"I play I do not play" is the program implemented by the Cyprus Addiction Treatment Authority and aims to free Cypriot students from gambling. Cypriot students, boys and girls, according to official European surveys, are the number one gambler in the EU, while gambling is becoming a threat to Cypriot society, as according to the same survey, 75% of Cypriots gamble and 6% of them already show symptoms of problem gambling.
The "I do not play" program is a preventive program that aims to "shield students from abnormal gambling and gambling." It is held in all the provinces of Cyprus and is addressed to adolescent students, their parents and secondary school teachers.
According to the brochure of the Cyprus Addiction Treatment Authority, the program offered free of charge includes "psychoeducational workshops with the method of mobilizing focus groups". This method "uses an experiential way of teaching and enlightenment that overcomes the difficulties and lack of interactivity that often characterize traditional lectures."
In addition, it is a method that can help gather valuable information about how participants perceive and deal with the various aspects of abnormal gambling as well as problem gambling.
The subject of these workshops is the "personal system of life values". Targeting realistic life expectancy, family guidance and support, controlling impulsivity and boosting self-confidence, assertiveness and problem solving, constructive leisure time, detecting behaviors that suggest pathological gambling and gambling and gambling.
The program is implemented in all provinces in collaboration with schools, organized parents and youth organizations. The project is sponsored by the Cyprus Institute of Psychotherapy in collaboration with the Pancyprian Association of Psychologists and the Margarita Liasidou Foundation.
The need for the implementation of similar programs arose after the analysis of the data that reach the AAEK and demonstrate the magnitude of the problem, which seems to already characterize adolescents and young adults in Cyprus.
Firsts online and offline - According to the analysis:
Cypriot students bet on the internet at a rate of 22%, while in Europe the corresponding percentage reaches 16%.
- The difference is greater in offline betting with a percentage that reaches 27% among Cypriot students and only 18% compared to the European average.
- On the internet, boys bet at 35% and girls at 11%, while the European average rates are 24% and 8%, respectively.
When it comes to offline betting, the odds remain very high for boys 40% compared to girls who are 16%. The European averages are 26% and 11% respectively.
Source: Philenews / Marilena Panagi