With the accessibility of modern technology comes the susceptibility to modern, harmful addictions that come along with this technology. Gambling addictions are being formed at a higher and higher rate, with the youth being the most exposed at increasing numbers. This spike in bad gambling habits can be attributed to kids being introduced to the platform of betting at earlier and earlier ages, in turn forming addiction. Large industries and online games or similar sites with gambling elements are benefiting from this issue and reaping profits from the millions of people placing wagers and other bets. Gambling organizations typically facilitate these profits by charging a "vigorish," a percentage of money deducted from a gambler's winnings, to widen margins. Younger people are most vulnerable to gambling addiction, with around 55,000 (1.7%) of 11 to 16-year-olds classified as problem gamblers, 2.7% as at-risk gamblers, and 31.5% as non-problem gamblers in the United Kingdom, Gambling Commission analysis shows. 

This issue is marginalizing young teenagers and college-aged kids who are being surrounded by gambling and betting almost every day of their lives. This continual exposure gets to the point where they form a harmful addiction. Repetition is critical to transforming younger people's minds into gambling machines. Many younger kids are in the premature stages of their lives and have not yet developed fully equipped minds, so they are more easily drawn to the addictive mechanisms beneath gambling sites. People who are harmfully affected by the spreading fire of internet gambling often see themselves surrounded by all of their peers who are gambling. Any person could be peer pressured into indulging in gambling even if they do not particularly have any affinity to it just to fit in with the rest of their peers.

From a Catholic perspective, three principles of Catholic Social Teaching, as well as the teachings, are inherently present in our gambling crisis and must be used to help combat it.  One of these principles is “rights & Responsibilities.”This principle applies well because we must respect other people.  People who are already addicted to sports gambling sites immediately spread that addiction and the negative influence it carries to their friends, with no regard for how that will impact their lives.  If people can take a step back and evaluate the effect that their actions could have on their friends' lives, then we could reduce the number of people with an addiction significantly. Another aspect is the responsibilities of the companies that run the betting industry. With the company controlling the money flow and sometimes the algorithm behind the games, there are social responsibilities for companies to set time and money limits for players to reduce the player's attachment to the games. Another fundamental principle is the “all to Family, Community, and Participation.” Gamblers could abandon their original role played inside families while putting all the money they earn into these gambling machines. Who knows how much the benefit of this extra money could affect these people's lives? It could be used for a better cause, like helping the marginalized or older people in the community.

In many cases, people who form a gambling addiction also spend significantly less quality time with their family and community activities, even isolating themselves from their peers to gamble. Lastly, “solidarity” is another significant principle of Catholic Social Teaching that applies well to our gambling issue because we must unite to solve this issue. Not one person can take down the growing problem of gambling addiction. This issue must be advocated at schools and other institutions by making everybody of the marginalized age aware of the damage of sports gambling and giving them advice on prevention or appropriate approaches if they are exposed to it. The church also proposes that, according to the Catechism, “ games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others” (No. 2413). This message tells us that when your winnings negatively affect ssomebody'sability to obtain personal needs and defy human dignity in some respects, gambling is intrinsically immoral and against the doctrines. 

Though dealing with the present viewpoints of people on this issue is significant, looking back at the philosophers of the past is also extremely important. Aristotle would condemn excessive and irresponsible gambling as harmful to a good life because of his focus on virtue ethics, moderation, and justice. Gambling goes to an extreme extent as people become so fierce that they lose their critical thinking skills in determining the pros and cons of their actions. If Immanuel Kant were to speak of this gambling issue, Kant would emphasize the human person's inherent dignity and rationality. Gambling undermines human dignity by making humans profit-making tools. Kant would also raise concerns about gambling being universalized. Gambling could be a significant problem if it were universalized to all. We are starting to see it in our modern world, leading to a form of injustice and negatively impacting the planet.

People should care most about the issue of sports gambling because it is rapidly increasing in magnitude. It impacts many areas on our homefront, like high schools and colleges, where people are meant to develop themselves and enter society well-equipped. If we continually let this sports gambling issue grow, people's self-discipline and motivation to work and find opportunities could deteriorate when they graduate from college. Compared to traditional work, where salaries are determined by working hours, internet gambling offers a quick way to accumulate money that seems impossible with a “9-5” type of job. Gamble provides flexibility and a leisurely way to make money that deceives younger people into thinking they can make a living from it.

Addressing this issue would be suitable for society in many ways. When kids who are not fully developed are exposed to sports gambling at a young age, a gambling addiction could occur that would probably last through college and then could eventually lead to a severe addiction as an adult, leading to his total downfall and moral decay. Another reason would be to reduce catastrophic money losses. Because younger people are not informed or experienced in many ways and do not have a clear concept of money, they don't put safe limits on their betting. They can sometimes go AWOL and lose thousands of dollars on one bet, deteriorating their economic burden with potential future loans to finish university studies. 

Society should aim directly at the heart and root of the problem, exposure to the younger generation. We can only influence the older generation to stop gambling and improve their lives. Still, we can completely wipe out this gambling addiction by impacting the younger generation to never start in the first place. Societ should put our best efforts into instilling warnings and making the younger generation aware of the exposure they could face shortly, as well as the best course of action to combat the spread.

However, more and more teenagers show that the influence of Internet gambling is inevitable when it appears everywhere in the world. Some institutions, like The Interactive Gaming Council ("GC," seek to "establish fair and responsible trade guidelines and practices that enhance consumer confidence in interactive gaming products and services" and have established a code of conduct. However, many states in America have opened the door for Internet Gambling. Legal sports betting is available in over 30 states, including Kentucky, New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts, but the freedom has a specific limit. In these states, online gambling operators must obtain a license from the state gaming commission. States often impose age restrictions on online gambling, requiring individuals to be at least 18 or 21 years old to participate in online gambling activities, thus preventing its potential threat to the marginalized ones. 

In many people, the gambling age should be pushed further to 25 years old. According to the National Institutes of Health, “the development and maturation of the prefrontal cortex occurs primarily during adolescence and is fully accomplished at the age of twenty-five.”This partially developed brain of younger people can assess risk and financial burden significantly differently than a fully formed one. Based on the fact that the brain is not fully developed until the age of 25, opening up the gambling world to people who lack a fully equipped brain seems unreasonable. 

Based on analysis and reflection, it seems incumbent that we make the younger generation aware and able to strike this issue down when exposed. This could be accomplished through warnings such as those for Alcohol and Drugs. Best put, we must add gambling into the conversation with those two addictive substances and advocate for students to stay away from gambling as they have been informed about staying away from drugs and alcohol for many decades. There must also be stricter requirements to obtain access to sports betting apps, including the requirement for multiple different forms of ID and other security features. If the younger generation can't even access these gambling apps, then our gambling issue could fade right in front of our eyes.