For parents it\u2019s second nature to worry about the effects that social media and being chronically online are having on our children. What we may not have noticed, though, is that young boys are getting hooked on a potentially devastating pastime \u2014 one that is quietly becoming an increasing problem.<\/p>\n
That problem is gambling<\/a>. Perhaps most alarmingly, it\u2019s seemingly harmless online games and sport that are often a gateway into it. <\/p>\n The Gambling Commission\u2019s Young People and Gambling Report 2025<\/a>, released this week, shows that 30 per cent of children aged 11 to 17 spent their money on gambling in the previous 12 months \u2014 up from 27 per cent in 2024 \u2014 despite the fact that the legal age for gambling in the UK is 18. Boys were more likely to gamble than girls. The increase appears to be largely driven by a rise in \u201cunregulated gambling\u201d (engaged in by 18 per cent in 2025, compared with 15 per cent in 2024). <\/p>\n \u2022 Teenage boys spend more time gaming than at school, says research<\/a><\/p>\n This consists of mainly kids betting among themselves, according to Daniel Bliss of Ygam<\/a>, a charity dedicated to preventing gaming and gambling harms among young people. \u201cThe majority of the gambling done by young people is actually done through private betting,\u201d he says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like gambling but it\u2019s the normalisation of gambling. We\u2019ve heard from parents that their child is playing Fifa on their headset, and before they start the game they say \u2018the winner of this gets a tenner\u2019 \u2014 they\u2019re gambling on the outcome of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n The report also cited the influence of social media, finding that 31 per cent of young people who saw gambling-related content on social media (16 per cent of all respondents) reported that influencers had advertised gambling-related content to them.<\/p>\n The harm gambling can cause to young people is, of course, huge. The Gambling Commission reported in 2019 that there were 55,000 problem gamblers aged 11 to 16 in the UK. Gambling can interfere with childhood development, disrupting play, sleep and socialising, Bliss says. Compared with adults, teens have a high rate of problem gambling, yet few seek help, a report published in the journal Psychiatry MMC found. They are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of gambling, including addiction and mental health issues. The teens who are most vulnerable \u2014 those who have experienced bullying and family disruption \u2014 are more likely to develop gambling problems, according to a 2023 study in the European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education.<\/p>\n James Grimes, director of Chapter One, the education arm of the charity Gambling with Lives, believes the catalyst for his own 12-year gambling addiction was the \u201cgamblification of sport\u201d. He began at the age of 16, with betting on football, before going on to play online casino games \u2014 \u201conline roulette especially, and online slots\u201d. By the time he left home to go to university<\/a> he was \u00a32,000 in debt to family and friends; by the time he was 28 he had 20 payday loans and owed about \u00a330,000.<\/p>\n A recent study by researchers at the University of Bath shows that many boys and young men \u201cview the casual wagering of money as vital to their enjoyment of sport\u201d. It\u2019s worth noting that 11 teams in the Premier League had a gambling logo on the front of their shirts last season, the highest proportion among Europe\u2019s top five leagues.<\/p>\n Liz Ritchie, who set up the charity Gambling with Live<\/a>s with her husband Charles after their son Jack died in a gambling-related suicide in 2017, describes the process that occurs for boys betting on sports: \u201c They go on to a sports gambling site and put a bet on a football club or something like that, and they are cross-sold immediately to casinos and slots\u201d \u2014 the most lucrative games for betting companies. Within 24 hours, they\u2019ll begin to get offers, boosts and other incentives.<\/p>\n Alongside sports, another big factor in the rise of gambling is video gaming. Studies show that while girls prefer online puzzles and quizzes, boys play console or handheld games, along with first-person shooter titles such as Call of Duty, strategy games like Clash Royale and, of course, Fifa for football-mad fans (now officially called EA Sports FC).<\/p>\n Within these games, players buy \u201cloot boxes\u201d \u2014 digital products purchased with real money that might have special benefits for play, such as a \u201cskin\u201d for your avatar, a special weapon or cards featuring real players with different ratings that they can collect or trade (in Fifa they\u2019re called packs). <\/p>\n What parents may not know is that buying these loot boxes \u2014 where players sometimes get something valuable for the game \u2014 is psychologically similar to gambling, according to research by the universities of Plymouth and Wolverhampton. The study, published in the journal Addictive Behaviours, showed that 40 per cent of children in the UK have bought them. <\/p>\n \u2022 10 things parents should know about raising teens \u2014 by an expert<\/a><\/p>\n \u201c There are increasingly blurred lines between gaming and gambling,\u201d Bliss says. Often, the money at stake doesn\u2019t seem real to the children, who may have only a vague grasp of finances anyway. <\/p>\n \u201cChildren haven\u2019t necessarily developed the concept of money and the value of money,\u201d Bliss says. \u201cThem losing their parents\u2019 money doesn\u2019t have the same impact as it would if you were 18 and gambling your own money.\u201d<\/p>\n Owing to these loot boxes, close to half of children in the UK have used a product that researchers equate to gambling. Yet because what is in them doesn\u2019t have monetary value outside the game, the Gambling Commission has stated that it can\u2019t regulate them.<\/p>\n \u201c The reality that parents have to face,\u201d Ritchie says, \u201cis that we\u2019re in a situation where the sale of these very addictive products has been completely normalised. It\u2019s a risk for all young people.\u201d <\/p>\n Victor, a 21-year-old student, connects his early gaming habits to his growing gambling habit during his university years. \u201cWhen you are playing Fifa at the age of 12, 13, that risk-reward system in your head is already being activated from such a young age,\u201d he says. It means that the transition from buying packs on Fifa to betting on football matches is \u201cquite seamless\u201d.<\/p>\n Victor began placing bets when he was 17 using his older brother\u2019s account, and later his own account when he turned 18. Things finally came to a head in his second year at university. \u201cI should have been revising, but I was playing online poker, and I lost \u00a3250 in just half an hour. Overall, I lost hundreds of pounds and my mood was severely affected.\u201d<\/p>\n So what can parents do? Organisations such as the Coalition to End Gambling Ads and Gambling with Lives are campaigning for the restriction of gambling ads, the tracking of gambling-related suicides and a government public health strategy around the effects of gambling. But until this happens, parents need to be aware and proactive. <\/p>\n