Gambling impacts individuals in unique ways and can present significant challenges in daily life. Each person’s journey will look different, facing different symptoms and following their own path to seek help. What they all share, however, is the powerful reality that recovery is possible. While the stigmas associated with addiction can make it harder to self-exclude from gambling, there are many practical ways to address this issue as early as high school. Whether you need help, or you know someone who needs help, there is no shame in seeking it out.
On this page:
YMCA Youth Gabling Awareness Program (YGAP)
Prevention Starts with Awareness
YGAP provides a multi-faceted and innovative approach to problem gambling prevention through outreach, community education, and community awareness activities like community involvement events and youth engagement projects.
Awareness Raising Activities
YGAP offers awareness raising programming in French and English for youth aged 8-24. Workshops are interactive, fun and engaging.
- Elementary School Workshops
- High School Workshops
- Post-Secondary Workshops
Youth Engagement Projects
Youth-driven initiatives are key in promoting youth expression and community action related to youth gambling. With a peer-to-peer model, Youth Engagements have become one of the foundational elements of YGAP.
Community Involvement Projects
Partnerships and collaboration with community organizations to plan and implement events designed to promote community awareness and involvement in issues related to youth gambling are included in each of the YGAP sites.
Community Health Fairs/Events
YGAP partners with local education and treatment service providers, local youth services agencies and mental health & addiction services. It is a constant presence at community health fairs and information events, continuing its program mission to promote healthy, active living, informed decision making and education and prevention for youth gambling.
- Contact your local YMCA for information on upcoming health fairs and other events featuring YGAP
Referral Services
“23% of youth know someone who may be experiencing problems with gambling” (YGAP Impact Study, 2016)
- Each YGAP participant is provided with information and referral to treatment services and other community resources that can help with a potential gambling problem
- Information and referrals are all provided without having to disclose gambling issues in front of peers
Source: YMCA of Greater Toronto, Youth Gambling Awareness Program:
Why is Youth Gambling an Issue?
You may not know many teens who spend their free-time at casinos, but gambling can take many forms that differ from the classic images we associate with it.
YGAP “BEYOND BETTING” AUDIO SERIES
- Learning about the impacts of “Player Packs” (in which you purchase the playing cards of real athletes to become playable members of your virtual sports team) in popular video games like Madden, Fifa and NBA 2K in encouraging youth gambling
Like Gambling, Player Packs are…
- Random
- Include an element of risk
- Use real money or in-game currency
- Reducible in harm with the right strategies and expert advice
Listen to the full podcast episode here
Awareness and Risk Factors (camh.ca)
Young people between the ages of 10 and 24 exhibit higher rates of problem gambling than adults. They are more likely to gamble for entertainment, to escape negative emotions or to counter boredom and loneliness, rather than for financial gain.
- 32% of students in Ontario report participating in one or more type of gambling activity in 2019
- 4% of high school students report low to moderately-severe gambling problems
- 2% of high school students report high-severity gambling problems
- Youth who gamble online report the most severe problems
While legal age restrictions do prevent youth from participating in gambling activities, gambling on dares or private bets, in sports pools and during card games are still common experiences
- New technologies continue to make gambling more appealing and accessible to young people, including through…
- Social casino games
- E-sports betting
- Social media
Who is most at risk?
While no person is immune to the effects of gambling, the young people especially at risk of developing a gambling problem include…
- Being male
- Having a parent or other family member with a gambling problem
- Alcohol and/or substance use
- Depression and/or anxiety
- Trauma
- Childhood abuse
- Impulsivity/attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Difficulty making friends
- Not being connected or close to family members
- Poor coping skills
- Not having a sense of belonging at school
Gambling and Gaming (YGAP.ca)
YGAP approaches gambling and gaming with a neutral perspective – it does not judge for enjoying either activity, but ensures that those who participate know the potential risks.
This means that it is still important to learn about the connections between gambling and gaming, uncover the hidden marketing strategies game developers don’t want you to know, discover the signs to look out for where gambling problems may arise and explore tips and tricks to limit your exposure to gambling problems when gaming.
Gaming: A Lot More Like Gambling Than You Think
DEFINING GAMBLING: Risking something of value (like money) when you don’t know if you’ll win or lose
The gaming industry, through features like Player Packs, encourages investment in chance-based rewards. After buying a random player card, with real or virtual money, there’s no way of knowing if you will get a valuable or low skill player – or a player that’s already on your team.
- CHANCE: Leads you to believe you’ll be successful at all chance-based activities, including more overt gambling practices with higher risks
- Increases the investment of time and money into gaming, much like at a traditional casino
- CAN’T STOP: Going on a streak of bad luck with the results from your Player Packs can often lead to the urge to buy more. We think “how long could the bad luck really last?”
- But bad luck does NOT guarantee an eventual win…
Fifa 21: The odds of purchasing a Player Pack, costing $125,000 in virtual currency or $29 in real money, containing a highly skilled athlete is only 3.2%
What Game Developers Don’t Want You to Know
Ever wonder why you feel compelled to purchase the “newest” version of your favourite video game when updated ones are released each year? Turns out that game developers and the marketers behind real-life sports teams have a lot more in common than you may think.
- Selling tickets and generating profits
- Video game companies and sports leagues use the same marketing strategies for game/team promotion
Featuring the most influential athlete of the year on the box of your newest video game or on team swag at stadiums achieves the same goal – To generate profit and ensure repeat customers
- Paying to win
- Just like how sports teams spend money on contracts for their players, video games embrace a “pay to win” structure in which spending real or virtual money on the best players brings you the highest chances of winning games
With each new version of your game of choice, there’s also no way to transfer your previous purchases. The cycle of buying players for your team starts all over again and the money previously spent on older games provides no value to the gaming experience.
Signs of a Problem
There is nothing wrong with finding entertainment in gaming from time to time. However, when behaviours start to cross a line, you must be aware when a gambling problem is being indicated.
You should never think of gaming or gambling as a primary source of income or the most important thing in your life.
Signs of a gambling problem include:
- Having trouble taking a break from your game
- Missing school, work or other important commitments for gaming
- Lying about gaming/online use habits
- Experiencing decreased social connection
- Developing feelings of depression/anxiety or using gaming to escape real-life problems
- Tiredness or difficulty sleeping
- Borrowing or stealing money to fund in-game purchases
- Spending money before getting your allowance or paycheque
Limiting the Risk
If you suspect you are spending too much time or money on games, try some of these helpful tips and tricks to limit your risk of developing a gambling problem and/or gaming addiction.
- Set spending limits on your gaming device in settings
- Set a password for all online purchases to make spending less accessible
- Remove your payment method from the gaming service of your choice after each purchase
- Use a pre-paid credit card with a limited spending value to encourage sticking to a gaming budget
- Only spend what you can afford and opt for spending virtual currency, rather than real money
- Limit how long and how often you game
- Have another enjoyable activity scheduled at specific times to encourage taking a break
Find out what works best for you to play safely.
From the YGAP “Beyond Betting” audio series
Resources
If you think your child has a problem, contact one of the following organizations to get help.
The Centre for Addiction & Mental Health
- Problem Gambling and Technology Use Treatment Services offers support for people whose gambling or technology use is problematic by leading to difficulties in other parts of their lives.
The Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) is the United Kingdom’s leading charity dedicated to preventing the negative effects of gaming and gambling among young people. They offer award-winning education and empowerment strategies that are universally applicable.
- Harm reduction education and supplies
- Supervised use space with nursing staff present
- Counselling
- Referrals to housing, employment, and mental health and addiction services
The International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors at McGill University is a leader in research aimed at identifying and understanding the factors related to youth gambling issues and provides treatment, offering award-winning prevention programs.
ConnexOntario provides free and confidential health services information for people experiencing problems with gambling, alcohol and drugs or mental illness.
Their system navigation and information service is live-answer 24/7, confidential, and free.
