Gaming addiction: teenagers steal money from parents more often
Some experts claim that loot boxes (a box with a random reward in computer or console games) can be considered an element related to a real casino. The unknown that is hidden in a closed box pushes many gamers to purposefully look for them or buy them in any way. Apparently, this is true, because after a recent study conducted by analysts of The Gambling Health Alliance, it turned out that a fairly large number of teenagers aged 11-16 at least once in their lives took money from their parents without permission to pay for loot boxes. An anonymous survey among minors conducted by experts showed the following:
- At least 15% used their parents' money without permission to pay for "surprises" in video games;
- 10% took funds from cards (credit or debit);
- about 9% were unable to steal money from their parents, but found it elsewhere (for example, borrowing from friends, but ultimately unable to repay the debt).
Despite the fact that most people consider this problem to be unimportant, assuming that in childhood most citizens "snatched change from pockets" - this is far from true. In fact, there are known cases when, due to the gambling addiction of their children, who stole money from their parents' cards, the latter found themselves in a very difficult financial situation. Some even had to sell real estate to pay off their debts.
Interesting fact: More than 22% teenagers spent four times more money on loot boxes than on the games themselves. Professional gamers are sure that the practice of selling loot boxes for real money seriously harms the gameplay. In fact, a person with a better financial situation gets a significant advantage over rivals not due to their skills or gaming qualities, but due to a “fat” wallet. This injustice led to a funny incident: an annoyed Canadian, who constantly lost because his rivals were better equipped with loot boxes, sued the game developers.
Many experts and parents are calling on manufacturers to stop selling loot boxes in regular video games. In their opinion, this leads to serious problems. At the same time, we are talking not only about theft, but also about the faster growth of gambling addiction among minors, who switch from regular PC entertainment to gambling in real casinos.
