Introduction
There are various forms of leisure activities and gambling is a form of leisure. In order to know whether gambling is an acceptable form of leisure it is important to understand what is leisure first. There are many definitions of leisure. Most people consider leisure as the free time from paid employment personal activities or domestic duties such as cooking, washing, attending to a child or sleeping. Generally the term leisure depends on ones personal perception of what term leisure means to them. Whatever the definition that one gives to the term leisure there are factors other than time defines it. For an activity to be defined as a leisure activity, it should have these three critical components. First it should have an element of freedom of choice, it must be enjoyable and one should choose it due to intrinsic motivation (Torkildsen, 2005, p.5).
In leisure one should have the freedom to choose which activity to engage in and at what time to do it. In addition the leisure activity that one engages in should be enjoyable. This means that one should get satisfaction and pleasure from the activity. Ones choice of leisure activity should be contributed by internal motives. One should not engage in a leisure activity due to the external benefits that one gets from it such as money or any form of promotion but should be from internal motives. Intrinsic motivation is the inner feeling that one gets after achieving something that one had made a choice to do. This satisfaction comes after one chooses to participate in a leisure activity because you want it and it makes you feel good (Pan, 2008, para 12). There are various leisure activities which include reading novels, swimming, climbing rocks, travelling, singing, dancing, visiting tourism sites, watching movies, sports or gambling activities such as casino, card games and bingo.
In addition, a leisure activity has many benefits to the individual, the society and economy of the country. The benefits of leisure are divided into five categories which are physical, psychological, social, and economic well as spiritual benefits. All these benefits are closely related to each other and they also influence each other. For example physical exercise is of great importance to the human well being. For example Sports helps to lower fats deposits in the body that causes heart problems and other related diseases.
Leisure activities have positive effects to the economy. These activities help to increase employment opportunities. For example in sports, coaches are employed to train players, in tourism attraction sites tour guides are needed and also people are employed to maintain the condition of these sites (R & A., 2008, para 5). Furthermore leisure supports other services such as transport because some activities involve a lot of travelling. Hotels, lounges, bars and restaurants are positively affected by leisure activities. These facilities increase in number and they also develop technologically. The government also earns more revenue from leisure activities such as from fees and other charges paid by the visitors to national parks and other tourist sites.
Besides, leisure activities help to reduce stress and improve health leading to increase in the level of production (Torkildsen, 1999, p. 78). In most leisure activities people have opportunities to interact with other people and therefore they influence people’s social lives. During leisure people have chance to challenge their lives on their knowledge, experiences and on self actualization. Some leisure activities are of important to the soul because they act as treatment to it (Us Legal Definitions, 2004, para.6). This essay describes gambling as a form of leisure activity and also it gives a conclusion of whether it is an acceptable form of leisure in the society.
According to the description of leisure and its components, gambling is a form of leisure activity. Gambling is an activity where people bet or sometimes place some value on something. This betting is done in order to obtain unpredictable results from the laid chances (R & A., 2008, para.7). There are various forms of gambling which include; casino game, video machines, poker, horse and trotting and the legal bet on lotteries. Years’ back gambling was regarded as unacceptable form of leisure activity. Many people had negative attitudes towards it because they believed that gambling ruins peoples lives, financial status and it is additive. This is because if one bets and wins, the person bets more money hoping to get more and when one loses the person hopes to win the next bet. Therefore gambling was believed to be additive.
Most of the Australian population, about eighty two percent participate in gambling activities and therefore gambling is considered as part of the Australian culture (Us Legal Definitions, 2004, para.8). Casino gambling and bingos were the most forms of gambling that were attended by many people. Gambling is considered as a form of leisure activity and one has freedom to choose it. In addition, the participants and players of these games consider them as are enjoyable and pleasurable. However legal gambling is accepted in the society because it has benefits to the participants and society at large (Explanatory Notes to Gambling Act 2005 (c19).
Benefits and costs of gambling
Social effects
Most forms of gambling involve more than one participant and therefore the participants social lives are affected positively. For example in casino gambling, card games and in bingo clubs there are many participants and therefore there is a lot of interaction between players (R & A., 2008, para 9). Most elderly people participate in gambling due to its social effects for example casino gambling. It is important for old people to engage in gambling activities because most of them can not comfortably participate in other forms of leisure activities such as athletics due to their old age. Gambling helps old people to experience social competence and independence. Young people are also involved in gambling activities such as card games, bingo gambling and casino gambling. These games help them to relate with people and also they learn how to communicate (Us Legal Definitions, 2004, para.9).
Psychological effects of gambling
Gambling as a form of leisure activity has psychological benefits to the participants. For example card games, casino gambling and bingo have a lot of fun and therefore the players are entertained (Gambling law & legal definition, n.d, para 5). These games help old people to be active and hence contribute to their well being. In casino gambling players are excited when waiting for the unpredictable outcomes and when they get the results they are entertained and they relax. This feeling of excitement helps to increase pulse rate and hence blood flows faster in the body. Therefore it helps to relieve stress and make players more productive. Games such as horse tracking and card activates the mind because the player is supposed to think fast so that they can gain and not to loss.
Gambling can be of benefit either socially or psychologically if the participants use it only for positive or beneficial purposes such as entertainment (R & A,, 2008, para 3.) Gambling activities also brings social and psychological problems and other social crimes. Social crimes occur when players become addicted and should have money to pay debts or their losses (Staff, 2009, p.14). Therefore many are forced to become robbers or to engage in illegal business that will enable them to raise large sums of money easily and quickly. Addiction also leads to family breakups because the player tempted to use all money they have or may fail to support the family economically due to lack of finances. For example, in bingo, gambling people continue playing until they loss all money and become debtors (Net industries, 2001, Para.3).
Economic effects of gambling
Charity which is also a form of gambling is widely practiced as a leisure activity and people do not consider it as gambling. Many people buy raffle tickets or the scratch cards and this is perceived as legal gambling. People buy raffle tickets with great hopes of gaining more money or winning the unpredictable commodity. Therefore people are after potential private gain (Explanatory Notes to Gambling Act 2005 (c19).National lottery is another form of gambling that is most prevalent in the society currently. According to the statistics about forty percent of the American population play national lottery. Raffle tickets are not only bought as a form of leisure activity but as a form of earning money.
Some gambling games such as casinos and national lottery are of great benefit to the economy. Most gambling activities benefit the economy of the country because the government earns revenue. For example casinos and bingo clubs are charged licenses before they start running and this money goes to the treasury. They also pay taxes because they are regarded as forms of business and these are benefits to the government (Pan, 2008, p.7). On the other hand gambling industry creates more jobs opportunities especially in casino. In addition jobs are created in casino, and bingo clubs. Gamble activities also leads to jobs creation in the hospitality industry for example in hotels, bars and restaurants. These facilities increases in number and technologically they improve and therefore more people are employed there. In addition, mostly gamble games such as card games are played in places like bars. This leads to increase in the sales volumes which contribute to increase in profits. Therefore these facilities expand economically.
Other than benefiting the economy, gambling industry also affects the economy negatively (CBC News, 2008, para 8).This negative effect is mostly contributed by losses that players make in gamble games. For example in casino gambling, card games, bingos and raffle tickets in most cases the participants do not win and therefore they make losses. Furthermore addiction lowers the participants’ level of productivity because they play even when they are supposed to be working so as to be paid. Addiction at sever cases may lead to bankruptcy which has negative effects to the economy (Staff, 2009, p.8). For example, when People engage in robbery and other criminal offence the government incurs more cost to maintain security.
Conclusion
Leisure is very important to an individual and also the entire society. According to the discussion leisure helps people to be more productive because it helps to relieve stress. Increase in an individual’s level of production is of great benefit to the economy because it leads to economic growth and development. Leisure activities such as sports help in the physical well being of the players (Net industries, 2001, Para.9). This also contributes to their health and hence health expenses are reduced. In addition leisure activities give players an opportunity to socialize. Participants learn how to communicate and also to relate with other people effectively. Furthermore leisure activities have psychological benefits such as relieving stress. Moreover the economy also is advantaged by the leisure activities that people engage in. The government’s sources of revenues are increased because it also earns foreign exchange from some these activities because foreigners come to the country and participate in leisure activities such as mountain climbing and visiting tourism sites. Employment opportunities increase because other industries such as hospitality and transport expand this is also contributed by leisure activities.
Leisure activities have negative effects to the person and the economy. Therefore people should put into consideration the leisure activities they are engaging them selves in. Gambling is an acceptable form of leisure activities. This conclusion has been arrived at after considering the benefits of various forms of gambling activities alongside their negative effects to the person, society and the economy. Therefore according to the discussion above people should get involved in gamble activities with a positive motive so that they can achieve these benefits (Net industries, 2001, para.10). This is because when people get involved in gambling with a negative motive, it will cost them as well as the society and the economy.
References
- CBC News., 2008. Betting the farm: an overview of gambling addiction. [Online].
- New Zealand Recreation Association., 2008.Developing Community Recreation.[Online].
- Explanatory Notes to Gambling Act 2005 (c19), UK.
- Us Legal Definitions., 2004.Gambling law & legal definition. N.D. [Online]. Web.
- Net industries. 2001. Gambling in America-an Overview – Historical Review, Public Opinion.N.D. [Online].
- Pan, W., 2008. The Definition of Recreation – A Sport, a Pastime, a Hobby, Or Any Amusement. (Online). Web.
- R & A., 2008. Policy on gambling. (Online)
- Staff, M., 2009.Compulsive gambling. [Online] Web.
- Torkildsen, G., 1999, Leisure and recreation management. (4th Ed). London: Routledge.
- Torkildsen, G., 2005, Leisure and recreation management. (5th Ed). London: Routledge.