There’s little public understanding about the life-changing harm that the state institution of predatory gambling is inflicting upon high-school-aged kids and younger.

We asked Connor Huynh, a high school junior and a member of our network from Massachusetts, to share how predatory gambling is affecting his friends and peers on a daily basis. Below is his must-read account:

“As a student at Lexington High School, I’ve seen how easy it is for teenagers to access gambling platforms, even though most of these apps are supposed to be restricted to users who are 18 or 21 and older.

One of the first ways students get exposed is through apps like Fliff. Fliff is often talked about at school because it gives users a small amount of free currency every day, which can be used to place bets on real sports. This free currency the app gives includes coins, which is not real money but can be used to climb various leaderboards. However, the app also provides an actual dollar everyday that can be stored until five dollars, at which point the app will no longer give you another dollar the next day. The actual money, despite being free just like the coins, feels more real to users as once they turn 18 years old, they are actually able to withdraw the money they have saved up once they verify their account. Since you don’t have to deposit money right away, a lot of students see it as harmless. I know people who downloaded Fliff just to “mess around” with free picks, especially during big games like the Super Bowl or March Madness, but after using it daily, they started to check odds and place random bets spontaneously as part of their routine.

Recently, Fliff has also added casino-style games like Blackjack and Mines, which makes it feel even more like a real gambling app. I’ve heard classmates talk about trying to “run up” their free balance or competing with friends to see who can win more. Students don’t deposit money into these games, but the same behaviors as real gambling such as risk taking, chasing losses, and constantly checking the app are starting to take form in their minds.

From there, many students who started on Fliff go beyond these free-to-play apps. One of the most common next steps is using someone else’s identity to access real betting platforms. I’ve heard multiple stories of students using a parent’s driver’s license or passport to verify accounts. In some cases, the parent doesn’t know. One student told me he waited until his parents were out, took a picture of his dad’s ID, and used it to verify an account so he could start placing real bets. In other situations, parents are aware but don’t see it as a big deal. I know of a student whose parent regularly gambles and lets him use the account to place small bets. What starts as “just a few dollars” can quickly turn into something more frequent, especially when wins and losses start to feel real.

Furthermore, there are groups of friends who often use one individual’s account to place bets on sports for the entire group. This account is usually an older sibling’s or a friend’s who don’t think much of it when giving younger teenagers the opportunity to bet, allowing for bad habits to begin early.

Additionally, students can gain access to other gambling platforms by providing false information to the platform of their age. Since most of these websites only ask for an individual’s date of birth, students are able to gain access to many of these platforms and become exposed to the full gambling environment like learning how odds work and following bets even if they cannot deposit money yet.

What stands out the most to me is how early this exposure starts and how quickly it progresses. A student might begin by using Fliff’s free daily credits, then start caring about wins and losses, then look for ways to place real bets. By the time they’re actually able to gamble legally, they already have experience and habits formed. At school, I hear a lot of conversations about parlays or “locks” for games. People talk about bad beats and also share picks with each other. It has become part of everyday conversation for many students who are not old enough to legally gamble yet, which is very concerning.

From my perspective, the issue is both the access students have and how easily these platforms fit into teenage life. Apps like Fliff make gambling feel low-risk and accessible and weak age verification and shared accounts make it easy to transition into real betting. The combination along with the constant normalization of gambling by ads on social media or on TV creates an environment where many students are introduced to gambling long before they are legally or developmentally ready.” – Connor Huynh

Apps like Fliff that are blatantly targeting kids in America are the direct result of the state institution of predatory gambling which has normalized a manipulative and deceptive financial scheme that’s also a known highly addictive and dangerous product.

Where we are today is the result of a failed, 40-year old approach to commercialized gambling in America. Forcing extreme forms of gambling into communities, homes, and any device with an internet connection nationwide has been an epic public policy failure by every measure.

It’s long overdue for Congress to conduct congressional investigative hearings involving the executives of gambling companies under oath, answering questions about their business practices.

But to help make this happen, we need you to please share Connor’s testimony with your local school committees and school leadership and call on them to become advocates for reform of our predatory gambling laws at the state and federal level. Educators need to be one of the constituencies on the front lines in this fight to protect our nation’s kids.