Teachers are coming to us more and more seeking support to talk about gambling. That’s a good thing. It’s in part due to gambling being included in the new PSHE curriculum introduced last year. But there are other reasons too.
In 2019, the Gambling Commission estimated that as many as 350,000 11-to-16-year-olds were spending their own money on gambling each week, that 55,000 young people in that bracket were experiencing social or emotional difficulties due to their gambling, and that a further 87,000 were ‘at risk’ of doing so.
Britain is home to one of the largest online gambling markets in the world and is one of the only jurisdictions where some forms of gambling can be legally participated in by those under the age of 18. So while most regulated gambling products such as the National Lottery, online gambling and sports betting are restricted to over 18s, it would be naïve to think young people are unfamiliar with gambling prior to entering legal adulthood. Therefore, it is more important than ever that we work together to safeguard our future generations from potential gambling harms.
