Online gambling youth increase

Parents must be strictly guarded

The British government will set up a number of clinics to help young people who are addicted to online gambling. The forms of online gambling have become more diversified, and there have been signs of deterioration in Hong Kong in recent years. Parents should pay attention to the mental health of their children to prevent them from falling into the sea of ​​gambling.

Gambling suicide risk is 15 times higher than normal

According to statistics from the British Gambling Commission, there are about 55,000 children between the ages of 11 and 16 in the country who are addicted to online gambling, and 450,000 more often participate in gambling, more than children who use drugs, smoke or drink alcohol. The local Ministry of Health is now planning to set up 14 National Problem Gambling Clinics in England to help young people aged 13-25 to quit gambling.

Gambling with Lives, a local charity, reported that people addicted to online gambling are 15 times more likely to commit suicide than the average person, and accused the government of not doing enough. Under the current gambling laws in the United Kingdom, you must be over 18 years old to enter a casino, but you only need to be over 16 years old to buy lottery tickets and conduct football betting.

Compared with the United Kingdom, Hong Kong has significantly stricter supervision. In addition to restricting gambling activities to a few standardized and regulated channels such as the Jockey Club, participants are also required to be at least 18 years old. In response to a question in the Legislative Council in May last year, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Liu Jianghua, quoted a research report from the Polytechnic University saying that the participation rate of Hong Kong people in gambling is on a downward trend. The participation rate of secondary school students in gambling activities has dropped from 33.5% in 2012 to 2016 21.8% indicated that it was related to the government's publicity and education work.

Although the overall gambling rate of local young people has declined, the suicide of young people due to gambling debts still occurs from time to time, and the problem of online gambling has worsened.

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Ping He Fang last year’s “Gambling Behavior Changes among Youths During the World Cup” survey found that 16.7% of people aged 14 to 30 had gambled on football matches, and 66.4% of them used mobile apps for football betting, the median monthly betting amount The number is 400 yuan. He also stated that in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of young people exposed to football gambling, and it has become more common to use mobile apps for betting.

Pinghefang explained that YMCA uses mobile phones for gambling because the process is simpler and faster, and the self-control is weak, which may increase the number of bets. Most mobile phones can be directly settled with credit cards, which can incur debts at any time, which can affect physical and mental health and academics. , Work and family relations.

In addition to online gambling, betting on horses and football matches, there are also websites that promote e-sports gambling.

How difficult it is to watch out

In addition, the loot box egg drawing system of many video games induces children to pay for their luck and get their favorite character or equipment, which is no different from gambling. Belgium passed a new law last year defining the loot box system as gambling and supervising it. The state of Hawaii in the United States even banned the promotion of such games to people under the age of 21.

The forms of online gambling are diversified and more difficult to guard against. Parents should pay more attention to preventing their children from becoming addicted to gambling. They should identify whether they have gambling signs in their daily lives. If necessary, they should seek help as soon as possible, such as calling the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Gambling hotline: 1834 633 (press 1 word).

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網上賭博青年增 家長須嚴把關

英國政府將成立多間診所，專門幫助沉迷網上賭博的青少年。網上賭博形式愈趨多樣化，本港近年更出現惡化迹象，家長應重視子女心理健康，以免他們墮落賭海。

賭博自殺風險 超常人15倍

英國博彩委員會統計稱，全國有約5.5萬名11至16歲兒童沉迷網上賭博，更有45萬人經常參與賭博，人數多於吸毒、吸煙或飲酒的兒童。當地衞生部現計劃在英格蘭地區成立14間國立問題賭博診所（National Problem Gambling Clinic），專門幫助13至25歲青少年戒賭。

當地慈善機構Gambling with Lives反映，沉迷網上賭博的人士自殺機率比一般人要高出15倍，又指摘政府做得不夠。英國現時的賭博法例下，進入賭場須年滿18歲，但買彩票及進行足球博彩則只需年滿16歲。

本港與英國相比，監管明顯更嚴，除了將賭博活動限制於少數規範化及受監管的途徑例如馬會，更要求參與者須年滿18歲。民政事務局局長劉江華去年5月在立法會回應提問時，引述理工大學一項研究報告指，港人的賭博參與率呈下降趨勢，中學生參與賭博活動比率由2012年的33.5%下降至2016年的21.8%，表示與政府的宣傳和教育工作有關。

本地年輕人的整體賭博比率雖然下降，但青年因欠下賭債而自殺的個案仍不時發生，網上賭博問題更有惡化趨勢。

東華三院平和坊去年的「世界盃期間青少年的賭博行為變化」調查發現，14至30歲人士有16.7%曾賭波，當中66.4%常用手機App進行足球博彩投注，每月投注額的中位數為400元。又表示，近年接觸賭波青少年個案上升，且愈趨常見用手機App投注。

平和坊解釋，港青用手機進行賭博是因其過程較簡單快捷，自制力較弱而可能增加投注次數，且大部分手機可直接以信用卡結帳，隨時衍生債務，更可影響身心健康、學業、工作及家庭關係。

網上賭博除了有賭馬、賭波等，亦有網站推廣電競賭博。

形式多難提防 宜及時求助

此外，不少電子遊戲的loot box抽蛋系統，誘使兒童付費碰運氣抽到心儀角色或裝備，其實與賭博無異。比利時去年通過新法，將loot box系統定性為賭博及進行監管，美國夏威夷州更立法禁止向21歲以下人士推銷此類遊戲。

網上賭博形式多樣化，更難以提防，家長更應注重預防子女對賭博成癮，在日常生活中辨識他們有否賭博徵兆，若有需要更應及早為他們求助，例如致電東華三院平和坊戒賭熱綫：1834 633（按1字）。