Recently, celebrities gambled and it affected society. Three Samsung Lions baseball players missed a recent game. It caused the club to lose the game, and fans of the club were disappointed. The prosecution and the police expanded the range of the investigation, which was gambling by baseball players. 12 businessmen also gambled overseas in a gambling house. They gambled about 50 billion won. Gambling incidents often occur in various fields like the entertainment world, the sporting world and the financial world. According to the results of a 2014 gambling survey, 2.07 million South Korean adults are addicted to gambling. This is a serious problem.
  The reasons of addiction to gambling are diverse and complex. The reasons can be roughly categorized into two reasons. One reason is the attraction of gambling, and the other reason is the characters of people who enjoy gambling. Gambling has factors that people can become addicted to, so the fun and pleasure of gambling is substantial. The point of being able to make money while having fun playing is also a big merit. People who have a highly competitive spirit, depression or an obsessive compulsive neurosis are easily addicted to gambling. Social values, environment and brain dysfunction are also factors that can cause gambling addiction.
  Mentally immature teenagers can become easily addicted to the fun and pleasure of gambling. This is a major social problem. Teenagers can easily contact gambling sites on the Internet. Internet gambling sites don’t need adult certifications or confirmation procedures. Promotions of Internet gambling sites can easily attract the attention of many teenagers through SNS. The problems of teenagers’ gambling can cause other crimes. Teenagers swindle second-hand online shops and cause school violence and extortion. Anonymous L student said, “When I was a high school student, I had an experience in which I gambled on Internet sports gambling sites. I lost nearly one million won. I held my smartphone all day and watched sports games all night. My friends lost money or made big money. I didn’t do it anymore. The gambling had bad effects on my daily life as well as my studies, but I am reminded of gambling occasionally. I have made efforts to avoid gambling.”
  If you are addicted to gambling, you might have a desire to solve this problem. First, we must look at gambling addiction as a disease and approach it with solutions of treatment. The gambling addiction is an impulse control disorder. It is ascribable to disorders of the physiology of the brain. Gambling addicts need to have medical treatment and constant consultations. Gambling addicts must have the courage to overcome the gambling addiction. Gambling addicts are responsible for their lives and have to know they can’t shift responsibility on other people. The role of the family is also important. First of all, family members should know about gambling addiction and its solutions. Family members have to encourage, believe and support gambling addicts. They should be companions with gambling addicts and help them to overcome the addiction. In addition to the efforts of individuals, the government’s role is very important. The government has to make laws about gambling. The government has to make a gambling watchdog and has to manage and oversee gambling. Gambling advertising on the Internet also must be prevented. The route in which teenagers come into contact with gambling is through the Internet. Advertising of gambling sites causes curiosity and leads to gambling addiction through content that many teenagers use like Facebook and Twitter. Yu Jae-yeong(’15, International Business) said, “The help of companies is very important for solving gambling addiction. In the case of the Internet personal broadcasting company Africa TV, if a user posts advertising about gambling in a chat room, a user is turned over to the police. After making this regulation, I didn’t see any advertising. I think many people are making efforts for solving gambling problems.”

By Woo Hyun-gi
hg36@cbnu.ac.kr