Gambling and Gaming Awareness
Gambling and Gaming Awareness at Key Stage 3
Five ready-to-use Personal Development lessons (including eleven individual activities) which focus on helping pupils to recognise that gambling and gaming products are designed to make money and that advertising actively promotes them, sometimes using what is known about brain chemistry to attract us.
These lessons:
- include teacher notes and pupil resource sheets;
- can be used individually or as part of a series; and
- are targeted at Key Stage 3 but can be used more widely as teachers feel is appropriate.
Please note: Each lesson references an aspect of DENI Children and Young People’s Emotional and Wellbeing in Education Framework and CCEA Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Post-Primary Guidance.
Lesson 1 – Leisure Time is Important
During these two activities, pupils will:
- identify the leisure activities they enjoy, and those they don’t;
- accept their own preferences and those of others; and
- realise that the activities they choose have a direct impact on how they feel, and that this is part of their wellbeing.
Lesson 2 – Feel-Good Hormones
During these two activities, pupils will:
- discover that our experiences cause our brains to produce chemical and hormones that affect how we feel;
- learn that there are four types of brain signals, which are sometimes called our ‘feel-good’ hormones;
- recognise that a balance of these ‘feel-good’ hormones promotes our wellbeing; and
- understand that making choices that create this balance are part of self-control.
Lesson 3 – Leisure and Money
During these three activities, pupils will:
- learn to differentiate between leisure activities that are free or cost very little, and those which cost money;
- realise that leisure activities that cost money are products;
- identify that gaming, gaming machines and lotteries are gambling products;
- understand that the use of the words ‘playing’ and ‘games’ are misleading, as these products are not games; and
- recognise that the wording used to describe a product is part of deliberate advertising.
Lesson 4 – Advertising and Leisure
During these two activities, pupils will:
- know that there are external factors that can influence them when making choices;
- consider different types of influences and discuss which are trustworthy and which are not;
- realise that some people can unfortunately use what they know about brain responses and activities that we enjoy to make money, including some businesses; and
- appreciate the importance of being aware of this.
Lesson 5 – Knowing Who to Trust
During these two activities, pupils will:
- recognise that gaming and gambling products are designed to make money;
- realise that the gaming and gambling industries use knowledge about brain chemistry to keep us playing;
- understand that difficulty stopping playing games and gambling is not weakness; and
- know that they should check the source of information before they trust it.
You can also download the complete Teacher Notes or Pupil Resources: