A disheveled man sits in a dark room, tapping on his laptop computer, drowning himself in alcohol, and becoming more anxious than an unprepared student taking a test. Addicted, the man cannot stop himself from putting everything he has into a system that hardly ever reaps lucrative benefits. While becoming more immersed into the grasps of the game, he is little aware of just how far he’s been pulled in. Will he ever be able to stop? This somber example showcases the negative effects of a growing and highly debated issue in the United States at this time. Addiction to substances is widely discussed, but what about the equally as dangerous, life threatening, and money sucking habit of gambling on the internet. With more and more users becoming
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Due to technology today, it is easier than ever to stumble across gambling sites without really knowing what is hitting you, and in the past decade, the number of young people doing so has proliferated. In Great Britain, restrictions on gambling are loosely set, leading to an increasing problem. As analyzed by the The British Gambling Commission, 450,000 underage children gamble each week, a result of its easy accessibility (“New Report”). A industry as dangerously addictive as such must not be available to impressionable young people. Similarly, GamCare, the United Kingdom’s problem gambling support site, released that the number of eighteen to thirty-five year olds in search of help for their online gambling addictions has increased by one hundred and seventy seven percent (Ellson). Seeing these statistics on the rise, there is no doubt that easy access to gambling technology has taken a toll, especially on underage users. Advocate Karim Fatih recognizes this problem, saying, "With the advent of smartphones, people effectively have a roulette wheel in their pocket. It's no surprise so many young people are getting themselves into difficulties, (Ellson). In addition to having this technology sitting in the pockets of the world’s population, it must also noted how this convenience creates even more
Due to technology today, it is easier than ever to stumble across gambling sites without really knowing what is hitting you, and in the past decade, the number of young people doing so has proliferated. In Great Britain, restrictions on gambling are loosely set, leading to an increasing problem. As analyzed by the The British Gambling Commission, 450,000 underage children gamble each week, a result of its easy accessibility (“New Report”). A industry as dangerously addictive as such must not be available to impressionable young people. Similarly, GamCare, the United Kingdom’s problem gambling support site, released that the number of eighteen to thirty-five year olds in search of help for their online gambling addictions has increased by one hundred and seventy seven percent (Ellson). Seeing these statistics on the rise, there is no doubt that easy access to gambling technology has taken a toll, especially on underage users. Advocate Karim Fatih recognizes this problem, saying, "With the advent of smartphones, people effectively have a roulette wheel in their pocket. It's no surprise so many young people are getting themselves into difficulties, (Ellson). In addition to having this technology sitting in the pockets of the world’s population, it must also noted how this convenience creates even more