My Teen Is Gambling Online: Sports Betting Apps, Prediction Markets and What Parents Can Do

What you may find on your teen’s phone

Why this is now a common question for parents

Gambling no longer needs a casino or a betting shop. Common Sense Media’s 2026 research with more than 1,000 U.S. boys aged 11 to 17 found that 36 percent had gambled in the last year, nearly one in eight had bet on sports, six in ten saw gambling ads on YouTube and social media, and one-third had gambled with family members.

Gambling-style mechanics also appear inside games, where paid rewards with random outcomes can blur the line between playing and paying. A teen who has grown up with those mechanics may not see a sports bet or a prediction-market trade as anything different.

Common Sense Media: New research on adolescent boys’ gambling habits

Why Are Kids’ Apps Full of Ads and In-App Traps? A Parent Guide to Dark Patterns

Know what your teen is actually using

Sports betting apps, online casinos, prediction markets, sweepstakes-style casino sites and social casino games can look similar on a phone, but they work differently. Ask your teen to show you the app or site rather than guessing from a bank statement.

Prediction markets let users buy contracts on the outcome of real events, including sports. Kalshi’s help center says users must be 18 or older and may need to pass document verification. The National Council on Problem Gambling has called for a minimum age of 21 and stronger protections against underage participation on these platforms.

Google Play requires real-money gambling apps to prevent under-age users and to carry an adults-only rating. If your teen has an account on a real-money platform, ask whose name and documents were used — an adult’s identity, a sibling’s or a parent’s, is common and changes what you need to do next.

Kalshi Help Center: Signing up as an individual · National Council on Problem Gambling: Consumer protection and prediction markets · Google Play Console Help: Real-money gambling, games and contests policy

Secure the money first

Remove saved cards from app stores, payment apps and the teen’s phone. Change online-banking and payment-app passwords, and turn on purchase approval where your accounts offer it. If your card or account was used without permission, contact your bank promptly and explain that a minor used it for gambling.

Contact the gambling operator through its official support channel, state that the account holder is or was a minor, and ask for the account to be closed. Keep records: screenshots of the account, transaction dates and amounts, and your correspondence. In Great Britain, the Gambling Commission’s codes require operators to verify age before a customer can deposit, and require staff training on the legal requirements for returning stakes and not paying prizes to underage customers. Outcomes in other countries and U.S. states depend on local rules and the operator.

If the account is in your name or another adult’s name, the operator may treat it as that adult’s account. Be honest about what happened; do not try to recover money by giving false information.

UK Gambling Commission: Licence conditions and codes of practice: protection of children and other vulnerable persons · Kalshi Help Center: Signing up as an individual

Block gambling apps and sites on devices

BetBlocker, run by a registered Scottish charity, is free and says it blocks hundreds of thousands of gambling websites and thousands of apps on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and other platforms. It includes parental controls and lets restrictions run for a chosen period, from one day up to five years.

Use your phone’s parental controls alongside a blocker: require approval for new app downloads, restrict web content, and remove access to payment methods. A blocker on one device does not cover a friend’s phone, a school computer or a browser on another device, so blocking works best alongside an agreement.

Also turn off gambling advertising where you can, and talk about the adverts your teen sees in sports content and on social media.

BetBlocker (registered Scottish charity): BetBlocker: free gambling blocking · Google Play Console Help: Real-money gambling, games and contests policy

How to Stop Kids From Making In-App Purchases on iPhone and Android

How to talk about it without driving it underground

GamCare advises helping children understand the risks and consequences of gambling in an open and non-judgemental way, and says this is often more beneficial than a prescriptive “don’t do it” approach.

Ask questions you genuinely want answered: what got them started, what they enjoy about it, how much they think they have won and lost overall, and whether they ever bet to win back losses. Explain the maths of betting in plain terms — operators set odds so that, over time, the house is expected to come out ahead.

Separate the behaviour from the person. A teen who feels ashamed is more likely to hide accounts or borrow money than to tell you when things go wrong.

GamCare: Support for parents

Warning signs that need more than a conversation

The National Council on Problem Gambling lists signs of problem gambling including thinking about gambling all the time, feeling the need to bet more money more often, going back to try to win money back (chasing losses), and feeling restless or irritable when trying to stop or cut down.

GamCare’s guidance for parents adds signs to watch for in young people: becoming moody or restless, acting secretive or lying, missing school or losing interest in hobbies, an increased interest in money, and having more or less cash than usual. Money or items going missing at home is a reason to act quickly rather than wait.

If gambling is linked with low mood, self-harm thoughts or a crisis, treat that as the priority and contact crisis services or emergency services immediately.

National Council on Problem Gambling: FAQs: What is problem gambling? · GamCare: Support for parents

Where to get help

In the U.S., the National Council on Problem Gambling’s National Problem Gambling Helpline is 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), by call or text, with online chat, and NCPG offers a self-assessment for youth and young adults. Some states also promote their own helplines.

In Great Britain, the minimum legal age for most gambling is 18. The Gambling Commission lists the National Gambling Helpline as 0808 8020 133 in England and Scotland or 0808 2819 265 in Wales. In England, the NHS National Gambling Clinic accepts 13- to 18-year-olds from anywhere in England, offers support for family and friends, and accepts self-referral.

Elsewhere, look for a national gambling helpline or ask your doctor. Parents can also seek support for themselves: living with a family member’s gambling is stressful, and helplines support family members too.

National Council on Problem Gambling: Help and treatment: National Problem Gambling Helpline · UK Gambling Commission: Gambling and young people · GamCare: Support for parents · Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust: National Gambling Clinic

What technology cannot solve

Blockers and parental controls cover the devices they are installed on, not friends’ phones or every browser. Operators’ age checks can be bypassed with an adult’s identity, and refund outcomes depend on the operator, the payment method and local law.

Questions parents ask