Serbia is the second country in Europe in terms of the number of betting shops. About 300.000 citizens of Serbia are addicted to gambling, mostly those between 18 and 25 years old. A national survey on the lifestyles of the population of Serbia, conducted by the Institute for Public Health "Batut", showed that Serbs play the lottery the most, followed by bookmakers, while casino games come in third.
Research also shows that 30 percent of children under the age of 16 had contact with betting.
In the Special Hospital for Addictive Diseases in Dreizerova, there are 1 registered patients who are being treated for pathological gambling.
Between 15 and 20 new patients come to that institution every month. As reported by RTS, it is worrying that the data show that every fourth student in the first grade of high school played a game of chance.
Dice is not a "game"
Children start betting already in the seventh grade, during the big vacation one of the older ones goes and pays the ticket instead of them, psychotherapist Jelena Manojlović from the SOS Center told the "Vremena" portal.
During the 18 years of Sos Center's existence, the youngest client who was in the rehab program was 17 years old, while a 12-year-old child was at the consultation because his parents noticed that he started betting, so they reacted immediately.
"Parents can notice that there is a problem because the child begins to withdraw from communication, has aggressive outbursts, loses interest in school, socializing and various activities, often does not tell the truth, but they only react to the realization that there are gambling debts. Parents often sell apartments and cars because of their children's debts. There were also examples when parents convinced children that if they agreed to receive treatment, they would not be reported for theft," says Manojlović and adds that the treatment program generally lasts half a year.
Milica Gostić, an expert associate at the SOS Center, says that working with minors is extremely difficult, because they have not suffered the consequences of their gambling.
"Education and control are strengthened, families go through education and together we try to correct behavior until the child adopts new patterns of behavior, i.e. until he stops gambling. Polygraph tests are included in the weaning process", explains Gostić.
The increasing number of gamblers among minors is influenced by easy accessibility, addiction to the phone, and the social acceptability of gambling as a "game".
"Many public figures promote gambling, athletes, actors, singers, who are role models for young people, so children easily fall into it. "Parents can't follow what's going on, because now there are betting and gambling applications on the phone, so it's easy for children to hide their gambling," says Gostić.
Gambling is as deadly as drug addiction and alcoholism
The SOS Center points out that absolutely every segment of society should be included in education about the problem of pathological gambling. Parents through educational shows, articles and the like, children through projects, lectures in primary and secondary schools. As they say, it is important for the public to recognize and acknowledge pathological gambling as a galloping disease of society, such as drug addiction and alcoholism.
"It is necessary to appeal to stricter control of law enforcement so that persons under 18 are not allowed to bet and gamble, the state to finance projects to strengthen families and the availability of treatment," says Manojlović.
According to the Sos Center research from November and December 2019, conducted at 60 secondary schools in Serbia, out of 4000 students aged 16-18, 32 percent of children play betting regularly (more than once a week).
Pathological gamblers are mostly men (86 percent) aged 18 to 29. A total of 3,7 percent of the adult population in Serbia has a risk for some form of gambling, up to 2 percent of them have a moderate or higher risk of gambling (problem gamblers).
U research "Life is not a game" 790 students participated. According to the results, the youngest respondent who gambles pathologically is 12 years old - he plays roulette with his father, and he started using machines when he was less than 10 years old with his brother or father.
The oldest is 19 years old. The average age of students who gamble pathologically is 17 years.
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