Introduction
Many vices are practiced in society, most of which have been said to be illegal. There are however some of which have been legalized and as long as a person is above the required age then he/she can participate in this vice. Gambling is one of them. Gambling is one f the most addictive vices in the world and most people have wasted their life and resources because of this. According to Saisan, Segal & Smith (2010), the following are some of the signs that a person is a gambling addict: the person is secretive about his/her activity and does not want people to know about it, the person can go to an extend of borrowing money to gamble, he/she gamble 24/7 without control among others.
Purpose of the Paper
The rapid growth and development of internet have affected all the major social and economic sectors of development. The entertainment industry and particularly the gambling sector is one of the sectors affected both negatively and positively by the internet, however, the negative effects outweigh the positives and this is what the paper will focus on mainly. The paper will close by giving a review of the important points discussed in the course of study.
Effects of Internet of Gambling
In any society, the children are the most vulnerable lot, they are they are mostly affected by diseases but mostly the internet. Easy access to the internet has exposed them to pornographic content and gambling.
Cheon & Hongsik have observed the easy access to the internet by most kids exposes them to the numerous websites that offer online gambling websites. This, therefore, acts as a gambling training ground for the children. The effects of this are grave and it may take many efforts from the parents to restore back their normal lives (Cheon & Hongsik, 2005).
- Education: For the children who are hooked to online gambling, they will spend most of their time on the internet gambling in the pretense of good academic “research”. This in the end will affect their academic performance and for most of them, especially the adolescent they drop out of school to become full-time gamblers. The adolescents are the most vulnerable because of the development that they are undergoing. For those who will not drop out of school, their performance may be below per for most of their academic lives.
- Social Life: The nature of children and young people is to be playful and interact with other kids in the neighborhood for them to become responsible adults. For those who are hooked up to online gambling, this may never happen because they will spend all their time in front of computers gambling. The effects of this can be severe mental and health conditions for the kid and trauma for the parents and guardians.
- Family Relationship: For a kid to grow up to be a mature and responsible adult, they need constant guidance from parents and senior family members. Being hooked to online gambling may deny them this very important stage of human growth and development. The children are not the only ones who have been affected by gambling alone, senior members of the family have also fallen victims to this. This is how social norms are eroded. The young become poisoned by bad morals, gradually; they pick habits and trends that do not reflect morality and good social ethics. In fact, the proliferation of criminal intents across society can be blamed on such activities. Gambling has been blamed for many crimes including drugs and loss of property among others. It is sad to note that, the desire for money is overtaken by crime with many humans taking criminality as a way to provide for their siblings.
- Finances: Unlike normal gambling where, a person is required to have currency to gamble, online gambling is worse. Most online casinos allow their players to play on “credit” as long as they provide their credit card details. This can many problems to the financial aspect of an individual since all his/her cash will be deducted by the casino leaving them broke and desperate. Online casinos have also given rise to an increasing number of online fraudsters to pose as owners and operators of legally license casinos but in most cases, this is not the truth. The desire for earning extra cash has made many people fall victims to these tricksters losing all their hard-earned cash and self-esteem. This allows many young people to engage in credit card fraud. Children and even adults engage in robberies and stealing other people’s credit cards become a norm. This exposes many to imprisonment. People are exposed to criminals who will violently rob them of their cards and money. Many criminal gangs are engaging in credit card fraud. Since online gambling provides room for one to increase his stake, one might want to steal more cards to get to jackpots. There must be a regulatory framework checking on online gambling website banking and financial transactions and freeze assets of firms involved in wrongful deeds, especially using other peoples credits cards by members.
- Family Breakups: Any form of gambling exposes most families to high risks of breakups. This is because one partner in the relationship wastes all his/her time in gambling halls and on the internet. In the case of the casino halls, it is common for partners to spend days and days in the casinos gambling with the hope of winning a jackpot one day, something that rarely happens. Statistics done by counselors show that more men are engaging in online gambling. Conversely, more young male adults are involved in online gambling. Young males are more likely to steal credit cards and break their young marriages because of gambling.
The social lifestyle of people has also been greatly affected by the internet and in particular internet gambling, being addicted to online gambling paves way for the gambler to pick up other vices on the internet as they engage in the activity. The addicts also end up becoming pornographic addicts and other negative vices that destroy their lives.
Apart from the above-mentioned effects that gambling has on the lives of millions of people, it can also cause mental and health complications that require medical attention and counseling to recover. It is important to note that, gambling has been there for many decades. Its effects on individuals are unique and in the event of serious mental implications, the level of effect is far much-defined per case basis. Gamblers who have lost wealth and ended in the streets might be on the rise since there is a real need for quick money today.
As suggested, the implications of gambling are beyond individual gamblers. They have far-reaching implications on society as well. Losses incurred might translate to monetary constraints for families. Criminal activity is also associated with gambling with dozens of individuals going after fellow gamblers. Adverse effects of gambling have been observed through prostitution and drugs with gamblers becoming conduits for both. This can be stemmed from core government policies.
As a recommendation, internet filtering should be encouraged and enforced by parents and institutions of learning to ensure that the kids are not allowed to access online gambling. For the addicts, taking them to health facilities for treatment and care is vital. However, parents have been slack in enforcing such policies though little effort is required to enact them. On the other hand, it is the role of governments to have mechanisms in place to facilitate the complete inhibition of such facilities access. Such efforts will go a long way to help build a healthy society that is free of such criminal activity and morally demeaning values.
Summation of the Paper
There have been arguments that gambling greatly contributes to the economic growth of many nations from the huge taxes that the government deducts from the casinos, it might be true but more lives are destroyed as such. The paper has started by defining the term gambling and internet gambling. The paper has looked at the negative effects of the internet on the children who are the most vulnerable members of society. The paper has continued and given the negative effects of gambling on the senior members of the community. In conclusion, the paper has given a few recommendations that should be adopted and implemented to control this negative vice. The internet has played a big role in economic growth and development, however, there is some negative content available on the internet that is destroying the lives of millions of people around the world. With a good plan and implementation, society can make good use of it.
Reference List
- Saisan J, Segal J & Smith M. 2010. Gambling Addiction and Problem Gambling. (Online)
- Cheon & Hongsik, J. 2005. ‘Children’s Exposure to Negative Internet Content:’ Effects of Family Context. (Online)