Techalyzer

You might want to be careful before you get your teenagers too many gaming gadgets. Studies by Australian researchers have show n that teenagers who are addicted to video games are more likely to develop obsessive and antisocial tendencies that can lead to a gambling problem. This means there might be something to the idea that kids who are nerds become the biggest problems in the society. This is the sort of study that tells us to “watch out for the quiet types.”
A survey of 2669 teenagers aged between 13 and 17 by Adelaide University researchers found 56 per cent had also started gambling in the pas twelve months. The study also revealed that 2.4 per cent became pathological gamblers by the age of 18.
The figure was higher than 2.1 per cent in case of adults who were found to be problem gamblers by the Productivity Commission in 1999. However, the level of harm, like losing a house or a relationship was much lower in case of teens simply because they were not as rich as adults.
A large number of teenagers who played video games later participated in some form of gambling whether it be buying scratchiest, playing card games, and playing poker machines. This might sound innocent but many teenagers become obsessed with these forms of gambling which give them the same kind of lift mentally that playing video games does. It is like being in competition with the self with a payoff that is now money instead of gaming points.
The study established that teenage problem gamblers played arcade games three times more often than those who did not gamble, and on average they played hand-held games and Internet games more than twice as often.
One of the Australian researched also noticed that teenage boys were more likely to play video games than girl and gamble often.
The temptation to gamble might be fulfilled because kids who play a lot of video games tend to have a lot less structure in their life. They tend to be intelligent, bored and lack parental supervision. It is the pattern of leisure activity that leads to the gambling as the psychological pay off is the same.
So if you are planning to get your kid a Nintendo or Gameboy as a gadget for Christmas or a birthday think twice! There is the slight chance that a gambling problem could be the eventual result especially if your kid happens to be a boy!

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