Prevention of childhood gambling with ADHD-style “teaching”

If your sixth-grader has been skipping school to hang out at the casino or the horse track, you might have waited too long to sit him down for a little talk about being impulsive.

In a new study from the University of Montreal, researchers selected 153 kindergartners and asked their teachers to rate severity of inattentiveness and impulsivity. Six years later, researchers interviewed each child to assess how often they bought lottery tickets or bet on sports, card games, video poker games, or bingo.

First I’ve got to ask: What kind of a gamblers paradise is Canada? Seriously – kids in middle school actually buy lottery tickets, lay bingo bets, and play video poker games?

Results of the study showed that the more impulsive and inattentive the kindergartener, the greater the risk he’d end up dancing the dance with Lady Luck before he turned 12.

Ah, but you know the fix is in. The lead researcher of the study told HealthDay News, “Often children don’t meet the criteria for ADHD, it doesn’t mean we should just overlook it. It means we need to spend more time to teach them how to stop, look and listen.”

Riiiight. TEACH them. Like the way we currently “teach” impulsive, inattentive kids to stop, look, listen and take their daily ADHD drug.

Sorry if I sound a little impulsive, but you can bet the farm on that one.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Source:
“Impulsive Kindergartners May Turn to Gambling” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay News, 3/3/09, healthday.com