The holiday season is currently upon us and it can become hard to find the perfect gift for family and friends. The Kansas Lottery has found that many parents buy their underage children lottery tickets as gifts for the holidays. This can pose as a problem as the lottery is for those eighteen years of age or older. The lottery has issued study findings to remind parents of the rules of the lottery.

A recent study showed that 19% of high school students were given one or more lottery tickets or scratch cards as gifts for the holidays. 85% of these gifts were from family members. These statistics along with the problem of adolescent problem gambling, the national Council of Problem Gambling, the International Centre for Youth Gambling problems and High-Risk Behaviors at McGill University, the Kansas Lottery and other lotteries around the world have come together to raise awareness of this problem.

Ed Van Petten the Executive Director of the Kansas Lottery commented: “Although we make it clear to players in Kansas that no one under the age of 18 can buy our tickets, it’s important to reiterate that parents shouldn’t give lottery tickets to kids as presents. Holiday-themed scratch-offs are popular gift this time of year, but they should only be gifted to people who are old enough to play legally.”




- 2009-11-30