Problem Gambling Affects Youth

State officials in Iowa are setting their sights on teenage gambling. In the final two months of 2008 a the Iowa Gambling Treatment Program issued a survey examining teens at risk for problem gambling.

Though the results are not yet available, Program Coordinator Mark Vander Linder suggests that today's youth are, indeed, incredibly susceptible to developing gambling addiction.

Previous surveys have concluded that as high as 10% of teenagers are "problem" gamblers. This is a shocking number, due in part to the fact that it is significantly higher than the number of adult "problem" gamblers. Many adults addicted to gambling claim that their habit began when they were teens. Although gambling is only legal for those over the age of 21, teenagers are gambling with as much frequency as adults.

Says Vander Linder; "By and large, what we're seeing is it's either online poker or Texas Hold 'Em in parents' basements. You're seeing, and this is anecdotal...but you're seeing craps during school." State officials are trying to devise ways to get schools to start talking with students about the dangers of gambling.