This story is syndicated from Scot Scoop News, the newspaper of Carlmont High School in Belmont, CA. The original version of the story ran here.
Students’ names have been changed to preserve anonymity.
The clinking of chips against felt, the spinning of slot machines and now the ring of a DraftKings notification — the sounds of gambling are changing, and the gamblers there to hear them now, perhaps more than ever, include minors.
Due to the rising popularity of sports betting apps — state-sanctioned as of 2018 — online betting is more accessible than ever. According to the Associated Press, just since the landmark Supreme Court decision that allowed for states to manage and profit from sports betting, Americans have bet over $220 billion through legal sports betting websites, including FanDuels, DraftKings and BetMGM.
All it takes for a minor to participate is a phone and an ID. One in six parents report that they probably wouldn’t know if their teenage kids were gambling online, according to a 2024 national survey by the University of Michigan.
In 2022, the National Council on Problem Gambling found that approximately 60% of high-school-aged adolescents reported having gambled for money in the last year, and about 10-14% of adolescents are at risk of developing a problem with gambling.
According to the NCPG, the risk of problematic, addictive gambling is higher in adolescents when betting is conducted online.
“I started betting when I was 17,” said Taylor, a freshman at the University of Oregon. “I like to put ‘PrizePicks’ parlays on basketball and football; it’s kind of like a weekly routine.”
Experts are seeing an increasing number of specifically young men participating in online sports betting. According to a poll conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University, 26% of men under the age of 45 sports bet online, compared to just 10% when including the rest of the population.
It is important to remember that figures related to underage gambling polls can be underestimations. Even though many of these polls are anonymous, students may be deterred from admitting to illegal activity. According to researchers at McGill University, lying about gambling volume and frequency is one of the symptoms of problematic gambling and has an impact on the accuracy of data in this field.
The secrecy and taboo associated with gambling in American society are part of the reason why preventing problem gambling in adolescents is so difficult.
“My mom didn’t know that I was betting until I told her, about a year after I started,” Taylor said.
Online advertisements for gambling platforms work to potentially rope new audiences into their games. According to the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, over 69% of individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 see over four gambling ads per week.
But gambling has long had roots in Americans’ social lives off the phone, too. Youth in the United States don’t have access to gambling in casinos. In all 50 states, those under 18 aren’t able to gamble in-person under any circumstance, and the vast majority have a minimum age of 21. As a result, many students who seek the rush that gambling may provide opt to play at home with friends and family.
“I get a rush whenever I win a hand,” said Ryan, a high schooler in California. “The win is so much better when it’s against someone who’s been talking trash all night.”
Many students start with small games, but some groups increase the stakes of their game to keep it interesting. According to the Mayo Clinic, big losses may make compulsive gamblers feel they must recover their money, causing them to bet more and risk increasingly larger sums.
Gambling can provide a fun social activity to connect with friends over a shared hobby. However, it can quickly become dangerous if not kept in check.
“When a student starts hiding their gambling habits and betting more money than they should, that’s when we see that it’s become a problem,” said Jessica Sierra, a youth educator specialist at El Centro de Libertad, an addiction treatment center in Redwood City.
Teens are at high risk for developing problematic gambling tendencies. The prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that controls decision-making, isn’t fully developed until age 25. Maintaining healthy gambling tendencies is extremely dependent on sound decision-making, as not knowing when to stop and acting recklessly with money can quickly spiral into real gambling problems.
“Gambling doesn’t seem like a real addiction to many students,” Sierra said. “They don’t see it in the same way as alcohol and drugs, but it can absolutely be as bad.”
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a helpline for those who have trouble with addiction and mental health that operates 24/7. This helpline provides information to individuals experiencing addiction and their families and is 100% free and confidential.