Thursday, September 21, 2006

Earlier this year, a study released shows that 600,000 young adults between
the ages of 14 to 22 have reported gambling on the Internet on a weekly
basis. The study, conducted by the Annenberg Foundation, also found the age
group had the highest rate of gambling addictions. "I like gambling because
of the high risk/high reward idea, but I only risk what I can afford," said
Victor Wong, a freshman in the School of Management. However, students don't
always act responsibly when making bets online. According to the National
Council on Problem Gambling, approximately 5 percent of college students
have a gambling problem. College students are actively contributing to the
estimated $12.1 billion online gambling industry, which has doubled in the
last three years. Although there has been an increase in students coming to
the Purdue Student Health Center with compulsive computer use problems,
there haven't been any key statistics on online gambling patterns, said
Marty Green, staff social worker at Counseling and Psychological Services.
Online gamblers run the risk of becoming problem gamblers, which can affect
an individual's personal, social and educational life. Some effects of
online gambling include withdrawal from school activities, isolation from
friends and family, a drop in grades, sleep deprivation, increased denial of
actual time spent online gambling and general irritability when offline,
said Green.

Sometimes the effects of online gambling can become cyclical. "Folks get
stressed, anxious, get behind and then feel overwhelmed because they can't
catch up," said Green. "Grades go down, they panic, so then they
procrastinate even further by using the computer more, and so it becomes a
cycle."

"In my opinion, it really depends on the type of person you are in order for
gambling to affect you," said Wong.

According to the Center for Online Addiction, online gambling has become
popular for several reasons. First, the Internet has become an easy and
convenient way to place bets. Access to the Internet for most college
students is simple, and many colleges provide computer labs where students
can spend as much time as they'd like online.

According to the center, another possible reason why online gambling has
become a problem on campuses is the fear of social alienation. A student may
not feel secure enough to join activities on campus because of the social
intimidation, and therefore may spend more time online.

There have been developments in trying to understand why computers can
incite compulsive behavior.

A discovery show that screens, such as computer screens, can move people
into compulsive behavior, even if they are not genetically predisposed, said
Green. The screen acts as a hypnotizer and puts viewers in a trance-like
state, which can spark compulsive use.

"Other compulsive behavior has a genetic base to it," said Green. "But a
person who has never had any of those before can become compulsive in
computer behavior."