College basketball fans engrossed in March Madness are no doubt anticipating wins from their teams. Some will be left disappointed.
Sports betting will also happen in full force. While that is legal for adults, over 18 or 21, depending on the state you live in, teens are frequently able to access online betting platforms, whether by using their parents’ accounts or by workarounds to bypass age-verification systems.
“Some 90% of high school students surveyed by the New York Council on Problem Gambling said they’d gambled at least once in the past year,” the New York Post reported, and shared the story of one high school boy, Max. “FanDuel and DraftKings are the most popular apps of choice at Max’s school. He estimates 80% of the boys in his class have placed a bet and probably 40% gamble regularly — using their parents’ accounts. Max’s dad opened the FanDuel account using his own Social Security number, date of birth and banking info — verification required by the major betting apps — then turned it over to the 17-year-old.”
Max even knows 11-year-olds who engage in sports betting.
Between 60% to 80% of high school students gambled at least once in 2023, according to the National Council of Problem Gambling, which has designated March as “Problem Gambling Awareness Month.” An NCAA survey from 2023 also found that nearly 60% of 18-22-year-olds surveyed bet on games. Pew Research Center data from 2025 found that 17% of adults under 30 placed an online bet in the past year, more than double the share just a few years earlier.
College freshman Eli Thompson shed light on this phenomenon in a Wall Street Journal column. “Why is betting so popular among guys my age? It’s partly how we think. Our brains struggle to deal with the consequences of a $200 bet or a $400 loss. Pamela Brenner-Davis, leader of the New York Council on Problem Gambling, warns that younger brains are not developed enough to handle the addictive nature of gambling. ‘Near wins’ also exploit this vulnerability by activating our brain’s rewards system almost as strongly as a win, making losses feel like progress and encouraging us to keep betting. And when we do win, the rush of adrenaline can feel like a drug. The betting apps know how to capitalize on this, advertising ‘free bet’ offers and same-day payouts. On top of this, celebrities and influencers make sports betting look like a fast track to a new car or a Rolex,” he wrote.
There’s no doubt that online gambling is similar to social media and online gaming, as these platforms use variable reward systems to keep users hooked. These systems promote high engagement, reward actions, and ultimately, create lasting habits. Tech companies have learned how to engineer compulsion, and young men and teens are their primary targets – especially when it comes to online gambling, online gaming, and pornography.
Younger generations, having grown up with technology, are accustomed to virtual playgrounds.
Online gaming is extremely popular among teenage boys. According to Pew Research, 85% of U.S. teenagers play video games, with 67% of teen boys (compared to 22% of girls) playing daily. A UK report found that teenage boys (ages 15-17) spend almost 34 hours per week playing video games. However, excessive gaming can have a detrimental impact on mental health, triggering a host of debilitating conditions, including depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. Online gaming can also lead to clinically assessed gaming disorders.
The commercial pornography industry is also similarly designed as other tech platforms to keep users watching, scrolling and clicking – including children and teens. They know all too well that if you hook them young, they will likely become lifelong consumers without intervention. A 2023 Common Sense Media survey of teens found that “most (54%) reported that they first saw online pornography when they were 13 or younger, including 15% who reported they had seen pornography before they turned 11.” Pornography use can “generate changes in grey matter in specific parts of the brain which are required to inhibit impulsive action,” and change brain structure and function in compulsive pornography users. And children and youth – whose brains are still developing – are more at risk from the harmful effects of pornography.
Online gambling sites know and capitalize on teen boys’ focus on the online world, just as gaming platforms keep them playing, social media platforms keep them scrolling, and pornography sites entice them. While these are technically different industries, they share the same goal: maximizing engagement, even when it leads to addiction.
With online gambling, there is certainly a risk of monetary loss, which is no small consequence. However, like online gaming, consumers can also develop a gambling addiction, clinically recognized as a gambling disorder. “An estimated 2.5 million U.S. adults meet the criteria for severe gambling problems in a given year, and another 5-8 million meet one or more of the criteria for gambling disorder and are experiencing problems due to their gambling behavior,” according to the National Council of Problem Gambling.
During March Madness, parents need to know that the earlier a teen is introduced to the intoxicating world of gambling, the more likely they are to become problem gamblers as teens and later into adulthood. I urge parents to take seriously the risks associated with online gambling and ensure their children and teens are prevented from having access to gambling sites.
Donna Rice Hughes, President and CEO of Enough Is Enough®®, is an internationally known internet safety expert, author, speaker, media commentator, producer, and host of the Emmy Award-winning PBS Internet Safety series and host of the podcast, “Internet Safety, with Donna Rice Hughes.” Under her leadership, EIE created the Internet Safety 101 Program with the U.S. Department of Justice.