Sunday, March 04, 2007

As parents we worry. We worry about whether our kids are too fat or too
thin, how to get them into good schools and whether they'll fall off their
bikes or be abducted. Then they get a bit older and we anguish over whether
they're smoking pot, having sex or hanging out with the wrong crowd. Then,
no sooner have we resigned ourselves to the fact that they're teenagers and
are probably doing all three, do we start to worry about what job they'll
get and whether they'll still be living at home when they're 36. Now, to add
to these concerns, we face the delightful prospect that our tender offspring
may well be lured into gambling by the government's ludicrous plan to turn
our green and pleasant land into another Vegas. Hello Blair, Jowell and
anyone else who thinks this is a good idea, have you entirely lost the plot?
Do you not know that many people's debts are already spiralling out of
control and that according to research most don't even want more casinos?
Haven't you twigged that gambling is addictive and addiction leads to crime?
It's all very well to say that responsible adults are too sensible to get
hooked. But what about those who aren't responsible or who aren't adults? We
all know of kids who are addicted to computer games. So what's to stop an
11-year-old who spends hours trying to win points on Nintendo from becoming
a 16-year-old who spends them trying to win the jackpot on a fruit machine?
Especially as fruit machines nowadays are skilfully designed to trick
players into thinking they're about to win so they'll carry on playing? The
new supercasinos, offering unlimited prizes, will be the most tempting of
all and just because only one is being built for the moment doesn't mean
there won't be more in future. That rich American with the ranch who
generously gave John Prescott the fetching cowboy outfit is bound to build
one at the Dome sooner or later. And he won't be the only tycoon eager to
profit from vulnerable people frittering away hundreds or thousands of
pounds on gaming machines and roulette.