Illegal gambling in New York’s Korean community, which was previously regarded as
Illegal gambling in New York’s Korean community, which was previously regarded as a problem exclusive to senior citizens, has recently been increasing among Korean teenagers, threatening their well-being and saddling them with debts. Experts say that it is more serious for teenagers than adults to indulge in gambling, since they are immature and lack judgment and a sense of guilt.
According to Korean counseling organizations for youths, many have been frequenting online gambling sites. What is even worse is that it is difficult to restrict online gambling and teenagers can easily gain access to it regardless of time and place.
Case #1: A 16-year-old high school student is currently receiving counseling about his online gambling addiction. He pursued online gambling, borrowing his parents’ credit card with an excuse to buy in-game items for computer games. As the amount of money he wagered was getting larger, his father caught him red-handed. “I was surprised not only by the amount of money but also the fact that there are gambling sites accessible to kids,” said his father.
Case #2: An 18-year-old teenager, who works at a restaurant in New Jersey as a waiter, attempted suicide by taking a large dose of painkillers because of his gambling debt. Once a model student at a renowned high school, he started gambling after he analyzed, just for fun, his friends’ winning rates at gambling. Then, he went to private gambling dens run by his friends and found himself drowning in debt. While he was consulting with an expert at a specialized organization for gambling addiction, he repeatedly said that he just wanted to die because he was not able to get rid of the temptation to gamble.
The number of adolescents who are struggling with huge debts has recently been increasing because of the proliferation of gambling houses appealing to teenagers in New York. They have almost the same facilities as the ones for adults. Grace Sang Sook Lee, president of an organization for teenagers called Youth and Family Focus, said that illegal gambling has spread widely among Korean adolescents since these gambling dens for teenagers have popped up in Manhattan and elsewhere.
“It is more than a problem. Addicted kids might end up having their lives destroyed by drinking, drugs, and mental diseases,” she added.
Counseling experts suggest that parents’ attention is the most effective tool for preventing children from gambling, saying that parents can find out whether their children are addicted by watching them carefully. To prevent their children from taking up the habit in the first place, parents should check if their children ask for more money than they need and should make sure there is no problem in their relationships with their friends.
Regina Kim, head of the Korean Family Counseling and Research Center, said that it is crucial for adolescents not to be addicted to gambling because it is hard to give up gambling when they are grown up. “Gambling addiction is not a short term problem and needs treatment for a lifetime. Parents have to teach their children not to have a wrong perception of gambling in their childhood,” she suggested.
http://ny.koreatimes.com/article/841900
Translated by Jiwon Choi from Korean