Matt McTamney '25
To protect the anonymity of our sources, all names have been changed.
“I remember a time in school, I played slots and hit the jackpot for $6,000 dollars. I was ecstatic and felt like my life was complete. I then went to the car to be by myself for a while. For some reason, I convinced myself I’d cash $5,000 and use the rest of the house money to multiply it. Well, I lost the first thousand and didn’t feel much. So I thought, ‘oh maybe I should cancel my withdrawal and only spend two and a half thousand.’ Well, I lost everything on blackjack and felt my heart drop to my stomach. I left school early and felt sick for a couple of weeks after,” said senior Kenny Reynolds.
Reynolds drove home in silence and then confessed to his mom what he had lost. She was devastated. His family was going through hard times, and the $6,000 could have been useful. He described the world during that time as “gray and lacking color.” His mom realized that he had an actual problem and decided to put him in an anonymous online program for recovering gambling addicts. At first, he thought it wouldn’t work, but after the third meeting, he realized he wasn’t thinking about gambling constantly anymore.
Out of the 66 students who replied to a schoolwide survey about gambling use, 53% were men, 39% were women, and 8% identified as nonbinary. 22 of these students were freshmen, 17 were seniors, 15 were sophomores, and 12 were juniors. Over 56% of students did not have an online gambling app installed on their iphone; however, 37% of students claimed that they gamble daily, which was greater than the percentage of students that claimed to gamble weekly or spontaneously. Some students claimed that they lost thousands of dollars on just one game, but the average amount of money that students have ever lost in just one game is $100. On the other hand, only two students claimed that they won over $1000 in just one hand, with most students submitting numbers less than $500.
For many teenagers, the path to gambling begins at home or through friends. Many students use the information of their older family and friends to sign up for accounts.
“It was actually kind of easy. I remember one of my homies was talking about it in school, but also I knew that my uncle was already a gambler himself a little, so I just asked him ‘Yo, if I send you the money, can I put a couple of tickets in?’ My uncle is a big gambler so he let me use his account once and I fell in love with it. He let me use his information to make an account on Fanduel, and I have been on there ever since,” shared junior Tom Bayer. Sophomore Andy Williams accessed gambling the same way. “I convinced my mom that I would be safe and smart when gambling, and she allowed me to sign up using her information. It’s that easy,” said Williams. Junior Brian Stead described how his older brother introduced him to sports betting. “I guess around last year around this time my older brother came back from college and started to talk about sports betting with me and my other brother,” Stead said.
Stead explained the thrill that betting provides, stating that the excitement of a potential win keeps him engaged. “Some sort of excitement, like that feeling that you’re about to hit, or when you put in a ticket, it’s like, ‘dang, I’m about to get money.’ But when you lose, it’s a ‘dang, I wish I would have picked the other pick I was thinking of,’” he said.
The ease of access and widespread betting app promotion make gambling highly attractive to young people. Social media plays a significant role in this exposure, with sponsored advertisements and celebrity endorsements drawing in new users. These promotions lead to young people wanting to start gambling, and they gain that attraction to it.
“One of the bigger ones is like, you could be on Instagram just scrolling, and there’s a sponsored story for DraftKings, or FanDuel, or whatever app, promoting their first-time offer, and they give you $200 in bonus bets. They often do that to try to draw new people in,” said Bayer.
In many cases, celebrities and athletes are used as an outlet to promote gambling and bring more people into the fold. “Another approach they use would be celebrities. Apps would post LeBron picks for the next game, and if you are a LeBron fan like me, I’m probably gonna put LeBron picks in just because he’s my favorite player,” said Bayer.
What are people betting on at such a young age, you ask?
Due to the variety of statistics basketball players have and the many different player props, many people bet on basketball. According to Statista, the most popular sports to bet on in the US are football and basketball.
Casino-style games offer easy access to gambling, whether online or in person with friends. Senior Michael Jones said, “Blackjack is definitely the most addicting game to keep playing, winning or losing. It is very easy to get anxious and too confident playing it because you are always betting on the next card or hand to be the winner.”
Online casinos are set up to get you addicted and spend as much money as possible, with easy deposits, slow withdrawals, and fast-paced play.
Jones, when asked if he has ever gone to the casino, said, “In Atlantic City, I did a little bit of gambling … My uncle was at the table playing for me, and I was just telling him what to do with my money.” When asked if he thought gambling on his phone or in-person was more addictive, he said that online gambling “gives him the feeling he can hit big,” whereas in-person gambling is just for fun. He ended the interview stating, “Vegas always wins.”
“I’d rather play poker with my buddies on a Friday night than be addicted to tapping on a screen waiting for a big jackpot. That just doesn’t seem as fun to me.”
Johnny Wilder, a sophomore, reported that the rush of gambling on his phone was better than the rush of betting in-person because “you can gamble on your phone whenever you want and on whatever you want” and “the money can multiply so fast on your phone it’s almost dangerous.” Junior Bryan Smith said that “The money also feels less real when you’re playing on your phone, so you’re not as worried about losing it as you are when you can see your cash disappearing.”
Some are less worried about making a lot of money and play more for fun. Another anonymous senior said, “I just bet on games with my friends, nothing big. 20 bucks here, 15 there like once a week.” But that feeling is often how addiction starts for teens and can lead to more serious problems.
A lot of kids stick to gambling in person, which seems to help them not gamble as much. Junior Michael James said, “I’d rather play poker with my buddies on a Friday night than be addicted to tapping on a screen waiting for a big jackpot. That just doesn’t seem as fun to me.”
There are ways to help teenagers who struggle with a gambling addiction overcome and cope with their challenges. Therapy, exclusion programs, support groups, and fully refusing to continue to gamble, known as cold turkey, are great ways to start the process. Significantly, teenagers can build a support system of family and friends that can guide them through this renewal process and show them care and encouragement to do better.
Instead of gambling, teenagers can create new and healthier coping activities such as physical activity, new hobbies, and less screen time, which would help them redirect themselves on the right path away from the gambling world.
In very few cases, it’s seen that someone steps away from gambling of their own will. Usually, people will walk away from gambling because someone else notices their addiction or financial instability.
Junior Will Johnson, who recently stepped away from the game, talked about the process and steps he made to do so. “With the consistency of losing and the feeling you get, you kind of get tired of it. Sometimes, you lose that interest. You get a lot of interest from the start of it when you first start winning and finally see how you feel; it kind of fuels that drive, but you lose it as time goes on.”
Distracting yourself and shifting your attention to another activity is a very popular strategy. The more you disengage yourself from the apps and desire to gamble, the easier it will be to fully terminate the addiction.
“Doing things outside of gambling took my mind off of it and made it easier to forget. As I do more things, such as helping my mom out with certain things around the house or going outside and being active. I think I kind of forget about it a little bit, you know, kind of lose interest in it,” Johnson said.
Although it may seem easy to give up gambling, it’s even easier to relapse back into an addiction. A great way to prevent relapse is similar to getting away from the addiction. It’s recommended that you have a strong support group around you. Whether it’s people in a similar situation as you or family and friends who want to see a better and healthier version of yourself. By doing this, not only are you watching yourself from relapsing, but now you have other eyes to allow you to stop your addiction and or the possibility of relapsing.
“I was extremely close to relapsing; one day after school, I almost gave in, but then I remembered all the things that I had done to get to this point, along with all the people who were rooting for me,” said the senior Hank Thomspon. “Instead of returning to my old way, I fought the temptation.” Rather than giving in and returning to old habits, reflecting on how far you’ve come from your old ways is better. Understanding that falling back into old patterns and regressing from previous progress will result in a relapse into addiction.
As an SCH community, let’s come together to fight online gambling habits.