescent Gambling in Oregon: A report to the Oregon Gambling
• Addiction Treatment Foundation
  
• Casinos Cash in With Child Care
  
• Common Types of Gambling Among Teens
  
• Teen Gambling Brochure (PDF) Lane County, Oregon:
  
• Gambling Addiction - Children at Risk Casino Watch
• Youth and Gambling Ontario Ministry of Health, Canada