Don't buy lottery tickets for kids, researcher warns

Comment #14

LckyLary — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:16:22 GMT

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 wha... [ More ]

Comment #13

sirbrad — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:54:20 GMT

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.

Comment #12

sirbrad — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:51:10 GMT

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.

Comment #11

whitmansm2 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:41:37 GMT

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

Comment #10

sirbrad — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:38:21 GMT

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.

Comment #9

whitmansm2 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:34:43 GMT

LOL not with $1 scratch offs! I wish

Comment #8

sirbrad — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:31:41 GMT

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.

Comment #7

sirbrad — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:29:42 GMT

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

Comment #6

whitmansm2 — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 14:27:44 GMT

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 the... [ More ]

Comment #5

ThatScaryChick — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:52:51 GMT

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.

Comment #4

jarasan — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 03:32:09 GMT

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 teachin... [ More ]

Comment #3

justxploring — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 01:49:50 GMT

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.

Comment #2

LckyLary — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 02:37:10 GMT

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 on... [ More ]

Comment #1

KY Floyd — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:19:11 GMT

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... [ More ]

Don't buy lottery tickets for kids, researcher warns

Lottery Post — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:19:00 GMT

Parents who buy lottery tickets as presents for their kids are gambling with their children's futures, says a McGill University researcher.

It's really something that's common, said Alissa Sklar, a researcher with McGill's International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviours.

Thirty percent of kids under 18 report having received a lottery ticket or scratch card as a gift, Skar said, citing a recent survey of children and teens in Quebec.

Giving a child a lotter... [ More ]