SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) -In one episode of Netflix's "Teach You a Lesson," an ordinary high school student falls into a vicious cycle of online gambling and criminal networks as he struggles to pay off mounting debt.
A recent survey on school gambling suggests the hit Korean drama, which explores the social problems increasingly dominating classrooms, may be uncomfortably close to reality.
Nearly 300 South Korean teenagers voluntarily admitted to illegal online gambling in just one month, including 48 students from a single high school, underscoring growing concerns over the spread of online gambling addiction among students.
The National Police Agency said Sunday it received 294 voluntary reports of youth cyber gambling, including 244 self-reports from minors and 50 reports filed by parents.
A high school in Gangwon Province accounted for the largest cluster of cases, with 48 students voluntarily reporting online gambling. Together with another nearby school, where 20 students came forward, the province recorded 78 cases, more than a quarter of the nationwide total.
Gangwon Provincial Police sought to make the reporting program more accessible by distributing business cards featuring school police officers' Instagram accounts and encouraging students to reach out through direct messages.
Several cases illustrated how online gambling addiction can rapidly escalate into debt, violence and family breakdown.
In Incheon, a 15-year-old boy admitted to illegal online gambling after assaulting his mother for refusing to repay about 4 million won ($2,900) in gambling debts before later attempting to take his own life. Police said he had gambled a total of about 30 million won ($22,000).
Another case involved a 17-year-old boy in North Jeolla Province who repeatedly ran away from home and stole from parked vehicles to finance his gambling habit. Over 14 months, he deposited a total of 16 million won into online gambling sites. He was later placed in a youth shelter and enrolled in an addiction recovery program.
Police data showed that teenagers who voluntarily reported their activities had gambled for an average of 12 months and spent about 3 million won ($2,200) each. The largest amount reported by a single individual reached 60 million won.
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