When the Responsible Online Gaming Association was trying to determine its initial programming, one age group stood out. College students and anyone in that age group seemed particularly in need of guidance.
On September 10, ROGA announced the formation of the National College Education Campaign, which will direct responsible gaming information to college-aged students. It is expected to launch in early 2025.
“One of our mission pillars is education and awareness campaigns in general,” said ROGA Executive Director Dr. Jennifer Shatley during an interview with CDC Gaming. “We want to do that across a diverse audience, so different campaigns will connect to and resonate with different audiences. This is an important demographic. This is where we wanted to start, especially knowing that there really aren’t a lot of resources out there for this age group.”
With assistance from Epic Global Solutions, Kindbridge Behavioral Health, and the Responsible Gambling Council, ROGA will develop programs that transcend the space.
“What’s great about the program is that it’s very comprehensive,” Shatley says. “It’s offering lots of variety, skills that will be important to them, life skills, whether they engage in gaming or not.”
Students will be able to learn about budgeting, saving, the risks associated with debt, and other concepts that are useful during their lifetimes.
Importantly, the programs are designed to address students where they congregate, online or on their phones.
“I’m excited to be partnering with content experts and organizations that already do a lot of things with this age group,” Shatley says. “They already do these types of things on college campuses.
“The Responsible Gambling Council has been doing engagement and awareness programs around responsible gaming on university campuses in Canada for a very long time. They understand how to position these ideas in a fun and engaging way that will resonate with this age group.”
Shatley says it’s important to address college-aged kids – she emphasizes that the programing is not just targeted to students, but to everyone – and not just student-athletes.
She also wants to make sure problem gambling is correctly identified and defined so it is treated correctly.
“I think in general, and not just for this population, there has been a longstanding stigma around problem gambling,” Shatley says, adding, “This is not about willpower, it’s not about some moral issue. This is really a mental health issue, and there are resources for assistance. Just raising awareness of that fact will help destigmatize it and help people take advantage of available resources if they need them.”
When students step on campus for the first time, they are usually warned about abusing alcohol and drugs. However, gambling is not usually addressed as a possible problem.
Shatley hopes that will change.
“Our partners in this have a lot of history working directly on college campuses,” Shatley says. “We are using that to engage these universities around these campaigns. We will have campus events that will be led by Epic as well, in order, again, to raise awareness of the campaign and to really engage students. We are looking to utilize relationships with universities to really embed this.”
