NFHS Launches Free Course on Risks of Sports Betting for High School Students

Since its founding almost 20 years ago, the NFHS Learning Center (www.NFHSLearn.com) has repeatedly created new online education courses to address the most important current issues in high school sports and other activities in our nation’s schools.

Key issues such as Concussions, Mental Health, Sportsmanship, Emergency Action Plans, Name/Image/Likeness (NIL), Sudden Cardiac Arrest, Implicit Bias, Protecting Students from Abuse, Hazing Prevention, Heat Illness Prevention, Vaping – among many others – have been addressed and more than 29 million courses have been delivered.

Two weeks ago, another key issue was addressed with the launch of the Sports Betting course, which was started to help high school students understand the potential lifelong risks associated with becoming involved with sports betting. A review of some recent studies would indicate the timing of this course could not have been better.

With the rise in the overall sports betting industry since the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized services for online and digital platforms, one of the effects has been an uptick in online sports betting among high school students.

In an article by David Purdum on ESPN.com, it was noted that a February survey by The Harris Poll on behalf of the National Council on Problem Gambling, revealed that one in three adults under age 45 placed a sports bet before turning 21 years of age.

High school students are growing up in a sports culture where sports betting is highly visible, with commercials, sports odds and commentators picking teams to win. Our society, in fact, glorifies gambling and there’s a double-standard, in some cases, at higher levels of sports.

The interscholastic sports scene is – and must remain – different. The tag line of the Sports Betting course is “It’s Not Worth the Bet,” and the NFHS highly encourages leaders in our nation’s schools to take this course, and then arrange for all student-athletes in schools – middle schools and high schools – to also take this free course in which they will discover the potential dangers of making that first bet.

For starters, the legal consequences of sports betting by high school students must be emphasized. It is against the law, and breaking the law could mean loss of high school eligibility, and it could start high school students down a lifelong path that could adversely affect their career, finances and family.

Sports betting can take a toll on an individual’s mental and emotional well-being, and if a person becomes too involved, it can become an obsession and lead to destructive behaviors. And for high school students, becoming involved in sports betting could affect students’ performances in the classroom and on the court or field.         

Fortunately, education-based sports programs provide structure, supervision and trusted adult relationships that can help protect student-athletes from gambling-related behaviors. We encourage everyone in our nation’s schools to take the free Sports Betting course and to remember, “It’s Not Worth the Bet.”