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According to a report in the Boston Globe, teenage gambling has been on the rise. A survey done in the Delaware school system suggests that one-third of 6,753 eighth graders said that they gambled in 2002. Nine percent of these students had gambled on Internet sites offering electronic slot machines and card games. Similarly in New Jersey, the Council on Problem Gambling said Atlantic City's casinos evict about 34,000 young people annually. According to the Globe article, nationwide statistics on youth gambling are scarce, but regional surveys suggest that more than 30 percent of high school students gamble periodically.
There are a number of national and international organizations that are concerned about teenage gambling as an addiction or as a precursor to an addiction. These include the National Council on Problem Gambling, the Center for Gambling - New Zealand, and the The International Centre for the Study and Prevention of Youth Gambling Problems. The experts quickly point out that "adult gambling addicts may seek help when they realize their job or marriage is imperiled, but young people are less likely to do so, Unlike adult gamblers, "these kids still live at home, and nobody's dragging them in, saying, `If you don't go for help, I'm leaving you,'they may steal money, usually from their family. and if they get caught, their parents are not going to turn them in.
Recent Medline publications on youth gambling shows some of the latest studies.
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