Gambling is an activity that includes paying, taking risks and collecting prices. Gambling comes in many forms and packages and in all cases the organizers claim that it is for a worthy cause. In the real sense, gambling is always designed to take money from many people and place it in the hands of a few. According to Hörnle (195) many people think of gambling as an easy way of making money, but in the end they lose the little that the hand or even the worst get addicted to the games, and this becomes an illness to them.

Gambling being legal does not in any way make it morally acceptable. As gambling increase, so do the number of people who are addicted to it. Currently, it is estimated that in America there are 10 million people who are already addicted to gambling and their gambling habits are completely out of control (Thompson, 72). This number is growing daily, and it is estimated to reach a threshold level in the near future. The fact that online gambling leads to addiction where one completely loses control of his/her life makes it a very dangerous undertaking. To an addicted person, gambling becomes a disease that is hard to cure as its addiction dwarfs any other kind of dependence. Currently, the governments have very minimal control over the online gambling games in many countries ignoring the devastating consequences that will result from it.

Online gambling has proved to be very costly to taxpayers not only in America but all over the world. The money that is currently collected from taxpayers in many countries is very high on the gambling industries. According to Banks (350), in the contemporary society the online gambling industry is estimated to be 12 billion dollar industry which is a lot of money that should be channeled into other development projects. It is very sad to realize that all this money is wasted in the form of payment of gambling winnings. It has happened that people have worked for a better part of their lives trying to consolidate wealth only to lose all they had worked for in one day to gambling. In the overall, gambling has only resulted to negative effects inclusive of families breaking apart, increased antisocial activities like prostitution and even drug abuse. People have also lost their jobs due to online gambling, and this makes it an even more socially unacceptable.

Online gambling has in a great way made access to gambling so easy and also a convenient activity. It has become an activity that one can do at any time in the comfort of their house, office or any place as long as one can access the internet. The internet has made online gambling so convenient that it has made gambling appear socially acceptable. It is estimated that about 51% of American adults think of online gambling as a socially acceptable activity (Sandeywell, 39). Students have also taken up the habit and children will grow thinking of gambling as an activity that one can do on a daily basis ignorant of the consequences. Eventually, more and more people will get trapped in gambling and hence addition reading to widespread gambling.

Although, online gambling generates money to the government in the form of taxes, the benefit cannot outweigh the personal losses that the society suffers from it. The society, therefore, needs to step up a fight against online gambling to prevent it from breaking the families and causing other social evils in the society. An addicted gambler eventually tries to include gambling in every aspect of their lives. Some people spend their free time at work to gamble and even use working time for it. This habit eats into someone’s life to an extent where he/she cannot work anymore as he becomes exceedingly unproductive. An obsessed gambler finds it very difficult to concentrate on projects that concern them and becomes irresponsible and unreliable in their place of work. This activity normally leads to individuals losing their jobs, office theft and can even land them in jail for involvement in criminal activities.

Online gambling provides opportunities for criminals to abuse one’s credit worthiness. Interment criminals can lure gamblers into disclosing their financial information in the pretense that they need them to update their accounts so that they can stay active.   Phishing is one of the high-tech ways that is used by criminal to deceive unsuspecting victims into disclosing sensitive financial information and passwords. They make the victims believe that they respond to important request while they are tricking them and eventually con them of their hard earned money.

Bill Saum, who is the director of theA.G.A.N.C athletic Association, claims that gambling on the internet is a growing problem in colleges (Bostian and Harry 76). This is mostly contributed to by the fact that the students have internet access in their dorm rooms and therefore they can conveniently place bets from their rooms. The students are also solicited into taking credit cards in campuses and via email hence making them more vulnerable to online gambling. It has been noted that students also gamble in legally unacceptable grounds like betting in sports games.

Due to the many evils that are associated with online gambling, people have introduced bills that would put the online gambling in control but the bills are eventually kicked out on the basis of personal interest (Bardes 269). Passing of such bills will send the online gambling falling to the disadvantage of the benefactors but on the bright side it would ensure the end of many social problems that are associated with it.

The individuals who benefits from this online gambling will mostly oppose its illegalization basing their argument on the fact that no one is forced to gamble, but they do it willingly. However, this should not be an excuse to allow the vice to continue to ruin the society. Despite the fact that no one is forced to play, it should also be considered that the games are seductive, and some people will not have control over it no matter how hard they try. Many youths will also fall into the trap as they will not find anything wrong with online gambling as long as their government allows it. Other people may also want to argue that this online gambling is a source of revenue to the government in form of taxes, but this benefit is way much outweighed by the negative effects that are caused by the gambling. The society will stand to lose greatly if the online gambling activity remains legal. Crimes will continue to increase, and many families will break and hence the general society will lose both financially and socially.