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A ‘gambling activity’ is defined by legislation which varies across jurisdictions but tends to refer principally to the concepts of the consideration, prize, and chance. Specifically, gambling involves the act of staking something of value, usually a monetary sum, upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under the person’s control or influence, with an agreement or understanding that the person or someone else will receive a monetary sum or something of value in the event of a certain outcome.
Spending money on virtual goods in video games, including on gambling-like content, is becoming commonplace. 2017 data show that 34% of the young people made in-game purchases in the past 12-month period while playing online games. A survey revealed that monthly use of internet gambling sites among college-age males shot up from 4.4% in 2008 to 16.0% in 2010. In spite of the sharp increase in participants, their frequency of use did not increase, remaining at about 3% on a weekly basis. Projected on a national basis, more than 400,000 male youth in the college age range (18 to 22) gamble for money at least once a week on the Internet, and over 1.7 million do so at least once a month.
The researchers noted that high school-aged males showed only a small and statistically insignificant increase in monthly use of Internet gambling sites between 2008 and 2010 (from 2.7% to 6.2%), but this still represents over 530,000 high school- aged male students visiting gambling sites per month.
Among high school females, the study found that females continue to gamble less than males, but the latest survey shows a sharp rise in some types of offline gambling, primarily related to sports. While only 9.5% of high school girls reported engaging in sports betting on a monthly basis in 2008, fully 22% reported doing so in 2010.Given the ease of access and the allure that online gambling (and real world gambling) has on teens and college-age students, it is critical that youth (particularly males) and parents understand and discuss the risks to minors surrounding this activity. It is mostly difficult to diagnose any problem while someone actually seems to be a playing video games online hence diagnosis at times can be difficult and hence the treatment. The best way to tackle this issue is to consult a Psychologist or an experienced mental health professional which will help teens recover and protect them from the Addiction of Online gambling which is becoming common nowadays.
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