1,200 children involved in gambling

SURABAYA: A non-governmental organization (NGO) activist has revealed that some 1,200 children in Pengirian, Surabaya, were affected by the widespread gambling in the area.

As gambling dens had mushroomed in the area, many children had become involved in the vice, either as players or workers in the gambling dens, said Djunaidi Saripurnawan from Plan Indonesia.

He said that the children who worked in the gambling dens came from poor families, and were doing so to supplement their parents' incomes, while others were attracted to gambling as they perceived it as an easy way of making money.

The NGO was currently running various programs to keep the children away from the gambling dens, such as encouraging them to produce wall magazines so as to express their feelings. -- JP