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Of the estimated 8 million obsessive gamblers in the USA, around one million will be teens. Most live far from casinos, therefore they usually tend to prefer sports betting, card playing, lotteries and online casino. Once bitten by the betting bug, many eventually proceed to casinos and racetrack wagering. “We have always seen compulsive gambling as being an issue of older people,” says Jean Falzon, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, located in New York City. “Now we are finding that adolescent compulsive gambling is far more pervasive than we had thought.”

Only ten years ago, teenage gambling was not looked at as a noteworthy issue. Nowadays, gambling counselors state typically 7% of their cases include teens. Fresh studies indicate that teen susceptability to uncontrollable gambling strikes every economic stratum and ethnic group. After surveying 2,700 students, psychologist Durand Jacobs concluded that students are 2 1/2 times more likely as adults to become problem gamblers. In yet another investigation, Henry Lesieur, a sociologist at St. John’s University in New York, observed eight times as many wagering addicts amid university students as among adults.

Specialists agree that casual betting, where players gamble modest amounts, is just not conclusively negative. Compulsive betting, however, in most cases will involve damaging behavior.  AS reported by Time Magazine, last year police in Pennsauken, N.J., arrested a adolescent boy on suspicion of burglary. The youth stated he stole items worth $10,000 to support his gambling habit. Bryan, a 17-year-old from Cumberland, N.J., sought help after he was unable to repay the $4,000 he owed a sports bookie. Greg from Philadelphia says he started placing weekly $200 wagers with bookies during his sophomore year attending college. “Pretty soon it got to the point that I owed $5,000,” he says. “The bookies threatened me. One said he would cut off my mother’s legs if I didn’t pay.” Nonetheless Greg continued to play. Now 23, he was not too long ago dismissed from his employment after his employer busted him embezzling.

Why does betting fever run so high amongst teenagers? Professionals point to the legitimization of wagering in America, noting that it is easy to place a legal bet in every state other than Utah and Hawaii. Moreover, ticket sellers seldom ask to view evidence of age, in spite of lotto laws in thirty three states and the District of Columbia demanding that customers be at least 18 years of age. “You have state governments promoting lotteries,” states Valerie Lorenz, director of the National Center for Pathological Gambling, based in Baltimore. “The message they’re conveying is that gambling is not a vice but a normal form of entertainment.” Researchers also point to shaky households, low self-esteem and a societal obsession with money. “At the casinos you feel very important,” states Rich of Bethesda, Md., a young recovering addict. “When you’re spending money at the tables, they give you free drinks and call you Mister.”

Initiatives to battle teenager problem gambling remain fairly modest. Few states provide educational programs which alert youth concerning the addicting nature of wagering; treatment programs created for youths are nearly nonexistent.  Parents or guardians do have resources accessible to discover online wagering like Internet Filter software for desktop computers and products like net nanny mobile and Mobile Nanny for cellular phones.

Experts fear that little will change until society starts to look at adolescent betting with the same alarm directed at substance abuse. “Public understanding of gambling is where our understanding of alcoholism was some 40 or 50 years ago,” says psychologist Jacobs. “Unless we wake up soon to gambling’s darker side, we’re going to have a whole new generation lost to this addiction.”

It can be difficult for a new parent to know when a baby is sick. Sometimes a parent’s concerns can be treated as a casual inquiry by medical workers who are accustomed to soothing new-mother nervousness. Mothers can begin to doubt whether or not to trust their instincts.

Fortunately, even new parents can objectively measure their baby’s health.

WEEK ONE
During the first week of life a baby should nurse at least 8 times a day for more than 15 minutes at each feeding. You should be able to hear the baby swallowing milk. Baby’s first sticky-black stool – called meconium  – should pass. The texture and color will change from a blackish green to a brownie batter consistency. By day 4 or 5 the color will be yellow. Wet diapers will appear by the second day. By the end of this week, the frequency of wet diapers will increase to 2 or 3 per day.

An ill baby will show definite physical signs of his condition. If a baby has no desire to nurse, has a weak suck, feeds less than 8 times per day and can’t manage to feed for at least 15 minutes, these are reasons for concern. Signs that something is wrong can include a clicking sound when the baby nurses, cheeks that pucker inward and dimple when the baby sucks, or the inability to stay awake for a full 15 minute feeding. When the baby’s diapers don’t show stools progressing as they should and you don’t see wet diapers within 48 hours after birth, there is something out of the ordinary. Two days of these symptoms indicate that you should seek medical help.

THE INITIAL 30 DAYS
Signs of a healthy baby will be similar for the first month. For weeks 2 through 4, the baby will continue to nurse at least eight times a day and have 2 to 4 yellow bowel movements per day. Urine should be clear, not yellow, 6-8 times per day. The baby’s suck will gain in strength; You should see some milk at feeding and hear your baby swallowing. Your baby’s alertness will increase as well as his size.

Take special note of anything out of the ordinary: infrequent feedings, small stools or missed stools, decreased urination or bright yellow urine. Measure your baby’s length and weight; these should increase. Should the baby have a weak or tired sucking reflex, if you can’t hear swallowing, if the baby becomes sluggish, slow to respond or refuses to sleep between feedings, these are all indications that something is not right. These behaviors for two consecutive days mean you should seek medical assistance.

WEEKS FIVE THROUGH TEN
In the second month of life, a baby might reduce the number of feedings to seven times per day. As your little one grows, he can take larger feedings. Bowel movements will continue to change and will settle into a pattern of either several small stools in a day or a large bowel movement every 2 days. This isn’t unusual in breastfed babies as they assimilate much of the milk. The wet diapers (6-8 per day) will continue in frequency, but check to be sure the urine isn’t a yellow concentrate. Along with increasing alertness, you should continue to see a strong suck, milk dribbles, and hear an audible swallowing at feeding time.

During the 5 to 10 week mark a baby that doesn’t nurse at least seven times a day and produce the right amount of wet diapers (without dark yellow color) should be watched carefully. Make a note if your child stops gaining weight or doesn’t grow in length. Babies that can’t be heard swallowing and have a weak suck are not likely to be getting enough nourishment. Seek medical assistance if your baby becomes lethargic, slow to respond or unable to sleep between nursing sessions. A couple of days in a row of these indicators mean that something is not well with your baby.

HOW TO KEEP UP WITH IT ALL
Knowing when your baby last ate and how often can be complicated enough if you were operating on a full night’s rest. Expecting a new, sleep-deprived mama to do this can be overwhelming. One solution is to keep a pencil and a notebook near the sleeping baby. At each feeding or changing, jot down the time and any other notes. One example of an entry might be: “10:00 a.m. – BIG BM, brownish green, nursed 30 minutes.” It may help you to start a new page each day with the date written at the top.

This way, should anything seem out of the ordinary, you can refer to your notes and present them to a doctor if needed. This is also a good way for a new mama to bond with her baby. By looking over her list, even a weary mama can tell at a glance if the crying is due to hunger (too long between feedings) or constipation (hasn’t moved his bowels). In turn, you begin to interpret your baby’s cries and what they mean. This goes a LONG ways towards helping a new mama learn to trust her instincts when it comes to her baby.

However, older mamas give sage advice when it comes to newborns and new mamas. Enjoy these first few weeks to their fullest. There’s nothing more important than getting acquainted with your new baby. They aren’t little for long.

Interested in more child training tips? No Greater Joy is a ministry dedicated to helping parents bring up children they enjoy. They have written a bestseller called To Train Up A Child that has helped thousands.