 |
 Statewide Prevention
Program
School Training
Lesson Plans
|
|
|
|
Statewide Prevention Program
Within the past decade, gambling among middle and high school students is on the rise. Unfortunately, youth gambling has largely been disregarded or dismissed as an issue unworthy of pursuit, except in instances when it occasionally affects student athletes or compromises the integrity of sporting events at the college level or results in crime or suicide. Such occurrences have increased in recent years and although the National Collegiate Athletic Association has tightened rules and imposed penalties on athletes and university athletic programs, the risks and consequences associated with problem gambling have not been comprehensively addressed in middle and high schools across the country or here in Florida.
At this time, the level of gambling among youth is becoming impossible to ignore. Exacerbating the situation further is the availability of online gambling enabling minors to gamble on sports, cards or numerous other games. Televised celebrity poker tournaments and similar competitions (e.g. Texas Hold’Em) have also fueled young persons to emulate celebrities and “everyday people” who appear to become millionaires overnight. This phenomenon has swept the country at a pace that has stunned those working with young people, as well as those in the gambling addiction field.
The FCCG’s Problem Gambling Prevention Program for Middle and High School Students bridges the gap in awareness and education of problem gambling among young people and provides knowledge of the risks associated with the activity of gambling. Consistent with existing dialogue on alcohol and substance abuse prevention, education and treatment, the goal of this program is to provide youth with a basic awareness of risk taking and illegal behavior. This is particularly important, as research has shown that persons under age 18 are at two to four times greater risk of developing a gambling problem.
In keeping with the FCCG mission to increase public awareness, the agency’s prevention and intervention program furnishes tangible age-appropriate information regarding the impacts of gambling on individuals, families and society, strategies for identifying or assisting someone with a gambling problem and accessing help. The Prevention Program also meets the State of Florida’s education requirements across curriculum (i.e. Sunshine Standards), including Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Health and Physical Education components.
Instructor and Counselor Guides
Instructor guides have been created to assist school educators in presenting the FCCG’s Problem Gambling Prevention Program. The layout and content are formatted in a manner to ensure maximum flexibility while simultaneously accommodating diverse styles of instruction. Each program component may be introduced within a timeframe ranging between 30-45 minutes, or longer, pending varying class periods.
The program also includes an informational guide for school counselors to furnish background regarding preliminary assessment and treatment referral protocol. This material is intended for distribution to counselors prior to the onset of instruction.
The following indicate the intended purpose of the guides.
- Flexibility: The prevention program is comprised of two guides (i.e. Instructor and Counselor Guides) and Student Workbooks (information below). Specific objectives have been created for each. Certain core information is relevant to each workbook and is referenced throughout the materials.
- Continuity: While each curriculum component is independent and thus may be taught in varying sequences, the following is the recommended order in which to proceed: “Introduction to Gambling,” “Problem Gambling,” “Gambling Probability,” “Gambling and Society,” “Economics of Gambling,” and the “Risks of Gambling.”
- Objectives: The objectives for each student workbook are listed at the beginning of the section within each Instructor Guide. Suggested activities included in the guide have been designed to meet these objectives within a class period ranging anywhere from approximately 30 minutes to 45 minutes in duration. Instructors may revise or replace these activities as deemed appropriate, provided that each objective is met.
- Supplemental Information: Additional information is included where necessary and is encouraged in situations when it may help students to personalize the material.
Student Workbooks
The FCCG also made a concerted effort to facilitate awareness of gambling and problem gambling in an educational format that meets standardized requirements in a user-friendly, highly interactive format (i.e. student workbooks) to ensure student appeal and presenter ease and flexibility (i.e. instructor guides).
The program supplies six student workbooks with accompanying instructor guides and addresses crucial topics, such as life management skills, health and wellness issues, probability, economics, coping strategies and more. For a sample,
click here.
Order Free Copy of Program
If you are a school educator, counselor, SAFE Coordinator or other professional servicing middle and high school students, you may order your free copy of the FCCG Prevention Program for Middle and High School Students today (add link to e-mail form containing the following information).
Prevention Program Order Form:
*Required fields
|
|