Teacher Awareness and Attitudes Regarding Adolescent Risk Behaviours: a Sample of Finnish Middle and High School Teachers

Abstract

Empirical evidence has shown that youth gamble on both regulated and unregulated games, despite legislative prohibitions. This study assesses middle and high school teachers’ awareness and attitudes regarding adolescent gambling and other potentially high-risk behaviours in Finland. A convenience sample of teachers (N = 157) from 13 provinces participated in the survey. The results suggest that teachers in Finland were more knowledgeable of the age limits of other adolescent high-risk behaviours than the legal age for gambling. Teachers were somewhat familiar with the behaviours and consequences associated with adolescent gambling. All other risk behaviours were perceived as being more important than gambling. Teachers’ awareness about gambling prevention material in Finnish schools was limited. Results suggest that initiatives are required to enhance teachers’ knowledge of adolescent problem gambling and its harmful short- and long-term consequences. School policies and guidelines including gambling behavior should be implemented in middle and high schools globally.

How to Support Prison Workers’ Perceived Readiness to Identify and Respond to Possible Gambling Problems: a Pilot Study from Two Finnish Prisons

“…This may reflect the lay perception of gambling as a harmless hobby (Campbell et al 2011), whereas professionals have a keener awareness of the potential problems involved. Our findings furthermore showed that professionals had gaps in their knowledge about problem gambling, but were interested in attending continuing education (Castrén et al 2017), which is in line with another Finnish study (Castrén et al 2016) and two studies from other countries (Derevensky et al 2013;Temcheff et al 2014). Our earlier work prompted greater interest among professionals in problem gambling and in continuing education in the form of tailored workshops with supportive materials (e.g., Hodgins and Makarchuk 2002).…”

Warning labels and messaging for youth gamblers

“…Most teachers (over 70%) were aware of the legal age limit for online gambling, slot machine gambling, purchasing a lottery ticket, and casino gambling. 79 However, their awareness for gambling activities were not as accurate as their knowledge of other potentially risky activities, such as purchasing alcohol, purchasing cigarettes, or driving a car. 79 Teachers reported having observed students gambling (21.9%) and overheard students talking about gambling (43.8%).…”

“…79 However, their awareness for gambling activities were not as accurate as their knowledge of other potentially risky activities, such as purchasing alcohol, purchasing cigarettes, or driving a car. 79 Teachers reported having observed students gambling (21.9%) and overheard students talking about gambling (43.8%). However, only 16.8% and 17.6% of the teachers correctly estimated the percentage of 11-to 14-year-old and 15-to 17-year-old-students, who had gambled in the past year.…”

“…Students who had gambled in those age groups were both 41-60%. 79 Teachers' perceptions on the number of students who gambled were highly inaccurate.…”

“…79 Interestingly, gambling not was perceived by the teachers to be a serious concern compared to other behaviours such as excessive video game playing, spending too much online, violence in school or bullying, smoking, unsafe online activities, academic problems, and depression. 79 Despite teachers not perceiving gambling to be a serious concern compared to other issues, most teachers (75%) agreed that excessive gambling is a serious issue among youth. They believed that youth gambling could escalate to problem gambling (19%) and that youth gambling can be highly addictive (84%).…”