The ‘mechanical rabbit’, a novel explaining compulsive gambling to adolescents

government Community of Madridfor example, it has shown that it rejects the proposals. Ministry of ConsumptionThe gambling prevention goals of the National Drug Plan’s National Addiction Strategy 2017-2024, and even the recommendations of the Government Council’s Specific Gambling Planning Decree 19/2022 of 20 April. forced to regulate gambling due to As a result, the president Isabel Díaz Ayuso confirmed a few weeks ago that it will not limit the opening of betting businesses near schools, but will also allow payments via credit cards or systems such as Bizum. thus increasing the risk of indebtedness, theft from the family circle and ultimately addiction among the young population.

“To get your hands on it. You just have to look at the data. Ages are getting lower and the percentage of young people betting is increasing, both combined. online As on site and under the age of 18, entry to the betting houses is prohibited. Anyone who passes by these places can see that there are always young people around, so it’s clear that the closer you get these places to the institutes, the more opportunities you have for those people to access them.” Ledicia Costasnewly published author mechanical rabbit (Anaya, 2022), an award-winning novel about gambling among adolescents Lazarillo Award.

“it’s been a lot heavy because it’s the third time I’ve won, which makes me the first to win multiple times. It is extremely important to come out with the approval of the Lazarillo Prize, the dean of children’s and youth literature in Spain, because it is a miracle for us, as writers of children’s and youth literature, to gain visibility. They only listen to us at Christmas and Kings. We’re out the rest of the yearHe explains Costas, whose successful career as a children’s and youth writer has led him to frequent schools and chat with his readers about the books they read most of the school year.

It was this contact with the adolescent world that made the author realize the importance of play. online and the bets were winning among that group. “I was really struck by the fact that it was impossible to see what was going on inside from the outside of the gambling halls, as well as seeing a lot of young people around the betting houses. I visited the bookies, opened an account online, When I wanted to withdraw the fifteen euros there it was blocked and I talked to secondary school teachers who have students in their classrooms who have problems with gambling. He wanted to know how compulsive gambling affected his school performance and relationship with peers. With all this in mind and reference to social realism novels that stigmatized me as a teenager: rebels anyone street law from Southeast HintonI decided to write the book.”

For several years, Costas has devoted himself to polishing a concise text that is not very long and “not a single comma remains”. Solve the mechanics that make the game so addictive brings young people closer to a more complex and harmful reality than they think.

“Everything in the gaming world is made to grab your attention. Everything is made for a party, full of flamboyant and endorphin-producing stimuli. online They developed a system where minors play without deposit, to attract them without violating the law. Except for those that refer to the economic problem, the experience generates the same adrenaline and all the other sensations that work when you play for real because The goal is for them to get used to it and make real calculations when they reach the age of 18..

any man

Raven, the protagonist mechanical rabbitHe is a teenager who is not much different from his other classmates in high school. Like his friends, he likes to play video games, skateboards, watch movies, listen to music, read comics, use his cell phone and spend time with his girlfriend Nana, I must say, a little distant from him. last time Although neither Nana nor her other friends know the reason for this breakup, many are starting to associate it with Cuervo’s new hobby, online betting.

“Unlike the word drug, which is closely associated with danger, “game” does not have a pejorative meaning., the exact opposite. also play online extremely easy. It’s enough to have a cell phone or computer, and if you have to be of legal age to open the account, if you lie, you open it with the ID of a family member or a friend who is already 18 years old. All of this makes it almost impossible for an adult to recognize that your son or daughter is gambling. Alarms only sound when there is already a serious addiction problem, when family thieves start, credit cards disappear, when there is a change in behavior due to poor academic performance, or when they become distant. When this happens, the problem of addiction is exacerbated by the fact that there aren’t many psychologists specializing in social stigma and adolescent gambling. Therefore, the more the issue is disseminated and made visible, the sooner we can prevent such problems.”

Despite his gambling and sullen demeanor, no one in Cuervo’s gang thinks the boy has a serious gambling problem. But everything changes when the kid who’s fascinated by what’s going on at the bookies decides to go to a bookie that the doorman lets through, regardless of whether he’s underage or not. Dazzled by what he sees inside and eager to help a friend in financial distress, Cuervo begins to bet larger sums, forcing him to apply for a loan from a loan shark. From then on, fear and shame put the boy’s future in the hands of a group of criminals.

“When I hear the words ‘Today’s youth are not what they used to be’, ‘The youth of the past knew what discipline was’, ‘Before we were more educated…’ I get very angry. There are those who remember the youth of the 60s and 70s with nostalgia, which is a lie. .. We always criminalize children, if you listen, they know a lot, they become a whole. Take a step forward in fashion or trend issues. It is unfair to accuse them of gambling because when it happened to them, it was largely because the adults had created a perverse system.“, explains Ledicia Costas, clear that the problem of gambling is not only a legal one, but also an ethical one. “What need do teen idols or elite athletes need to advertise bookies? Don’t they realize that they are role models for young people? For things like this, I think we should stop focusing on children and focus on adults; Children are victims.”