Online betting will soon be legal in Singapore! The approval of online betting for lottery operators Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club has generated a myriad of responses online, with many debating the repercussions likely to be brought about by this policy.
Both operators will be exempted from the Remote Gambling Act which bans online and phone gambling in Singapore. Singapore Pools will start its online betting platform from Oct 25 onwards, where punters can place bets for Toto, 4D, F1, football and horse racing. Despite regulations set up by these operators, there are still loopholes in the online gambling process.
In this age when even a 3-year old owns an iPhone in Singapore, it is hard to completely safeguard your kids from the temptation of social gambling. The typical teenager might be attracted to social gambling by making small bets, since you can avoid being judged and conveniently place bets at any time anywhere.
Here are some tips that can help you safeguard your teenage child from getting addicted to online gambling, or even prevent your young toddler from accidentally placing bets with your phone:
1. Parental control feature
Most phones now include a basic parental lock feature, especially for purchases made through the phone such as in the App Store or even online betting. You can activate the ‘Restriction’ feature on iPhone or create a restricted profile on Android to set up more barriers for preventing your kids from accidentally placing bets using your account.
Alternatively, there are many updated Android and iPhone parental control apps on the market which are stricter and use more complicated features to child proof your phone.
2. Set a daily spending limit on your gambling account
You can set a low daily betting limit on your account to ensure that your teenager is not secretly using your account for bets. Any increase in the limit will only be updated the next day as well. Be sure to log out of your online betting accounts after any transaction to make sure your account is not used by someone else.
3. Gambling helplines
If you suspect your child is addicted to online gambling, try contacting these helplines to seek advice on how you can help your child. Of course, it would be helpful if you have a conversation with your child to better understand their situation before approaching external help.
4. Keep your adult IDs safe
This might be a farfetched idea, but there have been suggestions of how teenagers can easily circumvent the age limit to set up an online betting account simply by “borrowing” an adult ID.
The current legal age is set at 21, but if a teenager is determined enough, he could conveniently use the ID of an adult family member. This could easily go unnoticed especially if he uses the identity of an elderly in the family who is not online-savvy. Thus, be careful to check that your identity is not unlawfully registered and be sure to ask if your teenage requests for your ID number.
(Image Credits: SheKnows)
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