Study warns of gambling among British children
Posted by Chloe Flint on 31 Jul 2009 at 10:07
Around a fifth of British schoolchildren are gambling illegally, according to a study.
The Daily Mail reports research co-compiled by the University of Salford's Centre for the Study of Gambling looked at almost 9,000 children from 2008 to 2009.
The study discovered about 21 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds were gambling. Over 52,000 in that age group, the equivalent of two per cent, are becoming addicted.
Questions could now be raised about the government's decision to relax gaming laws in 2007, the Daily Mail added.
Analysts have said children could become hooked due to a number of betting adverts seen on British television.
According to the study over 525,000 children from 12 to 15 had gambled in the week before they were polled.
Also, about four per cent of underage children said they had bought scratch cards.
The research was commissioned by the National Lottery Commission.
Another recent survey by the Gambling Commission showed that more than 30 per cent of gaming websites permitted underage players to bet.
This appears to go against rules brought in by the gambling act in 2007 same firms must make stringent checks to stop the underage getting hooked on games.
Quoted by the paper, Dr Emanuel Moran, an adviser on gambling to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "One fifth of children are gambling, which is what the legislation was supposed to prevent."
