Youth in British Columbia, and namely adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18, have been increasingly found to engage in gaming and gambling for real money, signaling a worrying trend in the Canadian province.
The results are based on data from the 2023 BC Adolescent Health Survey, compiled by the McCreary Centre Society, which utilized data from 38,000 youth collected and processed through the survey.
Buying in-game goods and sports betting are hurting BC’s youth
According to these findings, 34% or more than one-third of respondents reported participating in at least one of the eight outlined activities in the survey.
Those included traditional real money gambling. The survey similarly asked participants about spending money on purchasing in-game goods, such as loot boxes, in the year prior to the interview questions.
The findings further prove the fact that young people, and those who are not of the legal gambling age, spend most of their money buying loot boxes and other in-game cosmetics when it comes to the surveyed activities.
Technically, however, loot boxes are not considered a form of gambling in most jurisdictions, with only a handful, the Netherlands and Belgium, outright banning these mechanisms.
While the legality and actual status of loot boxes are being debated, 20% of the interviewed youth admitted to actually engaging in traditional gambling activities, with online sports betting leading the way.
McCreary Center Society Executive Director Annie Smith commented on the latest survey data, which is collated once every five years:
"That includes online sports betting, which has doubled in the five years between doing the surveys, and playing cards and dice online has more than doubled."
The survey also paid attention to the rate of youth seeking help for their behavior, qualified as risky by the survey. 12% of those who reached out for help did so because of their gaming, i.e., spending money on traditional video games and accompanying purchases.
Only 1% admitted to having a gambling problem in the traditional sense, and another 1% needed help with both activities. Social isolation could also be a contributing factor in driving risky gaming and gambling behavior, Smith noted, adding:
"We had quite a lot of quotes about young people wanting to get engaged in physical activity, knowing that that will be better for them than what they are doing, but just really struggling to kind of make that change and needing support."
More importantly, data like this should be taken in context. For example, youth from smaller areas, which struggle to fund community centers or organized sports, could see a higher number of 12-18-year-olds struggling to control their gaming and gambling behavior.
