Youth and online gambling

Youth and online gambling

Online gambling is illegal for minors. Yet 1 in 15 secondary school students gambles online for money. This is according to the School Monitor 2023 by the Trimbos Institute: a recurring survey on substance use, digital behaviour and mental health in primary and secondary schools (10-16 years old). Read the whole article on the Trimbos Institute website here.

Source: current news Trimbos Institute (1 July 2024).

Before the internet existed

Before the internet existed, to gamble legally you had to go to quite a bit of trouble. You had to go to a casino, arcade or snack bar. Or any other place that had a slot machine. You had to prove you were over 18. The place where you went to gamble had limited opening hours. As a result, you could not gamble 24 hours a day. There was also more social control: staff and other gamblers easily noticed if you gambled (too much).

Easy online gambling

Since the advent of the internet and the smartphone, it is very easy to gamble online. It can be done anytime and anywhere there is internet. It's so easy that sometimes it doesn't even feel like gambling. Once you create an account, the ability to gamble is in your pocket. You can gamble anytime and almost anywhere. Making a bet on a football match - after you create an account - is done within seconds. You're also sitting at a virtual poker table with players all over the world in no time. Or you can sit directly behind a virtual slot machine. This is very easy, even though online gambling is still illegal in the Netherlands.

Extra risks for young people

Being able to gamble anytime and (almost) anywhere has advantages, but also risks. Especially for young people. They are less able to see the consequences of their behaviour than adults. For instance, apps that allow you to bet on sports results can sometimes be seen as harmless games. But this is not so; you can lose real money. Betting on sports matches is just as much gambling as playing roulette or gambling on a slot machine. And also has risks that come with gambling. For instance, you can more easily spend more on gambling online than you wanted to beforehand. Debts can arise as a result. And you can lose control of it. You can also become addicted to it. Young people are also more sensitive to peer pressure: it is important to belong to a certain group. If your friends bet on a particular game, you are tempted to join.

Young people are more at risk of gambling addiction if they gamble than adults. That is why it is forbidden to broadcast gambling advertisements targeting young people. And there is a minimum age to enter casinos and gambling halls. The fact that you can gamble so easily on gambling apps and gambling websites does not protect them. They can easily bypass the minimum age.

Gambling elements in games

Another way in which gambling is becoming easier and more normal for young people is gaming. For many young people, especially boys, playing computer games is a popular hobby. More and more games are incorporating gambling elements, such as loot boxes. Young people can thus get used to gambling in many ways without being aware of it.

In some games, you can even actually gamble. EA Sports was fined by the gaming authority in 2020 for building gambling into the game FIFA. The Packs for the Ultimate Team in several FIFA games is a gambling game, according to the Ksa and the court. You can use real money to buy a virtual pack of footballers (stakes). When you buy a pack of cards, you do not know which cards you will get (odds). The cards of footballers you can win in the game (prize) can be worth real money. You can buy and sell those virtual cards for real money. So you can bet, win and lose money this way. EA Sports does not have a licence to offer gambling games in the Netherlands. For this reason, they have been fined.