Reducing excessive gaming and gambling hard

Multi award winning arts and community organisation Kids Thrive delivers The Bridge - a free early intervention program for upper primary schools to reduce children's excessive online gaming and disrupt the potential links to future gambling harm.

Gambling causes significant harm across Australia.

Alarmingly - international research shows that kids as young as ten are already gambling, and over 40 percent of NSW children aged 12 to 17 are playing video games and apps with features that look and feel like gambling (NSW Office of Responsible Gambling).

This growing body of evidence linking excessive online gaming with future gambling harm, has seen an increasing number of countries cracking down on video games that researchers fear connect children with gambling. At this point, Australia isn't one of them.

"We believe it is paramount to give children a voice about both the joys and challenges of online gaming, including developing personal strategies to manage their gaming thereby disrupting the links between gaming and gambling, said Dr Andrea Lemon, CEO of Kids Thrive.

"Our creative social change team has spent the past three years working on the ground with children in schools, gaming experts and gambling harm counsellors to design a targeted primary prevention program for upper primary students.

"Gaming is a lot of fun, and we respect that, but we also have a responsibility to raise young children's awareness of the risks and ways to manage these risks. This way they can make informed choices about what they do with their time and money, and not risk losing what they love, their relationships and health."

Kids Thrive has delivered The Bridge to the Victorian Government for use in primary schools across Victoria, with students, teachers and parents embracing the program thus far.

A young student and co-designer at Altona North Primary School observed that gaming elements are "tricks computer games play behind our backs".

Others noted that gaming makes them feel excited, challenged and engaged but also anxious and irritable. Fights with friends and family as a result of gaming were common.

The Bridge teaches young people why they are feeling this way and supports them to develop positive approaches for change.

Kids Thrive recently ran a Kids as Catalysts program at four local primary schools: Bass Valley, Newhaven, Powlett River and Wonthaggi North.

The Bridge is available for free for schools online at: hub.kidsthrive.org.au/the-bridge