Massachusetts has begun a classroom curriculum on problem gambling for students aged 12 to 20, with state officials saying it is the first of its kind in the country. The lessons cover the legal wagering age, the risks of online betting, financial literacy, advertising tactics used by gaming companies and the warning signs of gambling addiction.
The programme grew out of the Youth Sports Betting Safety Coalition, which Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell launched in March 2024 during Problem Gambling Awareness Month. Founding members include the Attorney General’s Office, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health, Civic Action Project, the NCAA and Boston’s professional teams, and the coalition was tasked with building an evidence-based education, training and health curriculum for young people across the Commonwealth.
Campbell said at the time that sports betting was now “literally available at your fingertips” and that Massachusetts needed to raise awareness of the public health risks for young people. The coalition also said it would work with sports media and licensed gaming operators to communicate the dangers, while Commissioner Bradford Hill said technical blockades and family education were both needed to keep under-21 users off gambling platforms.
The curriculum rollout is happening in two phases. Phase one focused on developing the material and reached about 400 middle and high school students. Among those who completed it, 69% said they were more likely to wait until they reached legal age to gamble, 78% said they would recommend the programme to peers, and the share who viewed gambling as an easy way to make money fell from 53% to 44%.
The broader backdrop is a state worried about how quickly gambling has entered young people’s lives. Under-21 wagering remains illegal in Massachusetts, and a 2023 NCAA survey found that 58% of people aged 18 to 22 had taken part in at least one sports betting activity. The same survey found that 63% recalled seeing or hearing ads that encouraged betting, and 58% of those said the ads made them more likely to wager.
The Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health has also said teenagers who gamble are more likely than their peers to be dependent on alcohol or illegal substances and to experience depression. The council says mobile wagering platforms have changed how people access sports betting, while the Department of Public Health’s Office of Problem Gambling Services has run prevention work since 2016 across data, programmes, public awareness, and tools and resources.
That office says its “Let’s Get Real About Gambling” campaigns have generated more than 360 million impressions. Its “Let’s Talk Risk” materials say that starting conversations with young people can help prevent gambling problems later, and that children introduced to seemingly harmless betting by age 12 are four times more likely to have gambling problems in later life. Phase two begins at the start of the next school year and is set to scale statewide to reach more than 2,200 students.
