Teaching gambling risks in schools: 6 practical approaches for PSHE and pastoral care

Teaching gambling risks in schools equips young people with the awareness they need to recognise harm before it takes hold. Integrating this topic into PSHE lessons and pastoral care gives students a space to discuss peer pressure, online marketing and the mechanics of chance without judgement. Transformation Trust outlines six practical approaches that educators can adopt this term, using tools already available in most schools.

Starting the conversation in PSHE lessons

PSHE offers a natural home for discussions about risk, decision-making and emotional wellbeing. Gambling harm sits alongside lessons on substance use, relationships and mental health. You can introduce the subject through case studies or scenarios that reflect what students encounter online.

Frame the discussion around choice rather than prohibition. Ask students what they understand by the term "house edge" or why a game might feel exciting even when someone is losing. These questions surface misconceptions and give you a starting point for deeper work.

Short video clips from youth-focused campaigns work well as openers. Follow them with small-group discussions where students identify the marketing techniques they recognise from social media or gaming platforms. This approach keeps the session grounded in their lived experience.

Embedding gambling awareness in computing and digital literacy

Computing lessons already cover online safety, privacy and data use. Gambling mechanics—particularly those built into games—fit naturally into this curriculum. Explain how algorithms personalise advertising and why some in-game purchases blur the line between gaming and betting.

Skin betting is a clear example. Students who play certain games may already know about it; discussing it openly in a computing lesson removes the mystery and highlights the financial risk. You can show how virtual items acquire real-world value and why that matters for young people who may not yet have their own bank accounts.

Set a task where students analyse a gaming app or website for persuasive design: countdown timers, reward loops, notifications. They often recognise these patterns once they have the vocabulary to name them.

Training staff to spot warning signs

Not every teacher will feel confident starting a conversation about gambling harm, but all staff can learn to notice the indicators. A student withdrawing from friends, becoming preoccupied with money or showing anxiety around their phone may be experiencing harm that manifests in school.

Include gambling harm in your safeguarding training. Use real scenarios during INSET days so staff understand what a disclosure might sound like and where to refer it. Pastoral leads and designated safeguarding leads should know the external support routes available for young people and their families.

Keep the threshold for referral low. If a student mentions gambling in passing or jokes about debt, that is worth a follow-up conversation. Harm often escalates quietly, and early intervention prevents deeper distress.

Building a whole-school approach

Standalone lessons help, but a whole-school strategy reinforces the message across year groups and subjects. This means consistent language in assemblies, posters in communal areas and clear policies that name gambling alongside other safeguarding concerns.

Your behaviour and wellbeing policies should reference gambling harm explicitly. State that the school will respond to disclosures with support rather than punishment. Make it clear that students can speak to any trusted adult, not only PSHE teachers.

Involve student voice. A peer-led assembly or a student-designed poster campaign often reaches young people more effectively than adult-led messaging. Give students the facts and let them shape how those facts are shared.

Practical steps for integrating gambling harm education

1. Audit your existing PSHE scheme of work to identify where gambling harm already fits or where a new unit could sit. Map it against other risk topics so students see the connections between different harms.
2. Invite a speaker from a youth support organisation to deliver an assembly or workshop. Choose someone who works directly with young people affected by gambling harm so the session stays real and relatable.
3. Create a display in your library or wellbeing space with information about what GAMSTOP is and how it protects young people, alongside details of confidential helplines. Keep it visible but not preachy.
4. Run a staff briefing on the overlap between gaming and gambling, particularly skin betting and why it reaches young gamers. Share the warning signs and the referral routes.
5. Provide parents with a resource pack during transition evenings or parents' evenings. Include practical advice on blocking gambling sites on devices and conversation starters for home.
6. Review your online safety curriculum to ensure gambling advertising and in-game purchases are covered explicitly, not assumed under general internet use.

Resources schools can use today

You do not need to build everything from scratch. Several organisations provide free teaching materials designed for UK schools. These include lesson plans, presentation slides and student worksheets that meet PSHE Association guidance.

GamCare offers age-appropriate resources that cover the mechanics of chance, the psychology of risk and where young people can get help. BeGambleAware produces classroom activities and films suitable for secondary students. Both organisations understand the school environment and avoid alarmist language.

Parental-control software such as Net Nanny or Qustodio can be recommended to families during digital safety workshops. These tools filter gambling content on shared devices and give parents visibility over app downloads.

Working with parents and carers

Schools reach young people during the day, but much of their online activity happens at home. Parents need the same information you are giving students, presented in a way that acknowledges their own gaps in knowledge.

Host an evening session on digital wellbeing that includes gambling alongside other online risks. Show parents conversation strategies that work when talking to young people about gambling and explain why lecturing often backfires. Give them practical tools such as transaction alerts and device settings.

Send home a short guide when you introduce gambling harm into your curriculum. Explain what students will cover in lessons and why the subject matters. Parents are more likely to reinforce the message if they understand the school's rationale and feel equipped to discuss it.

Where to get support for young people

If a student discloses gambling harm or you notice concerning behaviour, several UK organisations provide free, confidential support designed for young people. GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, which is free and open every day. Trained advisers can speak to young people directly or guide parents and school staff on next steps.

BeGambleAware offers online resources and chat services at https://www.begambleaware.org. Gordon Moody provides residential and online treatment for young people through https://www.gordonmoody.org.uk. GamStop at https://www.gamstop.co.uk is a free national self-exclusion scheme that blocks access to licensed sites.

All gambling services are for people aged 18+. If a young person is gambling, they need support to stop, and these organisations can help families put that support in place.

Taking action this term

You do not need a full curriculum overhaul to make a difference. Start with one assembly, one lesson or one staff briefing. Choose the approach that fits your school's current priorities and build from there.

• Add gambling harm to your next PSHE planning meeting.
• Share this article with your designated safeguarding lead.
• Download a free lesson plan from GamCare or BeGambleAware and book it into your scheme of work.
• Speak to your PSHE lead about inviting a youth support worker to school.

This article is for general information only. Transformation Trust is an independent information site; we are not a school, an education provider or an organiser of gambling. Gambling is for people aged 18 and over. For free, confidential support visit BeGambleAware.org.

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Download PDF: Gambling Harm Education Checklist for Schools PDF, 31 KB