Impact of Small Gambling Machines: Are Children at Risk?

[pawanjain]

Even I have seen such gambling machines at one of the hill stations I went few months ago.
But the games there were segregated between adults and kids and yet the kids were allowed to play adult games.
I even saw a kid playing adult game with the help of his parent and that was quite surprising.
So I guess unless the regulatory authority takes any action, the local stores will keep operating these small gambling machines.

[noormcs5]

Even I have seen such gambling machines at one of the hill stations I went few months ago.
But the games there were segregated between adults and kids and yet the kids were allowed to play adult games.
I even saw a kid playing adult game with the help of his parent and that was quite surprising.
So I guess unless the regulatory authority takes any action, the local stores will keep operating these small gambling machines.

I have seen such local gambling machines in the kids playing areas but no one calls them a gambling machine

It is like a game for kids where you put in some money and you can win money. Yes this classifies as gambling but none of the parents and children even think that this is a form of gambling. I do not see any adults playing there but things can be different in different parts of the world. I don't think the regulatory authority will take any action against such machines unless they classify those machines as gambling ones.

[Z_MBFM]

Even I have seen such gambling machines at one of the hill stations I went few months ago.
But the games there were segregated between adults and kids and yet the kids were allowed to play adult games.
I even saw a kid playing adult game with the help of his parent and that was quite surprising.
So I guess unless the regulatory authority takes any action, the local stores will keep operating these small gambling machines.

Children never understand what is good and bad what is good for them and what things will ruin their future yes that's why it is the responsibility of the regulatory people of that area and the parents of that child to keep children away from adult games videos and other consumption materials.  But if a child can use things like gambling with their eyes closed then this responsibility should be taken by the regulatory department and the parents of that child.  If children do not take care of such activities, it can have a bad effect on their career later on.

[Smartprofit]

There was a time when slot machines were everywhere in my country. They were even installed in grocery stores.

Old pensioners would come to buy groceries, see the brightly colored musical slot machines, stop to play them and lose their entire pension. The widespread installation of slot machines became a real disaster in our country. Children and old pensioners would play slot machines and lose all their money.

As a result, slot machines were banned in my country. Along with them, all offline casinos were banned (except for those offline casinos that are located in certain, strictly defined geographic areas).

I believe that offline slot machines should be banned in all countries. I believe that only offline casinos (located in separate buildings) with games that have a live dealer should be allowed.

[Doan9269]

I want to point about to some problem that is in all the neighborhoods of my city.

In almost every corner store in my city there are some couple of small gambling machines that works with low denomination coins just like this:



The problem is that usually there is no restriction to play them, i mean anyone can play it even Kids, (If one adult want to lose their money on them there is no problem for me) but kids are different because they are the future of the country and they are developing a really BAD habit that can affect their behavior and economy in the future.

I am pretty sure that those machines aren't legal but there is much corruption in my country so I bet there is some big fishes making money on bribery allowing that those machines keep working on the corner stores.

My questions here are the next:

• Are this problem also exist in your country?
• What recommendations you can give to try to Raise the attention of the authorities?

I am going to check the current legislation of my country on this, because even in Casinos there are some warnings about Gambling and Ludopathy

I am not want too much trouble by this because I believe that even the local mafias are involved on this, but in some book I read that the economy is going to be a mess when gambling are in every street of the country.

I will have to be honest on this because i don't see it as a problem, allowing children to have access in playing it is nothing wrong or that bad for me, because these children must have been with their parents over there altogether, children have no financial source than their parents, they can only do this when together with them, this will help them to only catch fun and make merry their pleasure time each time they were out together as a family, because their parent are responsible for paying for them to gamble.

[Hatchy]

I will have to be honest on this because i don't see it as a problem, allowing children to have access in playing it is nothing wrong or that bad for me, because these children must have been with their parents over there altogether, children have no financial source than their parents, they can only do this when together with them, this will help them to only catch fun and make merry their pleasure time each time they were out together as a family, because their parent are responsible for paying for them to gamble.

Is it now good for a child to ask you for instance as a parent, to give him money so he can gamble? Remember you train a child the way he will grow.. letting them have access to such things at a very young age and claiming it's not bad will only let them advance into the real deal.. you know how kids are these days.. yea gambling is for fun, but the kids should learn to build themselves the right way now through gambling.. they should avoid it at all cost so they don't fall astray..

[Davidvictorson]

I wish a longitudinal study can be done on this. The question would did the kids who had access to the machine turn out to be gambling addicts in the future compared to those who didn't have access to it. The researchers will follow the kids for 10 years and report their findings. It seems why the OPs country is taking it seriously because they don't consider it a problem. However, with research there will.be evidence to prove or disprove it whether it in the long run trigger gambling addiction.

[albert0bsd]

The researchers will follow the kids for 10 years and report their findings.

Interesting experiment I've heard something like that before just with some twist...

... children have no financial source than their parents, they can only do this when together with them,...

It seems you have no idea how children raised in low-income neighborhoods are affected.

These kids often go to the store alone and spend whatever change they have left over from shopping. Obviously, it might not seem like much if they do it just once, but imagine if they do it every time over several years. Just think about the compounding effect of that behavior:

They are wasting money that isn’t theirs.
They are developing a gambling habit.

I’ve seen it hundreds of times. Every time I go to the store, there is a kid playing those machines without adult or parental supervision.


@m2017 thank you for your long answer

And don't computer games develop bad habits? These slot machines are not much different from them, except for the monetary reward. And children's attitude to money may be somewhat different from adults. I don't intend to justify these children's slot machines, but before blaming only these machines for all possible future problems, without proper research on the impact on the child's psyche, it is a little premature.

Yes obviouly there are also bad habits in regular games, (That is debate for a new topic).
About the research Well I've read just a pair of them and all of them show that those machines are really bad:

Gambling Initiation in Preadolescents
Children’s attitudes towards Electronic Gambling Machines

Conclusions
Despite policies that try to prevent children’s exposure to EGMs in community venues, children have peripheral exposure to EGMs within these environments. This exposure and children’s awareness of gambling behaviours of adults appear to play a role in shaping their attitudes towards EGMs. While further research should explore the range of other ancillary factors that contribute to children’s knowledge about these machines, policy makers should consider more effective strategies to prevent children from being exposed to EGMs in community venues.

Youth gambling problems: a public health perspective

Just to mention some of them, there are dozens of articles that point almost the same.

So, try to do it incognito.

Yes if i do something on it, It should be always with some layers of anonymity and another precautions.

You are on the right track. You must beat the enemy with his own methods.

haha yes i know, I am writing some emails with some help of AI just to send then to some politicians, hoping that at least one of them read the email by himself and not their secretaries

What does the laws of your country say about underaged gambling? Understanding of this will help you know the right action you should take.

Yes I already check some, it is ilegal and strictly prohibited for kids

Local regulation said that the participation of minors in any type of gambling game is strictly prohibited. Gambling machines are included in these games prohibited for minors.

The authorities are so corrupt for simply allowing it that you are not going to get anywhere by talking to them. They should hang by the balls in the public square those who allow this. Encouraging gambling from a young age is despicable.

Thanks for your answer Amigo and agree it is despicable.

[Mia Chloe]

The fact is many people tend to misinterpret gambling as gaming sometimes. Of course gambling activities are of different types and setups and if you check majority of them are just regular games kids can play (of course without involving betting especially with money) or predictions anyone can probably do. In my opinion the main thing that differentiates gambling from the regular games involved is actually placing a bet or wager on any particular prediction or game type.

Even if different people have different core reasons why they gamble, it still all comes down to the fact  that they don't want to lose money too but in the case of regular games you don't need to worry about that.

[Apocollapse]

It seems you have no idea how children raised in low-income neighborhoods are affected.

Correct, low income parents are busy with their own activities, they don't have time to raise their kids, some parents are actually ask their children to work too. It's completely different to middle upper or upper income parents, they will make sure their children are only go to school, have private course, and do their own hobby.

In my opinion the main thing that differentiates gambling from the regular games involved is actually placing a bet or wager on any particular prediction or game type.

How about gacha and in game currencies which you can purchase by using fiat, then you can cashout your in game currencies to fiat?

[MrEazyLife]

Yes those machine are illegal and people in power has taken bribery to let those machine remain at the corner store like you said.
Well the problem is, I don’t see those casinos machine being remove from the stores. But I’ll suggest they put a restriction to it and warn every store owners never to allow kids to have access to it. Since this has a negative impact on the young ones whose future must be secured.
Do you know 90% of the kids going to bet shop to gamble, started from the casinos machine and then decided to step up their gambling. Here we end up seeing kids become addict to gambling and they end up destroying their future and dreams.

[MrEazyLife]

It seems you have no idea how children raised in low-income neighborhoods are affected.

Well since you said low income parents are too busy to with making ends meet for their children and are not always there to protect their children being exposed to gambling.
Don’t you think that is the reason we gave the government there? Beside children aren’t just raise by their parents alone, but the concern neighbors the society also. Charity begins at home, doesn’t mean it ends at home. The government should show concern by regulating this casino gambling from the reach of children. Shop owners were there are this machine shouldn’t allow kids to come in and play.
Then we can hope for a better society with less gambling activity going on within the kids.

Correct, low income parents are busy with their own activities, they don't have time to raise their kids, some parents are actually ask their children to work too. It's completely different to middle upper or upper income parents, they will make sure their children are only go to school, have private course, and do their own hobby.

In my opinion the main thing that differentiates gambling from the regular games involved is actually placing a bet or wager on any particular prediction or game type.

How about gacha and in game currencies which you can purchase by using fiat, then you can cashout your in game currencies to fiat?

[MrEazyLife]

It seems you have no idea how children raised in low-income neighborhoods are affected.

Correct, low income parents are busy with their own activities, they don't have time to raise their kids, some parents are actually ask their children to work too. It's completely different to middle upper or upper income parents, they will make sure their children are only go to school, have private course, and do their own hobby.

In my opinion the main thing that differentiates gambling from the regular games involved is actually placing a bet or wager on any particular prediction or game type.

How about gacha and in game currencies which you can purchase by using fiat, then you can cashout your in game currencies to fiat?

[MrEazyLife]

It seems you have no idea how children raised in low-income neighborhoods are affected.

Correct, low income parents are busy with their own activities, they don't have time to raise their kids, some parents are actually ask their children to work too. It's completely different to middle upper or upper income parents, they will make sure their children are only go to school, have private course, and do their own hobby.

In my opinion the main thing that differentiates gambling from the regular games involved is actually placing a bet or wager on any particular prediction or game type.

How about gacha and in game currencies which you can purchase by using fiat, then you can cashout your in game currencies to fiat?

Well since you said low income parents are too busy to with making ends meet for their children and are not always there to protect their children being exposed to gambling.
Don’t you think that is the reason we gave the government there? Beside children aren’t just raise by their parents alone, but the concern neighbors the society also. Charity begins at home, doesn’t mean it ends at home. The government should show concern by regulating this casino gambling from the reach of children. Shop owners were there are this machine shouldn’t allow kids to come in and play.
Then we can hope for a better society with less gambling activity going on within the kids.

[fruktik]

In terms of gambling, I don’t think this is the biggest threat anymore because as you said kids are not outside playing these machines anymore. Where are they? Well they’re on their phones in which they can easily access online gambling sites.

The best thing to do here is to educate children about the dangers of gambling. Temptations and opportunities will always be there but a kid has to learn how to not succumb to it either way.

Just recently I saw several teenagers aged 13-15 playing slot machines on their phones. Yes, the world has changed and become more technologically advanced, so such devices in stores do not pose such a danger. I am sure that parents should conduct explanatory work about gambling. If this is not done, it can lead to tragic consequences. But there are those parents who do not see any threat in this or simply do not want to engage in such educational activities with their children.

[Sarah Azhari]

My questions here are the next:

• Are this problem also exist in your country?
• What recommendations you can give to try to Raise the attention of the authorities?

Yes, that kind of machine also exists in my country, I just found it in my small village. This is quite ironic because the government always promotes to do not play online gambling on in all major cities, but other small villages have that kind of machine without being able to monitor it. It's not only adults, but also minors who play it without know if that machine is belong with gambling. That is called "Ding Dong", we can play with small change, coin Rp.1000 or Rp500,- on my country, so if you luck, you will get 10x when money comes out of the machine.

[bering]

My questions here are the next:

• Are this problem also exist in your country?
• What recommendations you can give to try to Raise the attention of the authorities?

Yes, that kind of machine also exists in my country, I just found it in my small village. This is quite ironic because the government always promotes to do not play online gambling on in all major cities, but other small villages have that kind of machine without being able to monitor it. It's not only adults, but also minors who play it without know if that machine is belong with gambling. That is called "Ding Dong", we can play with small change, coin Rp.1000 or Rp500,- on my country, so if you luck, you will get 10x when money comes out of the machine.

Ding dong is very popular on 90's and i think majority people at here have already to playing this machine but i don't think it can be categorized as gambling machines because basically ding dong is the machines to playing the particular games such as arcade game or puzzle game and indeed when we want to used ding dong then usually people have to insert the coin into the machines to starting the games but i personally didn't considers this machines can be categorized as gambling machines but i was start to thinking about claw machine game because probably playing this game can be considers as gambling too this because when playing this game people aiming the particular prizes

[Oluwa-btc]

My questions here are the next:

• Are this problem also exist in your country?
  
  

Of a truth such machines are found in my country as well and mostly you find them in big malls, spar and recreational centers basically for fun and this happens when people visit there just to have fun and of course children are at liberty to play if they want but then I think you'll have to buy a coin and fix in the machine and if you loose while playing you're off but then it's another avenue of inculcating in them that they can go extra miles to play the game more leading them to Gambling at a tender age which is bad and not safe for them. [/list]

[iv4n]

My questions here are the next:

• Are this problem also exist in your country?
• What recommendations you can give to try to Raise the attention of the authorities?

I am going to check the current legislation of my country on this, because even in Casinos there are some warnings about Gambling and Ludopathy

I am not want too much trouble by this because I believe that even the local mafias are involved on this, but in some book I read that the economy is going to be a mess when gambling are in every street of the country.

This is the first time I see a machine like this, it doesn't exist in my country. In my place, there are mostly those machines where you insert money and try to take out a toy. Those machines are rigged and only sometimes someone manages to catch the toy. And it's kind of a gamble, but you can't keep the kids away from it...

I don't know how you can draw the attention of the authorities to something like this, you can go and complain to some organizations, but I doubt you will get far. The authorities allowed it in the first place, these machines certainly bring a lot of money and that money goes into someone's pocket.

Instead, you try to raise awareness among your children. I sometimes allow mine to play, and a limited number of times... Every time I give them money for it, I tell them that it's rigged and that maybe it's better to use that money for something else (I list the things they like) or I say they can save money so they have more for better things. Many times I said that it can't be done and tried to explain why it can't be done in a way that they could understand... there was also crying and throwing on the floor and then you have to show strictness. Once they get something that way, they will always do the same thing. With children it takes a lot of patience to repeat the same thing over and over again, we tell them the same story in multiple ways day after day hoping they learn something.

[Ambatman]

This is quite rare in my country. And I haven't come across such personally even at malls.
Kids are affected by their environment, they learn by what they see and what others do
The likelihood of it getting the kid into gambling is high especially if they engage in it till their teenage year.
I wouldn't support such outlets but many firms are looking fit ways to make money without considering CSR
That's why it's left for us to report such and give feedback about the impact this may have in a growing child.