‎Talking teens in your hood out of gambling – What do you think?

[NurseHub]

‎This is what happened earlier today, and I feel it's good to share here so we all can help others. This young boy came to me this morning and asked if I could help fund bet wallets, and I said yes, with no double thought. Just while I was about to ask for the wallet address to fund it, I realized he was just a boy, maybe a boy supposed to be in school, and I asked him whose bet he was funding.
‎He said it was his own personal gambling wallet; shock embraced me. I asked him how old he was, and he said 18 years, and he wasn't saying it with confidence. I felt he lied just to save himself from me not refusing to help him deposit the money. I was forced to question him more, and I made him listen to me for some time.
‎
‎I showed him some topics concerning gambling addicts in this forum and showed him some gambling addicts online regretting it now, and I also took my time to advise him on how it starts and how it ends for most people. He also made mention of his friends gambling lifestyle. I told him stories and gave him evidence, hoping to see him stay away from gambling because he's too young to manage what's coming. I backed it up with a small token that I could afford too.

Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

[Ziskinberg]

What you did is right. Sometimes, minding other's business brings also a positive outcome. Like in your story, you are dealing with a young boy who is an immature gambler so its right that you correct his wrong assumption about gambling and lead him to stay away from it for now, otherwise addiction will eat him and regret in the future why no one has advised him to stay away from gambling.

Teens are not supposed to gamble, they should be in school studying and learning. But they have their own jobs already and create their own career, that time they will be mature enough to think if they will enter gambling or not.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

One issue I have is being an introvert, I love my space and my peace so very much, I like to lock myself inside and even when I step out, I really love to mind my business except I see something or that another life is in danger and there is something I can actually do about that, then I won't hesitate, but discussing casually with people and giving advice to strangers when not invited to such is not really my thing.

But in this type of situation though, choosing between doing same thing you did and minding my business will depend on who the boy is, if he is someone I already know and have been getting along with for quite some time, I will definitely do exactly what you did, advice him to quit gambling because he is still too young to be gambling.
But if the boy is a total stranger whom I've never seen from adam, I will definitely mind my business but one thing I won't agree to fund his wallet if he too will be bold enough to come ask me for such favor.

[Dreadboost]

If the teen is up to the age of 18, he is free as a bird to gamble. However, what you did was the best option for him, he is lucky to have met you. Not every teen is opportune to meet someone that will give them relevant advise, most especially advise that help them grow better in life. Gambling addiction is not an easy addiction to abstain from. If the teen will take your advise serious he wont fall to addiction for the rest of his life. But if he ignores the advise, that's his own cup of team. Teens do not know a lot yet, which is the reason why whenever we have the chance to share our knowledge, don't hesitate to do so.

[HONDACD125]

Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

I think what you did was right, and you might have made a difference for that boy because he will definitely think about what happened between you and him, and it might even change his mind towards gambling if he is a sensible boy. Some people are so reckless when it comes to the upbringing of their children, they don't give it much importance or care about how their children are growing up, what they are learning, what they are doing, and they don't even look at their activities to see if they are not into things they shouldn't be doing at that age.

As a parent, it's one of your responsibilities to make sure that your children are not getting involved in things like drugs, gambling, or any other kind of stuff  that is either unethical or illegal for their age group. If we don't do that, and let our children be free to do whatever they want to do, things will get out of hands very soon, because they grow big very quickly, and when that happens, then they won't listen to us anymore because we never cared for anything in the past when they were only children and could be scolded and they would stay away from those things then.

[CryptoYar]

Your action of help was in fact very important one since being silent usually only allows bad event to get even bigger. Young people are under great danger since part of brain that sees long term risks is not fully grown by that time and watching others win gives them idea that gambling is another safe source of money.

Fact is also that children who are grown up in place where people gamble learn to view it as something normal in their everyday life and lose their healthy fear of such risky action. I think you were right to make him struggle to gamble, since modern betting business is made to be too easy and quick. He may go and gamble somewhere else, but doubt you put in his mind is worth more.

[_act_]

Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

You said the teenager said he is 18 years old. He has the brain to have researched and know that under 18 are not allowed to access many contents like gambling and pornography online. Advising him might help but many people that learn from gambling is not through advise but through themselves knowing they have to avoid it after losing money, but the problem part is if they continue after they are losing money. Good that you advise him but I hope he is going to change.

[iBaba]

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You said the teenager said he is 18 years old. He has the brain to have researched and know that under 18 are not allowed to access many contents like gambling and pornography online. Advising him might help but many people that learn from gambling is not through advise but through themselves knowing they have to avoid it after losing money, but the problem part is if they continue after they are losing money. Good that you advise him but I hope he is going to change.

Some times I wonder if truly those content sensorship have any meaning to me. So let's take for instance, a teenager visits a gambling website and the first thing you will probably see is a warning sign saying that you have to be an adult above 18+ but who truly gets to reconfirm that the person is truly what they claim? You see, this is where they are supposed to be able to verify whether the person is truly a minor or an adult, if they truly care beyond just the warning signs.

[ZeroVinsonN]

Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

You said the teenager said he is 18 years old. He has the brain to have researched and know that under 18 are not allowed to access many contents like gambling and pornography online. Advising him might help but many people that learn from gambling is not through advise but through themselves knowing they have to avoid it after losing money, but the problem part is if they continue after they are losing money. Good that you advise him but I hope he is going to change.

For his own good it would be far better if he stop now, give himself some years and also get himself a paying job or something like that before he should start thinking about gambling, because the first question that comes to my mind in situations like this one is how the teen is able to successfully fund his gambling, maybe he got lucky with winning the first few tries and is probably still using that money but if that's the case then he is very likely to get hooked up in gambling and without a means of earning money he might end up stealing just to fund this habit, this is the reason why I completely support casino requesting KYC.

[peter0425]

I think the fact that he asked you to fund his gambling habits make it your business at that point so it’s understandable that you intervened and taught him a lesson. Hopefully your words left a lasting impact on him.

[Rashlyowl]

I might react the same as you, but I will do my best, not to the point of giving him hard-earned money just to back up his gambling activity at that time. Children are too young to know the dark side of the world, you heard me right, I consider gambling to be one of the dark sides of the world. When I was their age, I was having fun with my broski, not thinking about anything financial. What I experienced in the past should be felt by them too, instead of facing slot machines or dealers.

[mitchr4]

The real problem here is the people he hangs out with. When everyone around him is living a gambling lifestyle, it starts to feel normal to him. That is exactly why what you did really matters. You took the time to warn him about the dangers of gambling, and that was a great decision. Kids his age do not fully understand the long term consequences yet. Hopefully your talk with him today will change his path.

[joeperry]

‎Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

I think sometimes the environment have effects too, just like if you hangout with bad people who do illegal things (drugs, etc.) you'll most likely to end up like them. When you say fund up his wallet does it mean he is asking you to give money to top up his betting wallet or he's just asking for assistance? If I was in the situation I'll do the same thing to you, I'll tell or probably give some articles related to gambling addiction and what could be the result of it but since he's already an adult (18 as he mentioned) there's nothing I can do since it's his choice but at least I did something to at least make him think that gambling is not good especially for young ones like him.

[m2017]

Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

Can gambling ruin only children's lives?  Don't adult's lives matter?

In discussions in this section, often see users mention that gambling is a pleasant pastime and simply entertainment, with winnings as a pleasant bonus (but they never, even despite all the losses, give up the idea that it's a way to make money). I'm left with a sense of internal dissonance: how can a pleasant pastime like gambling ruin children's lives?

Why do children start gambling? For fun? I don't think so, because in today's technologically advanced world (smartphones, gaming consoles, the internet, streaming services), they have plenty to do. So what drives them to gamble? It's probably the desire to win easy and quick money.

True, people react differently to such situations, and my reaction is this: I don't really believe in the veracity of your story (I have this perception from what I read), because you committed this act too heroically, spent time on a lecture on the dangers of gambling, even gave the child a gift, but at the same time were ready to immediately fill his gaming wallet, and meanwhile, you demonstratively tell this story here.

I told him stories and gave him evidence, hoping to see him stay away from gambling because he's too young to manage what's coming.

By that time, he will already be an adult.

[Kelward]

Whatever we experienced gamblers can do to discourage underaged gambling is very important so that they won't go astray and become addicts because gambling can be very addictive. You see many adults who gamble irresponsibly despite knowing the dangers of addiction not to mention underaged who knows nothing about the dangers of not gambling responsible. Any teenager that just reached the age of gambling should be guided if you notice that they want to start gambling, if you cannot stop them you can give them advice on responsible gambling. It is important that anybody that gambles should do so with their own money

[danherbias07]

You did the right thing here. We should not be a bad example to the kids. Even if we are going to make a profit when we help them, we should think twice, and the better way is to teach them and straighten things out for them. Kids these days are very aggressive and learn things very fast, thanks to the internet. Social media, in particular, makes them more knowledgeable about many things. The good and the bad.
I am a parent of two boys, that's why I know it. At their young age, they sometimes say things that are not appropriate, sometimes ask questions that will make me angry, and sometimes laugh. Since they can easily understand many things, it's the parents who must adjust and explain them to them so that they can avoid bad habits and embrace the good ones.

[Outhue]

Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

People do handle things differently but this is a kid, and it's always similar that kids do things the same way because they have no knowledge and they are still reckless, I don't expect anything from this kid than addiction later down the road. You did the right thing trying to show him what is waiting for him if he continues this path.

Many kids don't learn the act of gambling from their parents, it's mostly from their class mates who are telling them about how much they make but not how much they have lost, the fastest way for kids to copy others is from friends around them, parents need to know the type kids their own kids are mingling with.

[bakasabo]

Like I said in a thread, don't gamble in your kids' presence or send kids on errands for gambling. This can ruin their life even when yours is not ruined. People handle things differently, so guys what do you think? Would you do the same or mind your business?

That is going to help only partially. What about other adults who might gamble and your child notice that? What about other children that know about gambling (whether they saw it or gamble themselves) and emotionally and with excitement tell about that? What about the Internet that if full of gambling ads that are shown to everyone? Bloggers that promote gambling. Gambling in movies. Gambling elements in video games. It is either you live in informational vacuum, alone, in the forest, or gambling will find your child anyway.

[Anayochukwu]

You have really shown some love and kindness for him to stop the game because that is not only you can afford to do for him. Although I think you would have left him like that since you have already noticed that he's not yet of gambling age because the little token can even make it worster, but the truth is that wether you give him or not he will still look for a way and continue with his life because obviously he has been gambling so there is nothing else can change his decision so that is all have in this case.