The knowledge that children and teens have gained over the years about the Internet is mind-blowing! While this ’savoir-faire’ may be a positive in many instances, the downside has the potential to be very destructive.

More and more people under the legal age to gamble are successfully registering gambling accounts at online casinos, logging on, and playing games like Poker and Blackjack for free, as many online gambling sites offer free play for their more popular games. Access to these free games is less restricted, and it’s easy for underage people to get through. This is evident with the results of a recent study conducted at the University of Oregon. It suggests that online gambling at free play sites is steadily rising among adolescent 12-year old children to 17 year olds. It is likely that these teens will become proned to Problem Gambling later on in life.

A simple solution would be to enforce more thorough security checks but, in addition to detering minors, the casinos are also faced with the reality that it may also deter prospective Players on their site. On the other hand, the responsibility that parents owe to their children to be more vigilant in what websites their children visit or how they use the Internet, cannot be ruled out.

There is no easy solution to how we curb the problem. It exists and we should nip it in the bud before it gets too out of control. Bottom line is that online casinos will continue to offer the free play game features on their sites. Hopefully, soon, necessary security measures will be put in place so that accessing the free games will not be as easy.

Trusted online casinos are the surest way to help reduce the problem at hand.

Send us your comments on what other security measures the casinos and the public can put in place as well. We would love to hear your thoughts.