By Patrick Fergus
@Fergus5Fergus
The endless scrolling begins right where it left off, on the phone, tablet or computer screen — a search for the bet or parlay that makes the most sense, the one that’ll hit.
The one that will make you rich.
It’s a far cry from the occasional trip to the casino or a friendly wager with a friend; gambling is now available, literally, at the lift of a finger. Look no further than the college student for examples of those especially vulnerable to the rapidly growing industry.
An anonymous student at Springfield has noticed the shift from a mild interest in gambling to a fully-fledged culture.
“[I] first started when I was like 16, and it was just fun, you know, putting down small amounts,” said the student. “100 percent I’ve noticed it; like my friend group, for example, nearly all of us have at one point gambled constantly.”
A survey done by the NCAA in July of 2023 showed that 67 percent of students living on campus are bettors, with 16 percent having engaged in risky behavior bets or bets with larger monetary value at stake. Underage students can also find ways to gamble through apps like Fliff, which don’t ask for age or any identifying information but offer real cash payouts.
Still, alarms about the potential dangers are not being set off on these campuses.
Brian Krylowicz, the director of the counseling center at Springfield College, does not have hoards of students coming in to talk about their gambling problems. Still, he’s worried about the type of knowledge out there about safe gambling habits. Krylowicz gave a presentation about gambling last year and asked students in attendance, primarily underaged, to raise their hands if they had ever gambled before.
“Everyone in the room raised their hand, which wasn’t surprising,” Krylowicz said.
The daily appeal of online gambling is also a more frightening prospect for Krylowicz, as the chances of an increase in bets being placed are more likely because of the amount of phone usage among young adults.
“Where I’m really nervous now, it’s much more of the coin flip stuff…where you’re just betting for instant gratification,” said Krylowicz. “I think we’ve entered a new realm and think most adults don’t even comprehend it and its potential dangers.”
The concern is rightly placed in younger people for many reasons, including psychologically. Numerous reports, including one by the New York Academy of Sciences, point to the underdeveloped prefrontal cortex (or frontal lobe) as a severe problem for younger minds.
This area of the brain mainly controls decision-making and the regulation of emotions, and isn’t typically fully developed until a person’s mid-20s. Members of the psychology field believe that directly correlates with the development of problem gamblers.
Matthew Brubaker, the director of the psychology department at Springfield, teaches these theories in many of his classes. A principal theory is operant conditioning, which says when you do a behavior, and you get a reward for that behavior, you will continue doing that behavior in the future.
“When you don’t get rewarded every single time, it actually drives the behavior more because of that uncertainty, of not knowing when you’re going to get that payout,” Brubaker said about how the operant conditioning theory applies to gambling practices.
Brubaker also says these feelings are prayed upon from an earlier age. Many popular video games like Madden operate on the same reward and reinforcement tendencies in game modes, where a player is often rewarded with a better character or card if they’re willing to pay for it.
“The truth of the matter is that the younger you are, the harder it is to set those boundaries,” said Brubaker. “The games are sort of like a gateway drug.”
Since 1995, rates have doubled, with around 11 percent of the emerging adult population (18 – 25-year-olds) having problems with gambling, according to an article by the National Library of Medicine. Sports gambling, in particular, is increasingly popular in this age bracket, especially among males.
Putting wagers on sports is the most common type of online betting, according to Statista. These bettors feel like they know their sports well and that their advanced knowledge of player or team trends increases their likelihood of winning. Athletes are now being advised to stay off sportsbooks or gambling apps, as the NCAA recently strengthened their student-athlete guidelines.
It’s not a coincidence that 18 to 25-year-olds are gambling more than they ever have before. The advertising of these mega sportsbooks like Fanduel and DraftKings directly targets them.
“I saw people doing it, and I got into it. It’s that simple, you see it, and you want it,” said the anonymous student. “These sportsbooks and companies, they’re begging you to do it.”
Even ESPN, the top visited sports website in the world, recently launched its own sportsbook called ESPN Bet.
“If you asked me what website do I go to most during my day? It’s ESPN,” said Krylowicz. “They make it so easy to look at these offers of bet $5 to win $150…..I mean, which kid isn’t going to click on that.”
So, the potential dangers have been studied and recognized. Yet, there remains a lack of education on college campuses, especially when compared to other addictive practices like drug and alcohol use.
Students believe it’s because of the disproportion in gender, where gambling is done exceedingly by men, and that educating the diverse student body of a college campus is difficult.
“Drugs, alcohol or consent are pushed because it affects both parties, where something like sports gambling doesn’t … it’s all guys,” said the anonymous student.
On the other hand, it’s more difficult to ascertain. Gambling isn’t precisely like drugs or alcohol; it’s more discreet.
“You could be sitting across from me at lunch and be gambling on your phone, and I’d never know,” said Krylowicz. Brubaker added, “More awareness is key, and because it’s kind of a newer issue, that type of knowledge may not be out there.”
Even so, the soon-to-be mega-trillion-dollar industry of gambling and sports gambling isn’t going anywhere.
For some students, the day ends much like it begins, as they lay back in their bed and check their potential winnings. Even if they didn’t win, deep down, they know they’ll be back tomorrow.
Photo Courtesy of Forbes.Com