right, charismatic, athletic — the male teenage compulsive gambler is likely to be the typical all-American boy that parents of teenage girls hope their daughters will bring home.
Teen Gambling
That picture-perfect impression, combined with an outgoing personality and good grades, can hide any clues of an out-of-control gambling problem from adults, according to one professional who has met many a compulsive gambler.
"If you have a daughter, this is the type of boy you want her to bring home," said Edward Looney, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (CCGNJ).
"He’s usually a fairly good student, popular, and involved in sports," Looney said. "They’re usually good at math. They understand money and gambling odds."
Because the teenage gambling addict does not outwardly display signs of drug or alcohol abuse, such as failing grades or antisocial behavior, parents and educators can miss any indications of a problem, Looney said.
Moreover, since gambling is not a form of substance abuse, some adults dismiss its severity or habit-forming tendencies, according to Terry Elman, CCGNJ’s education coordinator.
"People think, ‘What could you be doing that is harmful if you’re not ingesting anything into your body?’ " Elman said.
Gambling addicts can become prone to depression, which is often accompanied by substance abuse, stealing to finance their habit, lying, irritability, and thoughts of suicide, just as despairing drug addicts and alcoholics can, Elman said.
Unless parents, educators, and students can recognize the red flags that identify a gambling-addicted adolescent, the problem will go unchecked, Elman said.
For that reason, CCGNJ, a private, nonprofit, Trenton-based organization is lobbying to gain inroads into New Jersey’s public school system to educate administrators, teachers, parents and students about the growing gambling problem on playing fields and in classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, restrooms and private homes.
The educational programs proposed would complement existing substance abuse awareness and prevention programs that have long been mainstays in the state’s schools, according to CCGNJ’s Web site, www.800gambler.org.
The organization developed its Adolescent Gambling Prevention Program to protect the state’s children from "exploitation by unscrupulous promoters of gambling enterprises and from lack of overall awareness of the problem," according to the Web site.
One of CCGNJ’s objectives is to station one of its own employees in each New Jersey school district as a resource on the identification, prevention and treatment of compulsive gambling among students, the Web site states.
Presently the council visits 35 to 50 high schools and 20 colleges in the state by invitation each year, Looney said.
Looney said the problem of underage gambling largely goes undetected. He explained that, wherever research into the problem has been done, the results showed a higher rate of adolescent compulsive gambling than had previously been perceived.
The temporary feeling of power and a desire to appear successful at an early age are what attract adolescents to wageringTeen gambling viewed as
on the rise in New Jersey
Compulsive gambler might turn out to be the kid you’d least expect, says Council on Compulsive Gambling of N.J.
By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer and betting, he added.
"It has nothing to do with the money. It’s what the money can do," Looney said.
Approximately 95 percent of New Jersey’s adolescent compulsive gamblers are boys who bet on professional and nonprofessional sports, Looney said.
"Sports betting is the No. 1 problematic type of gambling," Looney said.
Often teenagers, both male and female, have part-time jobs and gamble part or all of their paychecks away.
"They’re not lazy kids. They’re usually working," Looney said. "Material things are very important to them."
As December is to retailers, March, when the NCAA basketball championship games are played, is CCGNJ’s "busy period," according to Elman.
"March is the worst time of the year. It’s worse than the Super Bowl," Elman said.
The omnipresence of NCAA betting pools, advertising, and the very fact that many adolescents perceive athletes as heroes does not make CCGNJ’s job of trying to discourage gambling any easier, Elman said.
"Everyone gets on board," said Elman, pointing to Pepsi and McDonald’s as corporations that usually sponsor gambling-type promotions in conjunction with the basketball championships.
In one case, a father of a young teenage boy contacted CCGNJ when his son continued buying six-packs of bottled Pepsi, apparently hoping to find a winning bottle cap, Elman said. That game was part of the beverage company’s NCAA-related promotion, he explained.
Children who begin any form of gambling before age 14 are characterized as "action gamblers" by counselors and field professionals, Looney said.
Some children begin gambling via card games, bets between friends, and dice as early as junior high school, while others start as early as age 9, CCGNJ materials state.
"It’s a macho thing to gamble early, bet and compete," Looney said. "They do it for the thrill, the excitement."
In the home, parents might be unfazed when observing preadolescent siblings openly playing a card game for pennies, Elman said.
"They just see that the kids understand the value of money, " Elman said.
Action gamblers often grow into competitive gamblers who usually bet on sporting events, Looney said.
Competitive gamblers run the gamut, from honor students to poor students, Looney said.
However, students who excel at mathematics often understand odds-making, point spreads and probability better thantheir peers. That expertise gives math scholars a distinct advantage in organizing and participating in such games, Looney said.
Females generally tend not to gamble until their post-high school years, Looney said. Adult females gradually evolve into "escape gamblers," as a diversion from an unsatisfying job, an unhappy marriage or dating relationship, or other problems, he added.
"They might go to Atlantic City, bingo, or buy lottery tickets," Looney said. "It allows them to escape."
However, the number of young females who begin gambling prior to high school graduation is slowly increasing, according to CCGNJ materials. The popularity of Internet gambling and the availability of computers at home and school presents another form of escape gambling to both boys and girls.
"The problem is kids know how to use computers better than some adults," Elman said.
In one case the CCGNJ dealt with, a 12-year-old girl surreptitiously took her father’s American Express card and charged nearly $20,000 to an offshore casino, Elman said.
The girl’s father learned of her online activities upon receipt of his billing statement, Elman said. American Express still demanded payment in full, despite the circumstances, he added.
"In essence, there are kids who are gambling and they are not getting any [prevention] education about it," Looney said. "We are building a generation of gamblers."
As a possible remedy, CCGNJ has been working with the state’s education commissioner to develop a uniform educational program for all grades, from K-12, Looney said.
The first curriculum is expected for presentation in the schools by February or March, Looney said.
An amendment that would allow lessons about the dangers of compulsive gambling to be incorporated in the state’s health and physical education core curriculum is currently under review in the state Assembly, Looney said.
Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto (D-32, Bergen, Hudson) and Assemblyman Gary L. Guear Sr. (D-14, Middlesex, Mercer) are sponsoring that amendment to the 1987 law which originally set the core curriculum.
A similar amendment sponsored by state Sen. Joseph A. Palaia (R-11, Monmouth) has also been under review in the state Senate.
The new law would require the state commissioner of education to consult with CCGNJ about sample learning activities and resources on compulsive gambling directed at students in all grades.
It would appropriate $200,000 to the New Jersey Department of Education for CCGNJ to help districts implement programs designed to raise awareness and prevent compulsive gambling.
Due to the state’s current budget restrictions, the bill stalled in the Assembly, Looney said. The council decided to move ahead by taking out the requested funding and working with the education commissioner instead.
The amendments have won favor from both the New Jersey Educational Association (NJEA) and many school districts, according to Elman.
The schools themselves, through their student assistance counselors, usually invite the CCGNJ to provide services on site to teachers, other educators, and students, Elman said.
"The schools call us if they have a [gambling] problem, or if they think that something is going on," said Elman.
Student assistance counselors, unlike traditional guidance counselors, assist children and teenagers with alcohol or drug addictions as well as depression, anxiety or other personal problems, Elman said. Most of those counselors are also certified substance abuse counselors, he added.
After educating both school staffers and students about awareness and prevention of compulsive gambling, new policies and procedures to deal with future situations can be instituted, CCGNJ materials advise.
Those new policies and educational resources can be included in a district’s existing substance abuse awareness and prevention curriculums, CCGNJ materials state.
In its outreach efforts, CCGNJ also offers peer leader training, on-site presentations by prevention specialists, videotapes and printed materials.
Although the council visits a number of schools in the state each year, it tends to focus on districts located near major gambling venues such as The Meadowlands and Atlantic City, Elman said.
"Research indicates that the closer the schools are to a gambling venue, the more prone they are to student gambling," Elman explained.
"This is the first generation that is growing up with gambling all around them," he added.
A relatively new and reportedly wildly popular tumbling dice game called see-low allows participants to play on credit rather than cash, Looney said.
Because it is generally played on credit, teachers, noting the absence of cash, might not recognize a see-low game in progress, Looney said.
"The teachers think that because there is no money [present] that there is no gambling going on," Looney said.
Similar to craps, see-low involves tossing three dice as well as using various methods of wagering, Looney said.
"[Children] play it before school, after school, and during school in the bathroom," Looney said.
Some students have lost hundreds of dollars playing see-low on credit in a given week, Looney said.
"One see-low kid (in Essex County) lost $300 in a week," Looney said.
Recently, two separate, violent incidents erupted among see-low players in Jersey City and Camden when some participants could not or would not pay off their debts, he added.
"Inner-city kids learn (see-low) very well," Looney said.
Still, suburban parents and educators should be alert for local see-low games as the dice game has moved from the inner-city to the suburbs, Elman said.
"See-low is the No. 2 game behind sports gambling," Elman said.
To pay see-low debts, players often sell items of high value such as their mothers’ special-occasion jewelry, Looney said. Teenage boys will often borrow money from their girlfriends, never intending to repay it, he added.
"Their girlfriends bail them out," Looney said.
Other see-low players will steal from their parents, shoplift, break into homes, or sell marijuana to get the money to pay their debts, Looney said.
With their overall availability, lottery tickets, especially the scratch-off type, are the third most popular form of compulsive gambling among youth, Elman stated.
Through their own lottery playing and card games, parents can unintentionally introduce children to gambling. Such activities could arouse a child’s innate curiosity, Elman said.
Trouble can arise when the a child continuously seizes the opportunity to win money or something else of value, Elman said.
"Even if you are genetically predisposed (to gamble), if you are never presented with the opportunity, you’re unlikely to go searching for it," Elman said.
CCGNJ works closely with the National Council on Problem Gambling and its affiliates in 24 states. Prevention efforts focus on both adolescents and senior citizens.
For more information, contact CCGNJ at (609) 588-5515. A 24-hour help line is available seven days a week at 1-800-GAMBLER.

