The odds are worse than ever, while playing has never been easier.
Since a 2018 Supreme Court decision struck down a federal law that barred betting on sports in most states, online sports betting has exploded.
It’s not only grown with adults. A 2025 JAMA Pediatrics research study found that about 8% of middle and high school students gambled once a week or more. Gambling by young people is connected to a range of negative outcomes such as anxiety, depression, impulsivity, obsessive thinking, lower academic performance, conflict with friends and family and, of course, financial harms.
A few years ago in Las Vegas I was walking through a casino with my child. Immediately a casino employee walked directly up to us firmly stating, “No kids on the casino floor.”
There are no such guardrails on an app.
Even though Utah prohibits gambling, young people can still access apps, offshore sites and prediction markets. Instead of driving into the desert to go to a casino, the new casinos sit in your pocket.
Today you can turn your sports knowledge or ability to predict the weather into money. Just switch on any professional sports game, analysis show or even go to a game in-person and you’ll see advertisements about different gambling apps. This is happening in family-friendly environments.
The simplicity and appeal of sports betting, even despite the scandals, has created a culture that paints online gambling as something new, better or different than gambling of the past, when in reality the only difference is that the odds are worse than ever, while playing has never been easier.
At the Digital Citizenship Foundation, we share Gov. Cox’s concerns about the effects of betting apps on Utah’s children and the pushback that Utah, and other states are making to prediction market apps like Kalshi. But, in addition to courts, we need classrooms to tackle this growing issue. Education about the effects of the apps, how they are designed to keep users hooked, family support and financial literacy is vital to bet on our greatest resource — our kids.
If you or someone you love is struggling with gambling call the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER (or 1-800-426-2537).
Blake Townsend, Vineyard, Carrie Rogers, West Jordan