This activity gives young people the opportunity to explore and discuss the causes, effects and consequences of gambling, with a particular attention to youth gambling. It also provides the option of discussing what could be done to limit the risk factors connected to gambling and to reduce its negative consequences, raising young people’s awareness and developing their problem-solving skills.

4.

Encourage discussion about the
motivations behind why people
gamble, the frequency, the amount
spent. Discuss at what point each of
these behaviours would become
problematic if they do not think the
character already had a problem.
Mention that although not all of
these examples are examples of
harmful gambling, they are all
realistic and illustrate how
normalised gambling is in our
culture.

Alternative options:

You could introduce each section of the tree with a
brainstorm, giving participants the opportunity to write
their ideas on post-it notes. Once everyone has put
theirs on the tree, ask the group to look at them and to
try and categorise them so as to find common ideas or
patterns. Then proceed with a group discussion.

To encourage more discussion at points 2 and 3, you
could use the short scenarios from the Consequences
of Gambling activity.