(Jamma) To counter the spread of gambling, Codici has promoted a bill that will be presented tomorrow to the Lazio Regional Council.
The law intends to prevent deviance and combat compulsive gambling through various initiatives. “Tomorrow we will present to the Regional Council our bill against gambling addictions and addictions – he comments Ivano Giacomelli, National Secretary of the Codes – We hope for a positive response because, just recently, it has emerged how much the game has taken hold even among minors, who consider it a socially accepted behavior. Hence the need and the need to carry out initiatives aimed at raising awareness of the phenomenon and above all the need to review the regulations governing the sector”.
The Association has recently promoted, together with the Lazio Region, also a project entitled "I don't play my life", aimed at school-age children and aimed at making known the characteristics of compulsive gambling and gambling, both legal and illegal (initiative carried out as part of the 2011 Users and Consumers Program of the Lazio Region).
Approximately 500 children between the ages of 10 and 16 were involved in the project and the focus that has emerged on minors is in many ways worrying. 80% of the boys involved in the study said they have played at least once in their life and all said they play to win. Of these, 80% are male. The phenomenon is greater in high schools: in fact, 72% of the boys who declared having played at least once attend high school, while the remaining 28% attend middle school.
What do the boys play at? In pole position are fantasy football (a game conceived within the group of peers in which there is money up for grabs); sports bets (legal and forbidden to minors under 18) and scratch cards. 68% of boys said they prefer playing fantasy football and sports betting, while girls prefer scratch cards, 32%. In general, it appears that 40% of the children involved in the study play with a certain regularity. The phenomenon is worrying as gambling is not considered a behavior that can lead to addiction. In fact, the boys declare that they do not know that scratch cards and bets are forbidden for minors under the age of 18, as they can access them undisturbed.
