Somewhere there's an unedited draft of the article that reads:  "That can really have life-altering consequences. You can't smell it on their breath. You can't see it in their pupils and there's no urine test," said Sklar, who is a mother, and a nut job who sees problems in every activity that could possibly be abused.

Buying $5 worth of lottery tickets, no matter who you buy them for, means you've bought them a $5 gift. The only real problem I see is if you're giving your kids a $5 Christmas or birthday present and hoping they won't realize that it's only a $5 present.

When I was in Preschool, no lie, they has us playing Bingo. We had also a Bingo hall across the street from our house. I would go with my parents and root for them to win as I was promised a small share of whatever they won.

I became fascinated with the game and  how to calculate the odds.. Like the odds of inside round-robin with certain number of I, N, G called. When waiting for 1 number how many others would be based on the called numbers? It made me become better at Math.

Nowadays I only play Bingo when we go to WV and my friends want to play. I probably don't play much nowadays because Bingo these days you can't pick what boards you want (they are pre-printed pads of sheets) so it's the equivalent of a lottery with forced quick-pick. Games that I can't have control over what I play, I feel that I can't win long-term so I avoid them.

I do agree that kids shouldn't be exposed to gambling, but exposure doesn't always result in habit. There has to also be an underlying predisposition to addictive behavior.

Why would anyone buy children lottery tickets?     I assume the article is referring to underage children, so that would be the same as buying them beer.  There isn't anything wrong with the item, but the fact that the person could not legally purchase either on his/her own. 

Gambling with their future?  Driving down the road with the kids is more of a risk. Having your kid become a researcher is more of a risk. Letting your kid on the internet is more of a risk.  Buying your kid Chinese toys is more of a risk.  Giving your kid Ritalin is more of a risk. Letting your kid on a quad is more of a risk,etc.etc.etc........

More nanny state mentality, "I know what is best for you and yours". Merry Christmas !oh no! I mean happy festivus!

P.S. My uncle started teaching me how to play Poker and about a dozen or so other card games when I was 6!  Needless to say he was my favorite uncle!

My mom would buy me a scratch-off ticket every now and then. It didn't harm me or any of my sisters. At the time, we thought it was something special that we got to play every once in a while. 

I buy them for my kids.  I don't do it EVERY time I go to the store...but if I been out all day with them running around and they've been good...I'll stop off and get them a stratch off.  They know the rules...anything less than a thousand is mine.  Anything more then they get a hundred.  Why?  Because I paid for it.  :)

They don't care about the actual prize.  My kids just care about doing better than their siblings!  lol  It lets them have a distraction for a little moment in time.  And they get tickled when I let them keep the quarter they scratched it off with.

I'm not seeing a problem.

Yeah until your kid holds a $50 million dollar winning ticket. Everything changes then.

Also, beer and lottery tickets are far from being the same. Beer can kill you in many different ways, lottery tickets are a lot less likely to kill you directly.

LOL not with $1 scratch offs!  I wish! 

True, but the article does not say only scratches, but "tickets" as well. Watch how quickly the gift to the kid is taken back and claimed by the parent. Lottery tickets are given usually with the prior knowledge that they will most likely be a loser, which is why I think they are terrible gifts. Or if they do win, you will probably then see lawsuits as true colors come out.

One scratcher I would consider playing is the $100,000 a year for life.

We don't have anything like that.  I wished we did. 

 I've never gave them as gifts.  I know if I ever get one as a gift I'll be polite and NOT scratch it off in front of them! 

http://www.palottery.state.pa.us/lottery/PALotto/instInfo.asp?i=306

Only one prize in all of PA they claim. Used to be lifetime riches I think. I am sure they would pressure you to scratch it off too, as it would be killing them to know if it was a winner. Now those fake winning tickets can be really fun, but very cruel as well.

http://www.palottery.state.pa.us/lottery/PALotto/instInfo.asp?i=185

No million dollar prizes left, although I have never heard of anyone claiming it, or any of the top prizes of these higher priced tickets. So I am also very skeptical of them as well.

If I give someone a ticket and it wins.. it's very likely they will share it... even if not, changing someone else's life for the better is nothing to sneeze at... usually it's an extra ticket that I normally would not have bought. One thing to do is buy someone a Mega ticket same that you played but with a different Bonus Ball, that way if they win the jackpot you definitely get 250K and vice-versa.

My parents smoked when I was a kid, and I was fascinated with all the cigarette logos and whatnot but long before I was of legal smoking age I was turned off by it without my parents ever saying anything* against it. If a child growing up has access to knowledge i.e. books to read and the desire (curiosity) to learn, they will learn what the "bad side" of things like smoking or drinking or gambling are. Merely saying "don't" sometimes makes a kid more curious.

*well they gave me a book called "Moe Q. McGlutch, He Smoked Too Much", maybe there is one like that for Lottery??