[사설] It’s time to eradicate illegal youth gambling.

The number of teenagers engaging in illegal online gambling is rapidly increasing. It can be accessed with just a cell phone, and the time from betting to the result is short, so it is easy to lose a large amount of money or fall into gambling. In the case of youth gambling offenders, there is a high possibility that they will not only lose money but also commit other crimes to raise money for gambling.

According to data recently released by the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency, 9,917 cyber gambling offenders were arrested from September last year to October this year, and the number of cyber gambling offenders under the age of 19 reached 4,715.

One out of two cyber gamblers is a teenager. By age, 17-year-olds (1,763 people) accounted for the most at 38%, 16-year-olds (1,241 people) 26%, 18-year-olds (899 people) 19%, 15-year-olds (560 people) 12%, and 14-year-olds (560 people) 12%. 206 people) followed by 4%. There were also elementary school students aged 13 (37 people), 12 years old (8 people), and 9 years old (1 person). By gender, there were 4,595 male students, overwhelmingly more than female students (120).

The total amount of youth gambling was 3.7 billion won, with the average amount per person being 780,000 won. In fact, one of the arrested youths, a 16-year-old male student, bet 190 million won on ‘baccarat’, one of the casino gambling types. According to the police, the student saved up the allowance he received from his parents and saved up seed money, which he used to accumulate a large amount of money.

Even adults worked hard to save money, which is hard to save, and squandered it through gambling.

It was revealed that as many as 16 teenagers created and operated their own gambling sites.

In addition, youths who arrogantly opened and managed cannon accounts to deposit and withdraw stakes or advertised gambling sites in online spaces were caught.

It is very serious that young people are not only addicted to gambling but are actively involved in illegal activities.

The police also recognized this seriousness and announced that they would extend the special crackdown period by one year until next year, but it appears that judicial crackdowns alone will not be able to save youths who are addicted to gambling. Youth are the future of the country. For our future and for our children, all relevant organizations, including the government, local governments, and police, must step forward to eradicate illegal youth gambling.