New Lessons for Schools on Gambling
New lessons on gambling and gaming awareness have been created for eleven- to fourteen-year-olds in the UK. Schools have been urged to offer the resources compiled by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment. The lessons cover a variety of topics, from sports betting and scratch cards to video game loot boxes.
Gambling products are easier to access than ever before on the web. ©Pixabay/Pexels
Educational Resources
Schools in the UK have been encouraged to use new lessons on gambling and gaming awareness for children aged eleven to fourteen. The lessons, put together and published by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, cover a broad range of topics including scratch cards, sports betting and betting in online video games.
The resources include five lesson plans, each supporting one of the key aspects of emotional wellbeing outlined in the Children & Young People’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing in Education Framework. The series of lessons has been designed to be delivered in the Learning for Life and Work subject.
Topics explored include understanding how leisure activities can impact wellbeing, learning about feel-good hormones and the relationship between leisure and money. The lessons also discuss how advertising can influence the choices we make and the importance of recognizing that difficulty in stopping gambling or gaming is not a weakness.
A report published by the National Audit Office on behalf of the Gambling Commission in 2018 found that around 55,000 young people aged between eleven and sixteen in the UK were addicted to gambling. Earlier research carried out in Wales estimated that around 40% of young people the same age had gambled. In 2019, the first dedicated gambling clinic for children and young people was opened by NHS England.
According to CCEA guidance, young people view gaming as a part of their world that they can enjoy and benefit from. Teachers should therefore recognize that gaming has its positives while also raising awareness of concerns. In addition to learning about gambling products, the lessons also address products in online gaming that encourage in-game spending.
Loot Box Controversy
Loot boxes are in-game products that allow players to purchase a mystery box of virtual items, such as skins, weapons or character costumes. These items can be advantageous to players, helping them to level up or progress through the game. Loot boxes can be bought using virtual currency earned through playing the game or real money.
Concerns have been raised over whether loot boxes could constitute a form of gambling, as players are unable to see what they have bought until they have already paid to open them. Some countries, including Australia, have taken measures towards banning the sale of loot boxes to minors.
In the UK, the government carried out a 22-month consultation but decided not to ban loot boxes. A report carried out by researchers at the universities of Plymouth and Wolverhampton in 2021 ‘robustly verified’ a link between loot boxes and problem gambling. It also found that of the 93% of children that play video games, 40% have opened loot boxes.
In 2020, the House of Lords Gambling Committee said that loot boxes should be regulated under gambling laws. Their report stated that if a product looks and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling. In May this year a report from eighteen European consumer groups blasted loot boxes as ‘exploitative’, saying that gamers are manipulated into spending large sums of money on them.
The UK government is currently in the final stages of its Gambling Act Review, and expects to publish a white paper in the coming weeks. Despite pressure from groups campaigning for restrictions on video game loot boxes, no indication has been given that they will be recategorized as gambling products.
Gambling Easily Accessible
Some schools in Northern Ireland are already teaching children about gambling harms using a series of lessons created by the Gambling with Lives charity. Dundonald High School was amongst the first to share the program with its fifteen- and sixteen-year-old pupils. Real-life cases are used to communicate the issues of problem gambling, including the story of a young man who started to gamble on arcade machines.
Speaking to BBC News NI, teacher Laura Haggan explained why she believes that it is vital that young people are made aware of gambling harms. She says that education around gambling addiction has been neglected in schools for many years, despite teachings on other addictive substances like drugs and alcohol. Ms Haggan added:
“It is vital that young people are made aware of the dangers and harm that can be caused by gambling, more so in Northern Ireland as we have one of the highest rates of gambling participation in the UK. Gambling is easily accessible to young people and can be carried out 24/7 due to the widespread use of mobile phones and gaming apps and competition websites.”
According to the secondary school teacher, many young people in her classes did not even view their participation in certain games, apps and websites as gambling, despite it being that. She also emphasized that students should be made aware of the tactics used by advertising agencies to encourage people to gamble, such as promotional emails or texts.
Speaking on behalf of Gambling with Lives in Northern Ireland, Barry Fennell took the opportunity to welcome the new CCEA lessons. He said that any resources that raise awareness of gambling harms are very important, due to how easily accessible gambling products have become.
