Michael McGuire: Kids are being conned into gambling online

Australian children are exposed to a relentless barrage of gambling advertising on television and social media, but there are dangers lurking in unexpected places too, writes Michael McGuire.

Just before Christmas the UK Gambling Commission put out yet another report highlighting the danger that unfettered access to punting is having on all levels of the community.

But this one was about children.

It found the number of child problem gamblers had quadrupled in two years to more than 50,000. The report also said 70,000 kids were at risk and 450,000 children bet regularly.

Numbers are less precise in Australia, but given we are the biggest gamblers in the world, it’s not hard to imagine the extent of the problem. One 2017 study estimated 40 per cent of kids had gambled. A researcher at Melbourne’s Deakin University predicted three children in every classroom would become a problem gambler.

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Kids are now exposed to promotion of gambling through TV and social media. Picture: iStock

There have always been problem gamblers. Of course there have. The issue now is how insidious the promotion and marketing of gambling has become and how normal it all is.

Like the kids in the UK, Australian children are exposed to a relentless barrage of gambling advertising on television and social media. It’s impossible to watch sport without being pestered by all sorts of different inducements to have a punt.

Even though gambling ads are banned during live sport, they still feel ubiquitous. And they make it sound so easy. That if you lose you must be an imbecile. Promotions such as free first bets or guarantees that if your team is winning at half time then you can collect make it sound like these companies are distributing free money. Makes you wonder how Australians managed to lose $24 billion while punting in the 2016-17 financial year.

It’s not just sports betting that is the danger for children.

One in 10 children aged 8-9 have a smartphone, with the number jumping to nine in 10 for the 14-17 age group. Many of them play games on the phone, some of which have features which are close to gambling.

The massively popular game Fortnite has Loot boxes that could encourage gambling in children. The maker of the game has now vowed to let players see what’s in the boxes. Picture: Frederic J. Brown/AFP

A study released last year by Daniel King from the school of psychology at Adelaide Uni warned of the dangers of online gaming and features such “loot boxes’’ within games where a player forks out money not knowing what’s inside.

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“A 2018 review of 22 popular video games available in Australia found that six games met the criteria for gambling and players could cash out winnings for real money,’’ King wrote.

Loot boxes have been a feature of the massively popular Fortnite game, but maker Epic Games said yesterday it would now let players see what was in the boxes.

Which seems like a good start if we want to avoid conning generations of children that gambling is a risk-free, harmless proposition.

Michael McGuire is a journalist for The Adelaide Advertiser.

@mcguiremi