Analysis of Youth Gambling Reveals Focus on 'Male Students,' 'Grades 9 to 10,' and 'Short-Duration Games'

Most adolescents addicted to gambling are 16-17-year-old male youths, and they are focusing on online casinos where they can make quick profits, according to an analysis.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency held a joint seminar with the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Healing at 3 p.m. on the 14th to analyze the situation of youth gambling and explore response directions.

At the seminar, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Prevention and Healing Center presented comprehensive analysis results on gambling-addicted youths. This analysis was conducted on 76 gambling-addicted youths who were referred from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to the Prevention and Healing Center since April last year.

According to the analysis, among the 76 gambling-addicted youths, 74 (97.4%) were male youths, overwhelmingly more than female youths (2, 2.6%). By age group, 52 were 16-17 years old, accounting for 68.4% of the total.

The type of gambling that youths were involved in was entirely cyber gambling, with baccarat and snail games, which result in profits or losses in a short time, accounting for 65.8%. Illegal sports toto accounted for 21.1% (16 youths).

The so-called inducement routes through which youths first encountered gambling were introductions by friends or acquaintances at 55.3% (42 youths), earning pocket money at 25% (19 youths), simple curiosity at 13.2% (10 youths), and gambling advertisements at 6.6% (5 youths), in that order.

However, among the youths who participated in the healing programs operated by the Prevention and Healing Center, 62 out of the total 76 youths took part, and no recidivism has been reported so far among them.

Meanwhile, during the same period, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency arrested a total of 38 youths related to gambling, with the proportion of male youths (92.1%, 35 youths) also overwhelmingly high. The age group was similarly 16-17 years old at 58% (22 youths), and the type of gambling was online casinos including baccarat at 81.6%, showing a similar pattern.

Based on these analysis results, the two organizations plan to establish a customized gambling response system and carry out intensive response activities. The School Police Officers (SPO) will also specify their prevention activities more concretely to focus on prevention, and the prevention education materials of the two organizations will be produced considering the analysis results.

Kim Kwang-ho, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said, “Recently, illegal online gambling deeply penetrated among youths is a serious social problem that destroys the future of youths and leads to serious secondary damages such as assault and extortion. The police plan to conduct intensive crackdowns and prevention activities considering the analysis results, and to cooperate with specialized institutions such as the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Healing to ensure timely treatment and counseling for addicted students to fundamentally prevent recurrence.”