Every fourth child between the ages of 13 and 17 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina plays one of the games of chance, and citizens of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina left about 13 billion KM in betting shops in the period from 2016 to 2023! In order to prevent this problem and reduce the number of children and young people who gamble, the Association for the Prevention of Addiction NARKO-NE implements a preventive program Who actually wins? in secondary schools in Sarajevo Canton and Tuzla Canton.
At today’s conference organized by the NARKO-NE Association, the results of the preventive program implemented in high schools in Cantons of Canton and Canton of Trieste were presented. Sanela Pekić from NARKO-NE pointed out that the evaluation of the program’s implementation in these cantons showed high effectiveness in raising and strengthening protective factors among students, especially in the context of increasing the level of correct knowledge about gambling and the gaming industry.
“The key idea of the universal prevention program is to act before risky behavior manifests itself, and a large number of students expressed their willingness to recommend participation in the Program to their friends, which suggests that they recognized the positive aspects of the program and consider it useful for others,” said Sanela.
“Who Really Wins?” is the only scientifically proven gambling prevention program in Europe, and the Association for Addiction Prevention NARKO-NE, with the support of the Institute for Youth Development KULT, has taken over the license for BiH.
“NARKO-NE is one of the organizations that has laid a solid foundation for strengthening the healthy development of children and youth and recognized the role of schools in preventing gambling and betting, because the education system provides a good foundation, along with strong family involvement. I would also like to thank the Embassy of Sweden in BiH and the Swedish Agency for Development and Cooperation, because their support was crucial in recognizing the need for organizations to act together in the best interests of children and youth, and create a better environment for their growth and development in BiH. It is the duty of all of us to create a safe space for children and youth, to invest in their values, education and emotional support in order to ensure their development and prosperity in the future,” said Ajka Rovčanin, Executive Director of the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
Prof. Ph.D. Neven Ricijaš, one of the authors of the program in Croatia, emphasized that we should not ignore online gambling, which will increase in the coming period. He further states that women are more inclined to gamble online, as opposed to men who are more inclined to gamble in casinos and betting shops. Gambling addiction, unlike addiction to psychoactive substances, is a hidden addiction and unfortunately, very often the problem is discovered late, and 10% of the population that starts gambling will develop addiction as well.
Marko Romić, a trauma psychology specialist who works with addicts on a daily basis, points out that pathological gamblers always hide their problem. Wives, mothers, and daughters are the ones who most often seek help for their loved ones, and recently the number of women
reporting gambling addiction has also increased.
For all of the above reasons, NARKO-NE will in the coming period strive to include a larger number of schools in BiH in the prevention of gambling among young people. Preventive programs should be comprehensive, include all significant target groups and be implemented in multiple environments simultaneously (school, media, but also family, workplace, legislation). Prevention must be implemented continuously, planned and systematically, and not through one-off “ad hoc” activities that can cause more harm than good for children and young people, which is very often the case.
The implementation of this program, in addition to the support of the Institute, was also supported by the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton, the Ministry of Education of Tuzla Canton, the Pedagogical Institute of Tuzla Canton and the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation from Tuzla.
More about the work and activities of the NARKO-NE Association is available on the website prevencija.ba .
Source: mladi.org
