Adverts for betting, bingo and lottery companies should be banned before the 9pm watershed, the Church of England has said, warning that gambling is leading to a “moral crisis” among the young.
A study found that two thirds of teenagers felt bombarded by adverts for gambling on television, particularly during sports coverage. Only one in four thought that the adverts carried clear enough warnings about the danger of gambling addiction.
A government consultation about social responsibility in the betting industry closed last week. In its submission the Church of England said: “The exception to the 9pm watershed made for bingo, lotteries and the advertising of sports betting around televised sporting events — especially the last — is a concern to many church members, especially as they feel that their children are being accustomed to the idea that gambling is a normal, healthy part of a sports lifestyle to which they may naturally aspire.
“They point to the fact (from Gambling Commission figures) that the proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds with a serious gambling problem increased from 0.8 per cent in the year to September 2013 to 1.4 per cent in the year to September 2016. Television gambling advertisements increased from 90,000 in 2005 to 1.4 million in 2012, and there is no reason to suppose the increase has slowed.”
A survey commissioned by Lord Chadlington, the Tory peer, of 1,000 teenagers aged 14 to 18 found that 49 per cent of teenagers said that betting adverts made gambling look like a good way to make money. Lord Chadlington has called for a ban on gambling advertisements during sporting events.
Advertisement
The Bishop of St Albans, the Right Rev Alan Smith, has spoken out about a moral crisis facing children and young people because of their exposure to gambling adverts and warned that society would face a “terrible harvest” if it did not act to protect children.
“There has been a huge rise in the number of gambling adverts on almost every sort of media,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “There’s lots of evidence that young people are seeing extraordinary levels of advertising which is normalising and socialising gambling.
“It’s bringing up a generation of young people for whom seeing the world in the light of gambling is normative. I think that is a moral issue, one which we as a society need to stand back and reflect about.”
He said that sports coverage was a key area of concern, because adverts for gambling were now a fundamental part of football in particular. It is estimated that each child sees an average of 185 adverts for betting firms each year.