Pilot lessons developed for secondary schools to raise awareness of gambling harms

Pilot lessons developed for secondary schools to raise awareness of gambling harms

Demos think tank has been piloting lessons in secondary schools to prevent gambling-related harms among school-age children.

Around 25,000 children in the UK are currently classed as problem gamblers, and some two million adults classed as at-risk of developing a problem, making early preventative education in schools a top priority.

For the past two years, Demos, supported by GambleAware, developed and tested a pilot education programme to teach children about the risks of gambling, and where to go for help and support.

The lessons were designed to build up the resilience of teenagers to the tactics that gambling companies use to encourage people to gamble.

Educating the pupils about concepts such as “delayed gratification” helped to improve their understanding of the nature of gambling and how to make good decisions when in any risky situation, particularly with gambling.

The four lessons were taught in selected schools across the country, as part of the PSHE curriculum for 14-year-olds, reaching 650 pupils.

Prior to starting the programme, just under 40 per cent of pupils surveyed did not agree that gambling was dangerous. Forty-one per cent of students said they had participated in gambling within the last year.

The most common form of gambling amongst those surveyed was using money to place bets (21 per cent).

This was followed by playing fruit machines (17 per cent) and finally playing cards for money (14 per cent).

Only 14 per cent of the pupils Demos surveyed had been taught about gambling in school before the pilot.

To evaluate the pilot Demos observed five lessons, conducted a tracked pre- and post- survey over 12 months for pupils at participating schools and nearby comparison schools where the lessons were not given, and held focus groups with pupils and teachers in participating schools during the Autumn term of 2016.

Over the 12 months Demos observed a statistically significant decline in the proportion of pupils playing cards for money – with a net decline of seven percentage points relative to the comparison group.

Demos saw the most substantial changes, relative to the comparison school, in pupils being able to describe ways to help someone experiencing gambling problems, there was a net 20 percentage point increase in the proportion of pupils at participating schools relative to the comparison school being able to do so.

Demos also saw a net 18 percentage point increase in pupils feeling that they know where to go to talk about gambling problems, an 11-percentage point increase in pupils able to describe delayed gratification, and a net 10 percentage point increase in pupils understanding the techniques used by the gambling industry to persuade people to gamble.

More than 100 schools expressed an interest in taking part in the Demos’ pilot, signalling a significant awareness of the risks posed to young people from gambling harms.

The results were submitted to government as part of a recent consultation on the content of PSHE lessons, and both Demos and GambleAware highlighted the need to include gambling-related harm when teaching children about risky behaviours.

Dr Jane Rigbye, director of education, GambleAware said: “There are legitimate concerns about the impact of gambling-related advertising and the normalisation of gambling for children.

“It is in this context, that GambleAware is pleased to have funded this project to explore what may be effective in helping children to understand the nature of gambling and the associated risks, and to become resilient to the harms that can arise. We hope the success of this project will support that case for gambling and the risks it poses to be included in the PSHE curriculum in schools in the future.”

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