Sports betting said to be affecting academic performance of male students
Madam Patricia Abotsi, Gender Coordinator, Korle Klottey Municipal Education Directorate, says sports betting and cyber fraud were undermining the education and intellectual growth of many male students in the Municipality.
She said these students were absenting themselves from school and were focusing on sports betting and gambling instead of their academics.
Madam Abotsi made these remarks at the commemoration 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 Sport Betting.”
The event brought together students in the municipality who were taken through the danger and negative effects of sports betting and gambling to the boy child.
Madam Abotsi called for the regulation of sports betting in the country to prevent school children from engaging in the act.
She called on parents to partner school authorities deal with the canker, stressing that, parents had a primary role to play to ensure their wards did not engage in cyber-crime and betting.
Madam Abotsi said attention needed to be given to issues affecting the boy-child just as it had always been given to the girl-child.
“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.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Oscar Kofi Ameyenku, Director of Community Policing Unit, Ghana Police Service, said the boy-child was vulnerable and prone to offences, hence they needed to be guided on the right path.
He said underage betting was illegal and urged the school children not to fall victim to sport betting and cyber fraud in order not to destroy their future.
He said they would continue to sensitise school children in community schools on the need to eschew sports betting and its adverse effects.
May 16 of each year has been observed as International Day of the Boy Child.
The Day was inaugurated in 2018 by Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, a thought leader on gender issues and founder of International Men’s Day.
The day focuses on boys and their wellbeing as well as on achieving true gender-equality in the world.
Source: GNA