UK Gambling Commission states that children as young as 11 are involved skin betting

[WYP]

"45% of 11-16 year olds were aware that it is possible to bet with in-game items"



Read more on the Gambling Commission's report on underage gambling.

 

[demonking]

FFS.... gambling "activities" in the playground.....
anyone play marbles? or Pogs?
they paint it as if there are massive poker games for serious money going on in schools and these kids are in crippling debt because of it.
Life is a god dam gamble...... god dam nanny state again.
Though I do agree, kids should not be allowed to gamble with anyone other thatn other kids and not for real currency, If these lose their pokemon cards or whatever kids are into these days, (to other kids), they learn a valuable lesson about gambling and taking care of what you have

 

[Warchild]

FFS.... gambling "activities" in the playground.....
anyone play marbles? or Pogs?
they paint it as if there are massive poker games for serious money going on in schools and these kids are in crippling debt because of it.
Life is a god dam gamble...... god dam nanny state again.
Though I do agree, kids should not be allowed to gamble with anyone other thatn other kids and not for real currency, If these lose their pokemon cards or whatever kids are into these days, (to other kids), they learn a valuable lesson about gambling and taking care of what you have

Sadly kids now play in the biggest unsafe playground we have ever known. the internet.
Parents buy their child CS:GO and the like and it opens up into a massive skin betting world.

I think it really is an issue and not exaggerated. Perhaps you have misunderstood the severity of the whole problem?

 

[demonking]

Sadly kids now play in the biggest unsafe playground we have ever known. the internet.
Parents buy their child CS:GO and the like and it opens up into a massive skin betting world.

I think it really is an issue and not exaggerated. Perhaps you have misunderstood the severity of the whole problem?

CSGO for instance is an 18 age rated game only intended for Adults, Parents that allow their child to access adult material should be aware what they are exposing the children to, and valve should have something in place to prevent children from accessing age related content,but agreed something needs to be done to stop kids gambling on the internet the same way they cannot legally access book makers services.

 

[Warchild]

CSGO for instance is an 18 age rated game only intended for Adults, Parents that allow their child to access adult material should be aware what they are exposing the children to, and valve should have something in place to prevent children from accessing age related content,but agreed something needs to be done to stop kids gambling on the internet the same way they cannot legally access book makers services.

"Should" is one of the most dangerous words in the dictionary. There are so many oblivious parents who aren't even aware that games have 18+ ratings.

But its not just about CS:GO, there is a huge plethora of games with micro transactions for skins and cosmetics that can be gifted away aka, auctioned on ebay or somewhere else.

 

[demonking]

"Should" is one of the most dangerous words in the dictionary. There are so many oblivious parents who aren't even aware that games have 18+ ratings.

But its not just about CS:GO, there is a huge plethora of games with micro transactions for skins and cosmetics that can be gifted away aka, auctioned on ebay or somewhere else.

I was gob smacked on the "gambling activities in playgrounds". Its always been there, always will be, I gambled my lunch money once on who would win a race, I lost, I went hungry and i learnt. kids need to be educated about it.
On one hand, I agree that something needs to be done to stop this but on the other hand, as a parent myself, its down to parenting. Its my job to make monitor what my kids are up to and being exposed to and its my job to educate them on the concequences of their actions (gambling as an example).
I cannot stand the way this country always look to businesses and governments to blame for what kids are being exposed to, I am responsible for my kids and educating them on what is right and wrong, If my children are gambling, I haven't been monitoring them properly and i haven't been educating them properly and I am failing as a parent.
I suppose i could blame the schools, other parents, the companies and the government, that seems to be the norm these days.......

 

[sheroo]

Its my job to make monitor what my kids are up to and being exposed to and its my job to educate them on the concequences of their actions (gambling as an example).

You see there in lies the problem. You have the technical know how and knowledge to monitor your kids and then educate them on the does and don'ts. Most parents don't have this expertise or the time to know what their kids are up to on line. So what do they do? In an ideal world the companies would self regulate, but we know this will never happen, because all that they are interested in is their bottom line.

Most of the tools to protect kids on line are laughable, and kids soon learn to circumnavigate these anyway. Protection should be rolled into these devices, but they simply aren't.

I think the problem is going to get a lot worse. Even as a technically competent parent, I feel like I'm slowly loosing the battle, I need to give them enough freedom so they don't feel like they are living in a police state, but have it all ring fenced so that they actually are, but it doesn't feel like it.

Mobile phone usage is even harder to police...

 

[ByteMyAscii]

My parents, and their mother are well aware of the age ratings on games purchased for my nephews.
But it is the "norm", and they are the games they want.

No matter the intent of a rating, they are ineffective.