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!