Pennyslvania: Don’t gamble with kids? The state should heed its own advice. | Editorial

Pennyslvania: Don’t gamble with kids? The state should heed its own advice. | Editorial

Article brief provided by The Philadelphia Inquirer
  • The Editorial Board, The Philadelphia Inquirer
November 27, 2022 5:41 PM
  • The Editorial Board, The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has a silly solution for a serious problem.

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Scores of customers at local casinos continue to leave kids locked in their cars while they go inside and gamble.

So how does the gambling board plan to address this life and death issue? With public service announcements. Ads on TV, radio, and social media will contain the following message: “Don’t Gamble with Kids.” There’s even a website.

Is that the best the Gambling Control Board members — who get paid $145,000 a year to meet once or twice a month — could come up with?

Any parent or a guardian who leaves a child in a car to go gamble — sometimes for hours — likely has a serious addiction problem. Running a few ads is unlikely to change their behavior.