Gambling Isn’t Child’s Play

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Gambling Isn’t Child’s Play


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While all of us in the industry agree that no one under the age of majority should be gambling, the fact is it’s happening and it’s on the rise. No parent expects his or her child to start gambling online, let alone become a gambling addict. Yet the truth is that you don’t have to look far to find examples of kids as young as 11 stealing credit cards to gamble online. There’s even a professor at McGill University in Montreal who treats kids for gambling addiction. He has many anecdotes that painfully illustrate how deeply hooked children can get gambling online, including an encounter with a teenager who came to his office for an appointment. When the professor commented on the baseball hat that the teen had on – it was from an online poker website – the teen replied: “If you lose $10,000 then they’ll send you one, too”.

And since today’s kids live online, that’s a key area of concern. Internet gambling is a global, multi-billion dollar industry that continues to grow at a rapid pace. Ten years ago there were only 250 online gambling websites; today there are more than 2,500. And most of these Internet gambling sites are illegal and unregulated in Canada and lack controls to limit access or respect age restrictions – which presents a serious risk to young Internet users, 87% of whom are unsupervised when they go online. In fact, in Nova Scotia, researchers found that teens were gambling online three times as often as adults.

And as the line between online gaming and online gambling becomes increasingly blurred, it is vital that children know the difference and are only allowed access to legitimate and appropriate gaming sites.

As a result of all this, the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSGC) decided to get involved. A recognized world leader in responsible gambling with more than a dozen innovative programs, NSGC decided to develop a solution to make a real difference in preventing youth gambling. After a provincial pilot project, in late 2008 NSGC and InternetSafety.com partnered to create SafetyCheck™ software, which was successfully launched within Nova Scotia in 2009 (under the name BetStopper).

Using award-winning web filtering technology from InternetSafety.com, SafetyCheck™ is the first dedicated online gambling blocking software to protect kids from accessing online gambling sites.

“We found that the multi-purpose filtering software available on the market wasn’t effective at blocking gambling websites so we knew we had to create a dedicated solution to help parents keep their kids safe online,” said Marie Mullally, President and CEO of NSGC.

The software is easy to use and is available free of charge to residents of Nova Scotia through a simple download. Parents and guardians can add up to 10 unique users within their household on up to five computers. This allows them to block underage users and give adults full access. When SafetyCheck™ blocks a website it is done because the site has been categorized as “gambling”. Parents can also choose to get instant alerts by phone or email if their child attempts to visit a gambling website.

Making the investment in SafetyCheck™ was an easy choice for NSGC. “Kids shouldn’t gamble, ever,” said Mullally. “Research shows that the younger someone starts to gamble the higher their risk of developing problems later in life. This is about doing everything we can to help parents prevent problems before they start.”

“We can’t pretend that kids aren’t gambling online,” added Mullally. “The potential risks of ignoring this issue extend well beyond negative media attention or a hit to an organization’s reputation. For families, the consequences of inaction can be devastating. So as an industry, investing in this type of programming is, quite simply, the right thing to do.”

The next step for NSGC and SafetyCheck™ is to promote the product to other international jurisdictions. As crown agencies and gaming organizations develop their online gaming plans, it will be important to provide evidence of leadership and good corporate social responsibility, especially when it comes to youth prevention. The SafetyCheck™ system can play a vital role in helping to protect children in Canada and around the world by empowering parents and caregivers to make informed choices in their own homes to keep their kids safe.

By Margaret McGee