A handsome and intelligent young man is found dead after gambling away his parents’ home, driven to desperation by his addiction to online gambling. This film, ‘No More Bets’, which has been a huge success in China and even banned in Cambodia, tells a story that, sadly, reflects real-life events—not just fiction.
While we won’t focus on the film itself, it serves as a stark reminder of the growing problem of online gambling among young people in Indonesia. Similar stories are emerging across the country, such as the young man in Makassar who pawned three of his family’s motorcycles just to continue playing online gambling.
Online gambling doesn’t just target the young; it ensnares people of all ages, from adolescents to adults and all genders. However, the way it infiltrates different generations varies. In this article, I will specifically address how online gambling can reach young people and lead to addiction
We’ve previously discussed online gambling in our article Multiple Addiction in Youth Online Gambling here. That article outlines the new forms of online gambling and how addiction mechanisms operate. In this article, I want to delve deeper into how young people become involved in online gambling and explore strategies for addressing and preventing this issue
Beyond Rationality: The Role of Media in Shaping Young People’s Perception of Online Gambling
Rational Choice Theory by James S Coleman suggests that individuals make decisions by weighing the costs and benefits to maximize personal advantage. In the context of online gambling, this theory would predict that young people, aware of the significant risks, would avoid gambling to prevent loss. However, this isn’t what we observe. Despite countless warnings and stories from social media of devastating losses, young people continue to be drawn into the world of online gambling.
The allure of online gambling isn’t based on rational decision-making; it’s driven by the illusion of easy wealth. Constant exposure to success stories—whether real or fabricated—skews young people’s perceptions, leading them to believe that they too can win big with minimal effort. Rational Choice Theory falls short because it doesn’t account for the psychological manipulation and the distorted reality created by continuous media exposure.
To better understand this, we can turn to Jean Baudrillard’s Theory of Simulacra. Baudrillard argues that in a media-saturated society, people become disconnected from reality, living instead in a world of images and simulations. Young people, bombarded with images of instant wealth and success through gambling, lose the ability to think clearly or rationally. They become trapped in a hyper-reality where the line between illusion and reality blurs.
In this hyper-real world, online gambling isn’t just seen as a game; it’s perceived as a shortcut to success, fueled by the constant media-driven narrative that winning is easy and within reach. This distorted perception overrides rational thought, drawing young people into the addictive cycle of gambling, despite the real and devastating consequences.
According to our research and the journals I’ve studied, the biggest factor leading young people to become addicted to online gambling is peer influence. Friends are the main trigger that eventually leads individuals to try it.
There has been a cultural shift among young people, where gambling is no longer viewed as taboo or something that breaks the rules. With the advent of online platforms, gambling has been rebranded, making it feel like just another social media activity or game. Young people involved in online gambling do not have any specific characteristics, such as poor academic performance or being troublemakers. Even high-achieving students can fall victim to online gambling
Young people who engage in online gambling often see it as no different from playing games or interacting on social media, and they are open about it, even encouraging others to join. Winning in online gambling has become a source of pride among peers. Unlike in the past, when gambling was associated with shame and disgrace, today’s youth are more likely to boast about their wins.
In the past, the government’s campaigns didn’t focus on staying away from gambling but rather on avoiding drugs, as gambling wasn’t considered “cool” among young people at the time.
Once an individual has tried online gambling, the second layer that keeps them hooked is the psychological manipulation employed by advanced online gambling platforms. These platforms use tactics such as offering significant early wins to create a sense of excitement and lure the individual into continued play, which can lead to addiction. This phenomenon is explained in our article on Multiple Addiction in Youth Online Gambling.
If an individual falls for these tactics in the second layer and continues to play, the likelihood of them becoming addicted increases significantly, making it extremely difficult to resist the temptation of online gambling.
Platforms Associated with Online Gambling Among Young People
Online games play a significant role in enticing young people to try online gambling. Moreover, online gambling is designed with gamification elements, which is why the international term for online gambling is derived from gaming, known as ‘igaming.’
According to Wikipedia, ‘igaming’ is “any kind of gambling conducted on the internet.” After trying online gambling, individuals are likely to turn to online loan apps, especially if they lose. There’s an urge to quickly recoup the lost money, but without sufficient funds, they resort to taking out loans through online lending platforms.
The Government Must Take Online Gambling Among Youth Seriously
The current measures taken by the government have yet to demonstrate a genuine commitment to tackling online gambling among young people. Aside from the incomplete blocking of gambling websites, the government has made significant blunders. For example, there was talk of created a ‘social assistance’ program. for victims of online gambling, a move that could actually encourage more young people to engage in online gambling, believing they will receive assistance if they lose.
Regardless of whether this program comes to fruition or not, as it is still a subject of debate and discussion, the mere mention of it has already gone viral and seems to serve as evidence of the government’s lack of seriousness in addressing the issue.
Another ineffective measure is the police raids targeting phones with gambling apps. It’s unclear what research supports this approach, but it’s ineffective because not all online gambling platforms are simple apps.
There are even communities on Facebook and Telegram that share the latest online gambling links, which can change daily. The root motivation for young people to try online gambling lies in peer influence, not whether it’s legal or illegal. What’s needed is a robust educational campaign focusing on prevention, starting from school age.
Another campaign created by Kominfo features a poster of a child who appears sad, surrounded by messages such as ‘make your parents proud,’ ‘good grades,’ ‘achieve success,’ and ‘have many friends.’ This message is not quite accurate because, as explained earlier, victims of online gambling do not have specific characteristics like poor grades.
Those who already have ‘good grades’ and are ‘high achievers’ at school can still be affected. Additionally, the message ‘have many friends’ is misleading because one of the ways young people are introduced to online gambling is through their friends. The poster’s warning should focus more on cautioning against peer pressure, such as ‘trying online gambling isn’t cool,’ or ‘be careful with online games as they can lead you to try online gambling.
Indonesia can look to Australia as an example, where a comprehensive campaign against online gambling includes extensive support systems such as helplines and counseling services for individuals struggling with gambling addiction. And has been given since early childhood education These include:
- Gambling Helplines: 24/7 services that provide immediate assistance to gamblers.
- Counseling Services: Free or low-cost counseling available for individuals and families affected by gambling.
- Public Service Announcements (PSAs): These are widely promoted to ensure that people know help is available.
Without urgent action, Indonesia could face a severe crisis: a pandemic of online gambling among the youth. This potential crisis would not only devastate the future of Indonesia’s younger generation but also have dire consequences for the nation’s economy.
The costs of addiction—ranging from lost productivity to increased mental health issues and the burden on social services—could run into billions of dollars. A generation caught in the grip of gambling addiction could lead to a decline in educational attainment, higher unemployment rates, and a spike in crime rates as desperate individuals turn to illegal means to fuel their addiction.