Survey shows about half of ISU students gamble

Josh Hart
April 8, 1997

Research results from the Gambling and the Family Conference, held last October, show that 52 percent of all Iowa State students surveyed gamble.

The average amount spent on gambling is $50 a pop.

The results were released late last week.

A poll of 797 ISU students was conducted. The poll is not a random sample. All participants were volunteers representing five colleges.

“We are working with the first generation that has been raised when gambling has been seen as socially acceptable to some,” the study stated.

The lottery was found to be the most popular way to gamble. The study states, “Most market researchers of lotteries found that people like to be winners. They like to win a lot of money. This is a universal dream and the primary reason why people buy lottery tickets. Luck is the tributary of the American dream in the 1990s.”

Twenty percent of the participants indicated in the three-page questionnaire that “sports gambling is widespread.” The study, in accordance with other studies, found that students betting on sports mirror those of the adult public. Students who bet on sports find the National Football League most inviting, followed by college football, college basketball and the National Basketball Association, the study shows.

The students who participated in the study said the principal reasons for gambling were entertainment, 67 percent, and winning money, 29 percent. Other reasons included “for the challenge,” “to pass time” and “due to peer pressure.” The study showed that males were more likely to gamble for winning and females were more likely to gamble for entertainment.

Seventy-seven percent of the students said there should be an age requirement to gamble, but they varied greatly on what the age should be.

Almost half, 48 percent, said the gambling age should be under 18, while 29 percent said the gambling age should be between 19 and 21. About 24 percent said the age should be 22 or older.

Eight percent of the students said they had sought help for a friend or family member with a serious gambling problem.

In addition, 77 percent indicated that their parents knew about their gambling.

Tahira Hira, a professor of human development and family studies and one of the study’s organizers, said she was not surprised by the responses.

“For me the surprise was that kids are growing up with it. They’re influenced by friends and family,” she said. “When they come to college, they come from experience [with gambling].”

Hira said the results should make people aware that gambling can be harmful. “People need to understand what it can do,” she said.

Hira said there are no services on campus that gamblers can turn to for help. “The education isn’t here because some people don’t think it’s an issue,” she said.

She said gambling is the newest craze to hit campuses, like drugs were in the past. “We need to equip people with information so they can help them and let them recognize they have a problem,” Hira said. “I think the data speaks for itself that people like it. They are willing to spend money on it.”

The poll, conducted by Glenn Roberts Research in Des Moines, showed that most people with gambling habits believe it isn’t a problem and it doesn’t affect their finances.

“Most people in the polls believe it hasn’t changed the way they spend money,” said Maury MacDonald, a professor of human development and family studies and a participant of the gambling conference.

MacDonald said some individuals go gambling at the casinos with $30 and end up using their credit cards and getting themselves into debt.

The research shows that 4 percent of the people who gamble are compulsive gamblers. An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people in Iowa have a gambling problem.

“It’s tragic to hear about some of the stories about gamblers I’ve heard after I got involved with this,” MacDonald said.

Last October, the Gambling and Family Conference was hosted by ISU’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences. The goal of the conference was to encourage discussion on the various facets of gambling and its impact on Iowa children, families and communities.