Switzerland/ Fighting gambling addiction: prevention campaign targets young people in Valais

Caritas and Promotion santé Valais want to raise young people's awareness of gambling addiction. They are running a joint stand at the Salon des métiers in Martigny.

In Switzerland, 7.7% of 15-24 year-olds have already encountered problems with gambling, and 80% of people in debt were in debt for the first time before the age of 25. Hence the need to raise awareness among the younger generation before the end of compulsory schooling, as at the Your Challenge trade show, which runs in Martigny until Sunday.

"Children from over-indebted families are certainly more exposed to the risk of financial difficulties," says Sanford Bonvin, social advisor at Caritas Valais, quoted in a press release. "The main causes of debt among young people are a lack of administrative and financial education, easy access to different forms of credit and new forms of payment, and debts inherited from parents. These causes can be cumulative, depending on the case."

A risk to mental health

Promotion santé Valais and Caritas Valais have joined forces to develop a joint stand to prevent excessive gambling and debt among young people. The initiative is supported by the Canton of Valais. Prevention specialists will be offering a life-size game of chance to demonstrate the random nature of the outcome and the minute probabilities of winning a jackpot.

"According to the project's promoters, "The proliferation of advertising encourages young people to play all kinds of games, which can have a number of negative consequences for their mental health, their finances and their social ties with family and friends. "Advertising normalizes gambling, makes it attractive and minimizes risks such as addiction and debt."

Managing risk and uncertainty

"Young people are targeted by aggressive marketing," notes Romaine Darbellay, head of the cantonal excessive gambling prevention program. "So it's important to offer them spaces to think in a more informed way when they are actually confronted with gambling."

The aim of this presence at the trade fair is to develop critical thinking, enabling everyone to better understand their actions in the face of risk and uncertainty, while maintaining a considered approach to gambling. Participants are invited to reflect on their own cognitive biases, such as misleading intuition or the influence of the group effect.

Source: www.lenouvelliste.ch/