According to a study performed rather recently in the province British Columbia from Canada, more than half of the parents from this province (56%) have never talked, or have discussed very rarely with their teenage children about what does their involvement in gambling activities mean at this age. The same study shows that the parents’ role in the education regarding a responsible behavior towards gambling is crucial, especially in teenage years, known as a time of deep changes and challenges for every individual.
This is the reason why the governor of the province British Columbia, has decided to put at the disposal of the community a service called BC Responsible & Problem Gambling Program. This program is intended to help the population of all ages to better understand how one can have a responsible behavior towards gambling and to raise the awareness regarding the necessity of education, as modality of prevention of the potential gambling related problems. The program also has an education component for prevention and training, especially conceived for students from V-XIIth grade.
According to the Canadian academician Jeffrey Derevensky from the international center for gambling related problems among youngsters and high risk behaviors, from the University McGill (Canada), education regarding gambling should be treated just like any other subject matter included in the school syllabus. „We know that the programs of education by prevention really work and reduce the problems that may be generated, in some cases, by gambling” also says Derevensky.
Another example in this respect is that of the non-governmental organization Change the Game from the state Ohio (SUA) whose mission is, among others, to put in connection teachers, parents and youngsters in their initiative of educating in order to prevent the potential gambling related problems, by brochures and specific educational programs.
With the stronger and stronger development of the gambling industry on the Romanian market, the active companies in this field are getting more and more involved in promoting a responsible behavior towards gambling. And since the teenagers who are almost major of age will soon become adults who can practice gambling legally, a right education regarding gambling is very important in order to prepare them to take responsible decisions in the future.
In Romania, the education program Antrenat de Majorat (*trained for majority), developed and implemented by the Responsible Gambling Association, has become a standard and is conceived to play a double role: that of educating the youngsters so that they may take the right decisions, to know the risks of their involvement in activities which do not correspond with their psycho-social development level and which may affect their subsequent evolution. And from here derives the second role that of preventing the problems related to compulsive gambling.
The program takes place in high schools from the entire country and is aiming at teenagers who are almost the legal age and for whom the gambling activities will soon be allowed.
The seminars Antrenat de Majorat take place as informal interactive talks, where Dr. Cristian Andrei, psychotherapist, expert and ambassador of the Responsible Gambling Association talks to students from 11th and 12th grade about what is really important in social relations and how teenagers should react to the temptations addressed to adults.
It is also emphasized how teenagers should position themselves reported to money value and money gains and the way they can assert themselves other than by consumption of entertainment or rapid money gains. Thus, during the sessions Antrenat de Majorat it is created a maximum interactivity atmosphere, very attractive and intense for the participants.
„The project Antrenat pentru Majorat intends to approach teenagers from several perspectives – gaming, money, friendship, luck – precursors which can lead to control disorders in gambling. If we educate the teenagers, we’ll have future adults who, if they want to consume gambling services, they will make it being informed”, says Dr. Cristian Andrei.
The importance of the program Antrenat de Majorat is so much greater since, countries with more experience in promoting a responsible behavior towards gambling have similar programs to this one. For example, the organization Lane County Public Health Prevention (from the state Oregon, USA) offers, among other intervention or prevention services in what regards the gambling related problems, a series of interactive and informative seminars for the youngsters from high schools, with the purpose of inoculating to the teenage students the idea of making responsible decisions for a healthy future.
Until now, the program Antrenat de Majorat has reached to 2.200 students from 11th and 12th grade, from 15 high schools situated in 10 cities (Arad, Brasov, Braila, Botosani, Bucharest, Constanta, Craiova, Oradea, Suceava and Zalau) and it has included over 200 coordinating teachers or involved in the project. By the end of this year, Antrenat de Majorat will get to other six cities – Alba-Iulia, Buzau, Cluj-Napoca, Galati, Iasi and Timisoara, as well as in other high schools from the capital city.
