Contrary to what many of us would like to believe, gambling is not an exclusively over 18 activity – in fact it’s far from it. Popular sports and surrounding media burst at the seams with gambling ads, online gaming draws many monetisation techniques from the gambling industry, and enormously popular influencers often ‘win big’ on when livestreaming crypto casinos. 

But awareness of underage gambling – and child financial harms more generally – is at least increasing. And with a recent statutory levy on gambling operators set to generate £100m+ a year in the UK, there may finally be a budget to research, understand and tackle gambling-related harms. 

In this episode, Vicki is joined by director of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, Will Prochaska to explore the gambling in 2025 – and to discuss a roadmap to combating the darker, dodgier side of the industry. 

Talking points:

• From the National Lottery to scratch cards and The Grand National, gambling doesn’t always seem to be necessarily problematic. So are those of us who are against newer, online forms of gambling simply killjoys – or is there more at play? 
• With gambling ads constantly shifting to less regulated or spotlighted spaces, is a total ban the only way to avoid an unending game of whack-a-mole? 
• As gambling companies are now required to pay towards the new levy, how likely is it that they’ll also work on proactively minimising harm?

Tech Shock is a Parent Zone production. Follow Parent Zone on social media for all the latest on our work on helping families to thrive in the digital age. Presented by Vicki Shotbolt. Tech Shock is produced and edited by Tim Malster.

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