Underage gambling has become a disturbing trend in Ghana, with more minors below the legal betting age taking to betting on a daily basis.
The legal betting age in Ghana is 18.
As demanded by Ghana’s gambling regulators, most betting companies indicate clearly on their sites and land-based shops that betting is not for under-18s, but this has done little to buck the trend.
Minors still visit physical shops without any checks, and more prevalent, under-18s can easily access gambling sites from their phones.
More needs to be done to curb the growth of underage gambling in Ghana.
Underage gambling is a very dangerous vice. Not only the kids are at risk, but the larger society will also feel the ripple effects.
Gambling requires plenty of discipline and maturity, which kids clearly do not have. Even some adults struggle to keep control of their gambling lives- how much less children?
And how do they even get the money to gamble?
Because of the addictive nature of gambling, these kids may resort to stealing and other vices just to get the money to bet.
In some extreme cases, some kids divert their school fees into betting, in the hope of getting more money. As many have found out, this hope is usually false hope.
And we have the psychological and social effects of gambling addiction.
So how do we solve the problem of underage gambling?
The problem is not for one person to solve. It will take a combined effort from all stakeholders to rid the Ghanaian society of this menace.
The government obviously has to take a leading role by being more forceful with Ghana’s betting regulations and severely punishing any gambling operator found guilty of admitting minors.
Religious and educational bodies must also not turn a blind eye to this growing trend. There has to be a more deliberate effort on educating children on the dangers of gambling at such a young age.
The media must also be wary of the types of gambling advertisements they run on their platforms, and the times of these adverts.
The betting operators also have a huge role to play. After all, if they do not admit these children on their sites or into their shops, we wouldn’t have this problem.
Unfortunately, most betting companies are only interested in the money flowing into their accounts, and are not bothered about where the money is coming from.
They need to be better than that.
To be fair, not all operators are guilty of this. There are still a few good betting sites that take identity verification of their customers very seriously.
Perhaps the biggest responsibility falls on the parents of these kids.
Parents need to spend more time in educating their children on various social issues, including gambling. Religious bodies and schools can only do so much.
Parents are usually the first points of contact for these kids and must not shy away from having conversations about prevailing issues in the society.
They must also be more aware of the whereabouts of their children, so that the young ones do not wander into betting houses.
They should also be more concerned about the types of sites their children visit on their phones. While this may not be easy to track, the least parents can do is take more interest in how their children are using the Internet, advise and educate on which sites they can visit and the ones to avoid.
While all parties have a part to play in tackling underage gambling, parents, who are the child’s gateway to the rest of the society, arguably have the biggest role of all.
