Groom Coffee

October 31st, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Groom Coffee

Is it inapropriate to allow a 5 year old to scratch lottery tickets?

My sister, who is financially secure and very responsible takes my 5 year old son one day a week while I work. Part of their routine is to sit at a donut shop and scratch lottery tickets (approx $20 worth). I never gave it much thought and was glad my son was exercising his brain matching numbers, etc. My sister told me that a mother in the donut shop approached her and scolded her for being a bad "parent", siting the dangers of gambling. She mentioned there's a reason you have to be 18 to buy tickets. I was horrified because I consider myself to be a responsible parent and my sister a responsible caregiver. Did the mom in the coffee shop over-react or did I really make a bad choice here? Please help. My son really enjoys scratching the tickets. If they win, my sister will buy him a small toy or treat. Does that make it worse? Am I grooming my son to have a gambling problem as an adult?

There is no harm in letting him scratch a few tickets. He's just joining in the fun and no doubt learning that not every ticket is a winner. I would say the reason you have to be over 18 to buy tickets is because you're not considered responsible enough if you are under that age. The last thing you would want is your son spending his birthday money on scratch cards!! My two children aged 11 and 13 have often done scratch cards for me and they have learnt more often than not you are not a winner because neither of them would even consider asking me to get them a scratch card if they had to pay for it with their own money. If anything he is learning they are a waste of money and I'm sure this would put him off gambling rather than encouraging him.

I Wish I Were the Groom - The Experimentalist