Parents say it often goes “undetected“ because the parents aren’t paying attention. And are doing nothing to stop it.
“because the parents aren’t paying attention”
Have you been a parent and tried to watch every single thing your kids do? Are you going to put family filters on your home router until they go to college? Deny them a phone until they leave for college? How can you watch everything they do online? It’s impossible. And when they leave the nest at 17, 18 or 19? Then what?
The biggest tell with drugs and gambling is the need for money. The kids never have a spare dime, always badgering you for money, things disappearing from the house (pawn shops). Or changes in relationships with friends and family. But, but the time these signs are visible, it’s way too late. And most parents will go through a period of denial that could last a year or two. They can see the evidence but refuse to believe it.
I write this from first-person experience.
I blame loot boxes in video games for a large chunk of the gambling issues in kids