Council of Europe Takes Aim at Protecting Youths from Gambling

The Council of Europe has raised concerns over the proliferation of gambling in Europe and the adverse effects the activity may be having on youths across the region.

To this end, the advisory body has set in motion a new project that is designed to specifically address these worries and seek to protect youths from the adverse impacts of online gambling and the increased pervasiveness of such games of chance among youths.

Europe’s Youth at Risk from Gambling and Gambling Companies

According to Eotvos Lorand University’s Institute of Psychology in Budapest only a minority of adolescents experience addiction-like symptoms, but even this is too steep a price to pay as engaging with  gambling products at a young age could lead to severe negative consequences and functional impairment.

Researcher Orsolya Kiraly who works at the Institute of Psychology reiterated well-established facts about the adverse impact of gambling on young minds. There are mental as well as health concerns that need to be addressed, Kiraly further explained.

The Council of Europe has already been gathering insights into how the gambling industry works. According to its Pompidou Group, originally set up to create and implement anti-drug and addiction policy, has also noted that gambling policies are crafted to be as enticing as possible, pulling new players in.

Kiraly has sounded an alarm over the negative impact that gambling could potentially have on young minds. According to the researcher, 16.3% of those youths who bet on sports could be affected by a gambling disorder, with the percentage even higher for adolescents who gamble via “online platforms” – 26.4%.

She also raised another key point – loot boxes, which are digital containers based on chance. Players buy them for a random reward. Loot boxes have been banned in Belgium and the Netherlands, but the United Kingdom, for example, have stopped short of regulating them as a form of gambling activity.

Council of Europe Seeks to Address National Policies Shortcomings

The Council of Europe is also acting preemptively, as it is seeking to fix a problem that has been admittedly overlooked by the majority of its members.

Many of the member-states have not developed comprehensive strategies to address the issue, and are moving too slowly on a national level, which is why the advisory body is hoping to come up with a pan-European strategy that addresses the sprawling problem of how gambling is impacting the continent’s youths.