High School Student Who Lost New Year's Money Gambling, Responds to Outpouring Support: "I Will Tell My Parents... I Will Become a New Person"

"Sorry to Those Who Gave Hard-Earned Money as Sebaetdon"

A high school student who lost hundreds of thousands of won to online illegal gambling expressed remorse, prompting netizens to leave messages of support.

Following Friends into Gambling and Losing Hundreds of Thousands of Won... Netizens Support Confession of "I Reflect on My Actions"

Gambling device. The photo is not directly related to the content of the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

On the 14th, a post titled "I Lost All My New Year's Money and Allowance to Online Illegal Gambling" was uploaded on an online community. The author, identified as A, a second-year high school student, began by saying, "At the end of December 2023, I was introduced to online illegal gambling through a friend. Since I was short on allowance, I was amazed and envious to see how a few clicks could earn tens of thousands of won." He confessed to losing all 600,000 won of his allowance through online gambling. To save up the 600,000 won again, A worked part-time every weekend. He said he used the 600,000 won earned from part-time jobs to buy New Year's gifts for his parents.

However, A fell back into the temptation of gambling after receiving his New Year's money. He said, "When I heard that my friend won 1.2 million won with his New Year's money, the online illegal gambling that I had quit thinking I would never do it again came back to mind," and he started gambling again. As a result, he lost all 820,000 won of his New Year's money. A expressed, "I am really sorry and ashamed to those who gave me New Year's money, which must have been hard-earned," adding, "I am afraid that if I tell my parents about this, they will no longer trust or love me."

Netizens who read the story left stern advice such as, "Money earned easily disappears easily," and "You lost money, but later you could lose your life, so never gamble again," while also encouraging A by saying, "Since you are reflecting now, you can quit," and "We support the mindset and courage of this student."

Later, on the 15th, A posted again to express gratitude. He said he confessed the gambling to his parents and emphasized, "Since yesterday, I started today with the mindset of truly becoming a different person," and "I want to grow up as a son my parents can be proud of without doing any more shameful acts."

The Increasingly Serious Problem of Youth Gambling... 'Risk of Secondary Harm'

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's first-ever 'Cyber Gambling Diagnostic Survey' conducted last year revealed that among approximately 880,000 first-year middle and high school students, about 29,000 were classified as at risk of cyber gambling, highlighting the seriousness of youth gambling issues. According to the 'Youth Gambling Status Survey' conducted by the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Healing in 2022, about 4.8%, or approximately 190,000, of upper elementary (grades 4?6), middle, and high school students were identified as at-risk groups for gambling problems.

The reason why youth online illegal gambling is a bigger problem is that it can lead to secondary harm such as assault and extortion. A joint research team from Samsung Seoul Hospital and Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital analyzed 5,619 adolescents with gambling experience and found that stealing money was a major symptom of youth gambling. Symptoms such as absenteeism or dropping out from activities they participated in before gambling were also frequently observed. Additionally, cases have occurred where youths engage in crimes such as drug delivery or voice phishing to raise gambling funds, or use illegal loans, leading to debt problems and even extreme choices.

If you need help due to gambling addiction, there are telephone counseling (1336), online counseling (Netline netline.kcgp.or.kr), and KakaoTalk counseling (add Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Healing as a friend).