GamCare alarms that parents are buying scratchcards for children

A new study conducted commissioned by GamCare and cited by The Guardian, a UK-based media outlet, has raised concerns that children of parents who gamble may be receiving scratchcards as gifts. The study covered 4,000 people in the United Kingdom, with 500 of those interviewed beingchildren between 14 and 15 years old.

According to the study, children of parents who are identified as problem gamblers are the most likely to receive a gift in the form of a scratchcard. Some 38% of parents who fall in this category confirmed that they had bought their children a scratch card. But even parents who are moderate gamblers or do not gamble at all may be doing the same to their children.

The percentage of non-gambling parents who bought their kids scratchcards anyway stood at 5%, a YouGov survey showed. Parents who self-identified as moderate problem gamblers bought scratchcards for their kids in 22% of the instances. Then, non-problem gamblers bought scratchcards for their kids in 8% of the cases.

GamCare’s study has clearly established a link between the intensity of gambling and how likely children are to be exposed to it. But the true problem here lies in the fact that while scratchcards themselves are not very likely to cause addiction, they are a gateway to other forms of gambling, the organization insists.

Exposing young children to gambling could have adverse and unintended consequences later in life. Who is to say that scratchcards won’t drive children to experiment with other forms of gambling products early in adulthood?

Most problem gamblers in the UK have been exposed to gambling from an early age, GamCare reminded. GamCare’s Alexa Roseblade confirmed that people who call in to seek help for addiction to scratchcards constitute a minuscule part of the general population who suffers from problem gambling disorders.

For example, only 4% of callers report begin addicted to scratch cards. But as noted before and confirmed by Roseblade in a statement to The Guardian, once children are exposed to gambling, they may approach other related products and consider them "normal." It’s this normalization that invites pitfalls for children and young adults Roseblade believes.

Meanwhile, teenagers interviewed by GamCare said that they had played scratchcards (27%) with family and friends, pointing to a trend whereby adults do not understand that scratchcards could be harmful exposure to gambling that leads to problem gambling later in life.

Meanwhile, the debate on whether loot boxes should be regulated under gambling laws in the United Kingdom continues. GambleAware has already called for their regulation.

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