Since the U.S. Supreme Court removed the legal barriers that had prohibited states from allowing gambling, some 31 now permit sports betting over phones or websites, and seven states have authorized online casino gambling. The result of this legal shift “is a crisis, an epidemic of gambling disorder and financial disruption, especially for young men,” writes Jonathan Cohen, author of “Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling.”

Nearly half of men from 18 to 49 — or 22 percent of all Americans — have an active sports betting account, according to the Siena Research Institute. A national poll conducted by Farleigh Dickinson University found that ten percent of men between 18 and 30 may be problem gamblers, a function of the availability of online betting on sports and slot machines. Underage gambling also is on the rise. The largest demographic group calling gambling hotlines are teenagers and young adults in their twenties, and Yale Medicine reports that many troubles begin when players are adolescents. Gamblers who start young are more apt to develop a problem in adulthood. While betting can be another form of entertainment for many, those with a problem have a higher rate of suicide than alcoholics or drug addicts. Further, the Journal of Pediatrics reported that underage gambling is linked to substance abuse.

“If you think your kid isn’t gambling, either he’s an exception or you’re deluding yourself,” Cohen told me. “Your son, if he plays video games or likes sports, is almost certainly gambling in some way,” he added.

Like Minnick, some teenagers play games on sites that their parents might not realize involve wagering: Underdog Fantasy, PrizePicks and Sleeper Picks, for example, fall under the category of fantasy sports, and most states permit 18-year-olds to take part. (All but a handful of states require that players be at least 21 to place bets on the large online sites like DraftKings and BetMGM.) Tech savvy and more determined teenagers might also find ways to get around the prominent sites’ age requirements by sneaking their parents’ Social Security numbers and using Apple Pay to fund the habit. The cool high school kid, Minnick said, is the one who has access to his parents’ FanDuel account and is allowed to wager there.

“Most parents have no idea how much their kids are being targeted by predatory gambling,” said Les Bernal, who runs the advocacy group Stop Predatory Gambling.

Experts on the gambling industry encourage parents to act.

Talk about gambling

“The messages kids are getting about gambling is coming from commercials and advertising,” Cohen said. Some of the most prominent promoters are the biggest stars in sports: football legends Eli and Peyton Manning, golfing standout Jordan Spieth, basketball greats LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal, Red Sox hitter David Ortiz.

“These athletes create a level of trust in gambling,” said Samantha Thomas, a professor of public health at Deakin University in Australia. “They think, ‘if Shaq is doing it, it can’t be a bad thing’,” she added.

As daunting as it may be to challenge the wisdom of the stars, caring grown-ups need to counteract that messaging. Many already talk to their children about pornography, drugs and alcohol abuse. The same should be said of gambling. “This will not change unless parents talk about it,” Bernal said.

Messages for kids about gambling

DraftKings and FanDuel sell the idea that gambling is fun, there’s money to be made, and that those with expertise in athletics might have an advantage, playing to some boys’ overconfidence in their sports’ knowledge.

Thomas advises parents to press the message about the industry’s motives: it promotes gambling not to help others make money, but to take it themselves. Remind them that the gambling industry does not have the players’ best interest at heart. They need to realize what most adults already do — that the house always wins.

Kids need to learn that no matter their knowledge of athletes and teams, there’s no career in sports betting, and that gambling addiction is real. They need to understand that “chasing your losses” — doubling down on bets after losing a lot — is a symptom of addiction. If they fall into trouble, kids need reassurance that they can ask for help.

How to talk about gambling with kids

Threats and scare tactics can backfire.

“If my parents had said, ‘Never gamble again!’ I’d have done it faster,” Rob Minnick told me. Bernal said that kids respond better to information. He advised telling kids that gambling is highly addictive and informing them that the whole scene is a rip-off — the companies see you as an easy mark.

Minnick encouraged parents to keep talking about it and making it easy for your child to reveal his problem. And if the teenager discloses a gambling problem at any level, like betting or losing more than intended, treat it as seriously as you would drugs or alcohol addiction.

Practice what you preach about gambling

“Don’t take your kids to casinos,” Bernal said. “That would be like taking drugs in front of your kids,” he added. Parents who gamble should model safe habits and bet responsibly.

On November 12, 2022, Minnick took his last wager. It followed a 12-hour gambling binge, in which he lost all his money and accumulated debts that would take six months to repay. For the second time in his life, he went to a rehab facility and “detoxed” from the habit. He’s free of the urge to wager, Minnick said, because he found meaning in helping other problem gamblers give it up. He started an organization called ODAAT (One Day At A Time) that offers resources to gamblers and their families, including information on rehab, financial counseling and educational videos.