Making Decisions about Gambling: The Influence of Risk on Children's Arguments

A Social Problem: The Risks Associated to GamblingGambling activities are part of the popular cultures in many societies (Korn & Shaffer, 1999). Gambling activities are activities where the outcome is mainly or totally based on chance and where there is an irreversible stake of money, object or action (Arseneault, Ladouceur, & Vitaro, 2001; Chevalier, Deguire, Gupta, & Deverensky, 2003). It is impossible to control or predict with certainty the outcome of the activity, even if some skills might be used in the activity. For instance, it is possible to make qualitative estimation of the chance of having the winning hands when playing poker. With the development of communication technologies, online gambling activities are now known worldwide, driven by the success of televised poker tournaments, online casinos and interactive lotteries (Chevalier & Allard, 2001). Risks involved in gambling activities are more offen than not related to losing money. Gamblers lose money and then want to participate more to win their money back. This well-known phenomenon is referred to by psychologists is called "chasing losses". For some people, these particular activities can create a certain addiction that is sometimes hard to get out of and these addictions can have negative consequences on them and their surroundings (Ladouceur, 2000).Some countries like Canada do not allow minors to gamble (Campbell, Derevensky, Meerkamper, & Cutajar, 2011; Chevalier & Allard, 2001). However, it seems that children do play these games (Campbell et al., 2011). In fact, children start participating in gambling games before the age of 12 (Griffiths & Wood, 2000; Gupta & Derevensky, 1998a; Ladouceur, Dube, & Bujold, 1994; Tremblay, Huffman, & Drabman, 1998; Wynne, Smith, & Jacobs, 1996). According to an important study conducted by Ladouceur, Dube and Bujold (1994) with 1,320 elementary students from ages 8 to 12 living in the Quebec region, 86 % of the students had already won money and 37 % of them had even offered up one of their important possessions in a game. Some of these students had even won big amounts for their age, and more than 40% played gambling games at least once a week. Amongst these students, lottery-type games were the most popular, followed by bingo, card games, sports bets, specific event bets, video poker and finally slot machines. Works from Felsher et al. (2004) on the topic of lotteries reveal that the average age of children that play instant scratch games is 10 years old, 11 years old for lottery draws and 12 years old for sports lotteries. Not taking into consideration their degree of implication in those activities, sports lotteries is the most popular amongst children of all ages (Felsher, Derevensky, & Gupta, 2003). Lotteries form the first introduction to gambling games. Since the risks associated to lotteries are perceived by the general population to be negligible and that children do not seem themselves as vulnerable towards them, the popularity of lotteries remains very strong. Additionally, the promotion and positive publicity of these types of games seems to entice more people to engage in these games.Gupta and Derevensky (1998b) argue that the status of the "social player" among teenagers, quickly becomes problematic player. According to the researchers, young people tend to develop a growing interest in these activities, which has the effect of increasing their participation and also the stakes. Unlike other types of addiction like smoking, alcohol or illicit substances, it is difficult to identify problem gambling among adolescents, because the manifestations of this addiction are not apparent (Lesieur & Klein, 1987). It is still possible to assess the degree of participation in these games by observing the adoption of high-risk behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, smoking or drugs (Proimos, DuRant, Dwyer Pierce, & Goodman, 1998). The more a teenager plays, the more likely (s)he is to manifest these behaviours. …