This article is one of the winning submissions in the New York Post Scholars Contest, presented by Command Education.
Take Syracuse minus 7 tonight, thanks later.
Let me cook this parlay!
These are real comments heard in the halls of my high school, and it’s not uncommon to hear them from students as young as 9th grade.
Every teenage sports player dreams of one day making it big in a parlay with more legs than a centipede, but they don’t step back to examine the many risks.
Not only are they gambling money, they’re also putting their future playing habits on the line when deciding whether Jalen Brunson will score 28.5 points or less or Aaron Judge will hit a home run.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, 60 to 80 percent of high school students reported gambling money last year, even though the legal age ranges from 18 to 21.
They also report that high school students are twice as likely to have gambling problems as adults.
Sports betting is currently legal in 38 states (plus Washington DC), but it’s the legalization of online betting sites that has allowed high school students to get in on the action. You don’t have to look far to find a place to do so, even as a junior in high school, as 30 states (plus the capital) now allow you to place bets from your fingertips.
It’s easier than ever to create an account in any of these apps. Technically, yes, you have to be over 18 (or 21) and even though ID verification is required to set up an account where you can withdraw real money, teenagers find ways to set it up anyway.
Once the app has you in hand with an account in your name (real or not), there’s no limit.
Watch any sporting event and notice the constant barrage of advertising from numerous sports betting sites: DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars Sportsbook, Bet MGM, Bet 365, ESPN Bet, Fanatics Sportsbook, Fliffit is never ending.
Would you like to bet on Czech Liga Pro table tennis?
How about League of Legends Esports?
Betting on something so obscure could be indicative of addiction, and the answer to the above from the impulsive and not fully developed teenage brain is yes many more times than it should be.
According to Yale Medicine, about 1% of adults suffer from gambling addiction. However, many gambling disorders begin in adolescence and addiction rates among young people jump to 2-7%.
Even betting on a sport, team or player you know like the back of your hand can be hugely involved and costly, but that’s not the point.
High school sports gambling isn’t just a problem, it’s an epidemic. Students are betting to their own detriment, whether they know it or not, and it needs to be addressed.
It is time for schools to focus on the root cause of online teen sports gaming by implementing gambling prevention education in all high schools. Health class curricula across the country cover typical adolescent health risks such as smoking, smoking, drinking, etc., but gambling education is nowhere to be found in our schools
Teenagers need education and knowledge to change their ways, and it is currently non-existent in the sports gaming space, despite the impressive number of underage users, which is only increasing. In 2022, a bill designed to add school instruction on gambling addiction easily passed the Virginia Senate, but similar bills in other states have stalled.
On the topic of illegal substances for minors, drugs like marijuana are often referred to as gateway drugs that lead to dependence on a stronger drug. This is the exact same scenario seen in high school sports betting communities with a particular app called Fliff. The app refers to itself as a free social sportsbook, allowing users to make sports predictions as a fun game.
Fliff CEO Matt Ricci calls his company an introductory tool for those curious about sports gaming. If that doesn’t sound like the epitome of a catwalk, I don’t know what does.
Underage sports bettors flock to the app and think nothing of it. For them, it seems like one more way to express the pure joy of sports fandom. But no.
Unconsciously, multitudes of high school students are likely to become addicted to gambling to the extent that, [Fliff] it’s the most used app on my phone, according to an 11th grader.
It doesn’t matter if it’s free to play or play for fun; this is a journey speeding through this door. Before teenagers know it, the same previously free bets will have big dollar amounts on real betting apps. This is an extremely dangerous development, but there is little or no discussion of the issue in schools.
As a huge Knicks fan, when I turn on MSG Network, I’m greeted with an entire segment dedicated to betting, which is directly sponsored by FanDuel. Throughout the ad breaks of the games the viewer sees numerous sports betting promotions with some like Bet 365 offering in-game live betting odds while others offer no sweat betting as some persuade you to put skin in the game.
There is even a BetCast on one of the networks alternative channels. It’s impossible to escape this matrix, especially as an easily tempted high school sports fan.
I’m one of the few sports fans I know who doesn’t bet. I’m a huge fan of my New York teams and I watch for the love of the game, but even I find myself looking for odds. Awareness and education are essential to stopping a potential problem before it starts. With the implementation of gambling education, we can go back to saying Lets Go Knicks!, instead of I hope my parlay hits are.
Cotrone, an 11th grader at John Jay High School in Cross River, N.Y., aspires to be a sports reporter covering the Knicks, Yankees or Giants.
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