Gambling Among Young People, 837 kB

people increased during the 1980s and 1990s. The gambling habits of young people in Sweden have
only been studied from 2000 onwards and during this period gambling has neither increased nor
decreased. Studies also indicate that young people play the games that they have access to regardless
of whether they are allowed to do so or not.
The chance of winning and the risk of losing money are important motivators for children and
young people when they decide whether to gamble or not. Gambling is, however, also seen as an exciting
and fun activity, a form of entertainment and a way to while away the time. It is usually parents
who introduce their children to gambling and children often gamble together with their families and
then when they are older they gamble with their friends. For some young people gambling is a way to
escape problems and worries, a way of thinking about other things or keeping worrying or unpleasant
thoughts at bay.
Many children and young people have trouble understanding concepts like chance, fate, luck, probability,
chance of winning and size of winnings, concepts you need to be able to distinguish if you
are going to grasp the underlying terms of gambling. Gambling appeals to magical thoughts; most
have at some time or other said to themselves that “if I just look at the dice, I’ll get a six” or something
similar. It is natural for younger children to think that they are able to influence occurrences and
events outside of their control. Children can therefore be regarded as vulnerable consumers when
it comes to gambling, not least because most of the children growing up today are used to TV and
computer games which they can practise on and become good at, and which might make them think
that this also applies to gambling.
The motivation to gamble may increase depending on certain aspects in the design of the games.
These aspects are ones which to a large extent can be associated with magical thoughts in games, the
illusion of control over the game or the gambler being able to win thanks to his/her skill.
The gambling habits of boys and girls differ in a number of ways; boys gamble at a younger age,
more often, for longer periods of time and for with higher stakes than girls. They also tend to go for
riskier games compared to girls.