Saturday, January 06, 2007

Professor Alastair Gillespie, chairman of the Scottish Mathematical Council,
believes that by introducing simple gambling games into Maths lessons,
children will become more engaged and will likely to improve their
mathematical skills. Gillespie claims that young children have problems with
mathematical problems such as probability, a concept at the heart of
gambling. "Things like tossing coins and cutting cards are simple techniques
which teach pupils about basic maths and I think it would catch the interest
of students if we were to introduce that in schools. What you are trying to
do is engage with pupils and present them with scenarios which interest them
because it shows how maths can be relevant and we need to do more of that,"
Gillespie advised. Gillespie immediately came under fire for his comments
from anti-gambling societies, claiming that his ideas would only serve to
encourage children to gamble. However, one gambling expert agreed with
Gillespie, stating that there is no evidence of teaching people gambling
skills leads to problem gamblers, as long as people are aware of problems
that can lead from gambling. "Gambling should be on the school curriculum
because it engages people with basic maths," said Mark Griffiths, professor
of Gambling Studies at Nottingham Trent University. "I have taught in
schools and if you show people that there is much greater chance of being
hit be lightening than of winning the lottery, it puts gambling into
perspective. As long as there is an understanding that in some circumstances
gambling can be a problem, I don't think there is anything wrong with this."