For millions of American adults, betting on sports has become the de facto national pastime. Legal sportsbooks have expanded out of Nevada and into dozens of states, while online betting apps can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection.
Increased legitimacy is a double-edged sword, however, as an entire generation of teenaged sports fans has been raised on point spreads and over/under totals. If you suspect your teen has been betting on sports illegally, here are four warning signs to watch for.
1. They Suddenly Start Flashing Cash That Can’t Be Explained
While the major online and mobile operators out there today run tight ships, verifying identification cards and credit accounts, teens can still bet on sports the old-fashioned way.
Believe it or not, savvy youngsters with a mind for numbers have been serving as their school’s “bookie” for ages now.
These operations can range from a few friends betting their lunch money, sophisticated networks spanning multiple campuses, and everything in between.
When a smart kid realizes that the house never loses thanks to the “juice” charged on every wager, the sky becomes their only limit, especially when parental attention is absent.
The first sign that your child might be engaged in illicit sports betting activities, especially if they’re acting as the bookmaker, is an unexplained infusion of cash. If your teen suddenly starts receiving a daily Amazon shopping spree on your doorstep, or other odd spending habits, this could be a significant tell.
After all, unless they have a part-time job to account for that additional income, the money has to come from somewhere. And once you can rule out more serious issues like selling drugs, the likelihood that they’re betting on or booking sports becomes too obvious to take lightly.
If you’ve noticed your teen living a lavish lifestyle as of late, don’t hesitate to ask them point-blank where the money is coming from. You’re the parent here, so it’s your job to ask the tough questions and seek the truth when suspicions arise. If they skirt the issue initially, explicitly mentioning sports betting will usually be enough to crack their facade.
Hopefully, an honest conversation about the issue will be enough to nip the issue in the bud once and for all. Explain to your teen that betting on sports is an activity reserved for adults, and for a good reason. The adolescent brain’s lack of impulse control relative to older folks is a scientific fact, which is why underage gambling is almost always synonymous with problem gambling.
And if this reasonable approach isn’t enough to convince them, just offer to send an email blast out to the parents of your teen’s friends.
When the precocious high schooler thinks they’ll be tagged as the “snitch” that brought down the school’s underground sportsbook syndicate, they’ll be happy to ditch their habit in exchange for avoiding social suicide.
2. They Begin Borrowing or Even Stealing Money
For every winning wager ever placed, a losing side bore the financial brunt in turn.
And given the inherent volatility and difficulty of sports betting over the long run, the most successful pros only sustain a win rate of 54%. The odds that your teen is printing money at the sportsbook are slim, to say the least. Unless they’re booking the action, a far more likely outcome involves them losing their meager bankroll over and over again.
When a teen gets their first taste of sports betting success, the new experience coupled with positive reinforcement, can be quite intoxicating. Unfortunately for them, that lack of impulse control shared by all youths can quickly rear its ugly head in the worst ways. After blowing through their profit and losing it all on bad bets or bad beats, most teen gamblers will trend towards compulsion.
And for the majority of teens you or I have ever encountered, borrowing means asking their dear old parents to foot the bill.
If your offspring seem to be in perpetual need of handouts, but never seem to have anything to show for those dollars, the inverse of the rule mentioned earlier must be true: The money has to be going somewhere. And following suit, if they’re not spending the money on drugs or other illicit substances, you can bet your bottom dollar that the kid is betting your bottom dollar on sports.
In the most severe cases, the ones involving outstanding debts to their bookie, some teens may even resort to outright theft to support their habit. Once you notice the stray $20 bill missing from your wallet or purse, the time has come to sit your teen down for a tough talk.
3. They’re Hanging Onto the Results of Every Big Game or Play
Becoming a sports fanatic is part and parcel of a budding teen’s increased interest in the world around them.
Whether they’re athletic themselves, gravitate toward the statistical side of sports, or simply enjoy following the family’s hometown team, sports fandom is almost always healthy and wholesome.
When your teen takes a keen interest in following their favorite team, consider the jerseys and posters to be a welcome rite of passage.
Of course, some kids take things too far (as is their wont in most endeavors) by taking the term “diehard” fan to the limit.
Screaming at the screen when a star player fouls out, accosting the referees with invective, punching their hand in frustration when the buzzer-beater fails to fall— these are signs that a young sports fan may be going overboard with their passion.
Let’s be honest, watching your teen take sports too far can be jarring to say the least.
And if they seem to be on edge while watching several different teams within the same sport, simple fandom isn’t enough to explain their ardent attention.
Emotional swings are one aspect of the game that even adult gamblers have trouble controlling. For teens already primed by hormones and angst, losing sports bets can become the source of genuine depression and despondency.
Ask them straightaway why this game matters so much, and why the loss seems to inflict such lasting wounds.
More often than not, just realizing that their parents are worried about them can be enough to break aspiring sports bettors out of their funk.
4. They Always Seem to Be Glued to Sports on Their Smartphone or Device
As I said above, becoming a big sports fan is all part of growing up for many teens. Throw in a 5G wireless connection and the latest iPhone, and even kids who have never placed a wager will bury their faces in a screen to catch the big game, read player profiles, or search for stats.
Everything has its time and place, but until they turn 21, “research” on sportsbooks and their wares can only lead teenagers down a dark road.
Conclusion
Parents of teens are heroes in my book, as they have the hardest task of all—guiding their children along the final path from adolescence to adulthood. Teenagers can be tempestuous even in the best of times.
Because sports are so tightly woven into the American child’s upbringing, sports betting seems to provide a natural bridge for those fateful first wagers. But while the online sportsbooks are a source of fun and entertainment for us adults, our teens must be taught to resist temptation until their 21st birthday arrives.