December 2005

Hello Teachers,

      When I retired from teaching, another teacher who had left teaching to raise her children, asked me to help fight against a gambling casino that was being pushed on our small town. I felt that it was important to prevent it from coming into a town that has few recreation choices for teens. I didn't want the kids to think, "when I get bigger, that's where I want to go." Little did I know the extent of the threat of gambling addiction and youth.

      Wherever it exists, the gambling industry has designs on our youth. Since coming to town, the industry has sponsored a kids' baseball team [the players now wear casino jerseys], and has become involved in youth clubs. Down the Coast another casino hosts the high school awards assembly for top students. Up the Coast, a high school cooking class demonstrates their skills at the local casino. In Pennsylvania a school district sponsors a kids' horse racing drawing contest. A casino even used 60 elementary school children to build a gingerbread house. [See article below. ]

      Research on gambling shows that youth are the most susceptible to becoming addicted, and it often is a life-long problem. As teachers, we may wish to become involved.

      Three sites that I would recommend as starting places are:
Children and gambling.
Up to date anti-casino information site.
National Anti-gambling links.

      Some things that I have learned in opposing casinos.

1. All gambling is intertwined.

2. Most gambling studies are paid for by the industry, as the tobacco industry used to do.

3. Most gambling help organizations have gambling industry roots, and so blame the patrons for their addictions, put the responsibility on education to teach people how to gamble "responsibly," and put the responsibility on society to pay for the addictions that they cause.

4. No citizens have ever asked for more gambling opportunities, and politicians that promote them often have more at stake than just lower taxes.

5. Gambling promises susceptible people and organizations a "share of the take" and when the share isn't what was promised, those susceptible people are put in the position of having to promote even more gambling to get the money they were "promised" in the first place.

      Teachers, thank you for caring about teaching.

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