Addiction to games of chance is a serious socio-social problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and research shows that a certain number of students are among the addicts. With the goal of prevention, the implementation of the program “Who actually wins?” will soon begin in secondary schools in the Tuzla Canton, the aim of which is to reduce the impact of games of chance on children and young people.
As many as 70 percent of minors in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina have at least once played one of the games of chance. This data is from research by the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation at the University of Tuzla, which shows that eight percent of students have developed pathological gambling habits.
“Most of them go to the nearby betting shops between school holidays to bet or online. This also harms the parents from whom they take money, because they may not even have control when they do it,” says Belmina Siočić, a student at the Živinica Mixed Secondary School.
“An important problem with regard to young people, especially high school students, is the prevalence in society. If one starts and wins one at the dice, then the other gets involved, a friend starts, and he also wins, so let me try and so on,” says student Jasmina Selić.
“They lie to their parents, they spend their money, they don’t earn their own money, they hope to make money that way, but I don’t see the point in that. It’s a huge mistake in my opinion,” emphasizes student Emir Nukić.
They discuss these topics with students at the Živinice mixed secondary school throughout the school year.
“Through the education system, we try to discuss and prevent this, but I think that it is really the foundation in the family and that it is very important that the family strengthens, because these are some learned behaviors, some models of behavior that children see at home,” points out Lejla Mehanović, pedagogue in the Secondary Mixed School of Živinice.
The problem arises when games of chance are seen as a source of income. Spending too much money on it leads to a vicious circle of trying to at least return the invested money.
“Then somewhere they isolate themselves from social circumstances, miss classes and their regular duties and then have a lower self-confidence. At the same time, a little anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses develop, and of course then somewhere it develops into an addictive behavior that is very difficult to treat “, states Meliha Bijedić from the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation at the University of Tuzla.
With the aim of reducing the number of children and young people who participate in games of chance and strengthening awareness of the harmfulness of gambling, the “Who actually wins?” program is being implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the model from Croatia.
“It includes eight thematic workshops, school workshops for young people aged 15, 16, so it’s the first and second grade of high schools and plus one interactive lecture for the parents of those children, as well as a lecture or an interactive workshop for all school employees,” says Amir Hasanović, executive director of the Association for Prevention of Addiction “NARKO NE”.
The program, which has been implemented in schools in Sarajevo Canton for the last two years, will soon be introduced in ten schools in Tuzla Canton as well. The selection of schools will be based on the number of students, proximity to betting shops, and the goal is to cover as many municipalities as possible.
