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CHILDREN GAMBNLING ON WEBSITES1 July 2002The Federal Trade Commission found in a survey of Internet gambling sites that many of them luck adequate safeguards and warnings to prevent children and teenagers from playing and placing bets. The survey included 100 popular web sites. 1 of 5 had no warnings for minors. Although most of them had disclaimers, they were not easy to find. In addition, the sites lucked any screening mechanisms whatsoever. At a news conference hekd by the FTC, Timothy Muris (FTC Chairman) said that there is indeed a growing problem with kids engaged in online gambling. Minors gambling online could be using their parents'' credit cards, costing them money and damaging their credit ratings. FTC also warned parents, adding that online gambling could be addictive. "Gambling in social isolation and using credit to gamble may be risk factors for developing gambling problems". Muris says the FTC is continuing its research and plans to work with the online gambling industry to develop voluntary steps to protect children. All stated forbid minors from gambling. The majority of the gambling Web sites surveyed were based outside the United States. The agency is investigating at the request of Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who says President Bush’s administration is not doing enough to protect children from online gambling. |