Accra, Ghana – According to Madam Patricia Abotsi, the gender coordinator for the Korle Klottey Municipal Education Directorate, Sports betting, and online fraud are threatening the education and intellectual development of many male students in the Municipality.
She said that these pupils were skipping class and putting more emphasis on sports betting and gambling than on their academics.
Madam Abotsi said this at the celebration of the International Day of the Boy Child in Accra.
The event was held on the theme, “Fostering the Development of a Generation Free from the Threat of Cyber Fraud and Sports Betting.”
The occasion brought together students from the community who were exposed to the risks and detrimental impacts of gambling and sports betting on boys.
In order to stop schoolchildren from partaking in the activity, Madam Abotsi asked for the regulation of sports betting in the nation.
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She urged parents to work with school administrators to combat the problem, emphasizing that parents had a crucial role to play in making sure their children didn’t indulge in online betting and criminality.
Just as it had always been done for the girl child, according to Madam Abotsi, attention needed to be paid to difficulties impacting the boy kid.
We have been celebrating the girl-child often leaving the boy-child on his own. This has led to most of these boys finding solace in gambling and betting.
she added.
The director of the Ghana Police Service’s community policing unit, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Oscar Kofi Ameyenku, claimed that because boys are impressionable and prone to crimes, they need to be led in the proper direction.
In order to prevent ruining their future, he warned the schoolchildren about the illegality of underage gambling and pleaded with them not to fall for sports betting or online fraud.
He stated that they would keep community schools’ students informed about the need to avoid sports betting and its negative consequences.
International Day of the Boy Child is celebrated on May 16 of every year.
Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh, a pioneer in the field of gender issues and the creator of International Men’s Day, introduced the Day in 2018.
The day focuses on boys and their well-being as well as on achieving true gender equality in the world.
Source: GNA
