The Deputy for Youth Empowerment at the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemenpora), Asrorun Ni’am Sholeh, has proposed that teenagers who fall victim to online gambling (judol) should be rehabilitated, not criminally punished.
“They are victims of a system that is not yet sufficiently protective. Therefore, the primary approach should be rehabilitation, not a punitive one,” said Asrorun in Jakarta, Monday (2/12/2024).
For your information, as of November 19, 2024, 8.8 million Indonesians have fallen victim to online gambling. Among them, 960,000 are students and university students.
According to him, the high number of online gambling victims is due to a lack of understanding. “It often starts as a pastime and ends up leading to a misguided path.” This happens due to a lack of digital literacy and limited job opportunities,” he said, as quoted by Antara.
Asrorun cited the case of Fajri, a 23-year-old young man in West Sumatra. (Sumbar). Fajri, who was initially unemployed, was tempted by an offer to become an admin for international online gambling.
“From being an admin, he eventually became a developer of an online gambling site with an income of up to Rp200 million per month,” he revealed.
Kemenpora, he said, does not remain silent seeing Indonesian teenagers lulled by false dreams presented by the bookies.
Asrorun said that Kemenpora has organized many activities that encourage the creativity of young people so that their energy is not channeled into the wrong path.
First, he said, through digipreneur, which is developing the potential for digital-based entrepreneurship. Then, every Friday there is Ngoprek Digital, where young people gather at the Kemenpora Building every Friday to develop their creativity and digital potential.
“Becoming content creators, YouTubers, and other professions that are digital-based.” “From initially being relaxed, now you can sit on the beach while generating economic value,” said Asrorun.
Introduce Promotional Steps
In addition, he said, it is equally important to introduce promotional steps, such as providing access to capital and organizing digital-based creativity competitions.
“Included, Mr. Minister (Minister of Youth and Sports Dito Ariotedjo) also initiated youth mental health for the mental well-being of young people.” One of the issues is indeed about gambling, being dumped by a partner, or being stressed about not being able to pay tuition fees, leading to destructive actions and so on,” he said.
Through these steps, Asrorun said, the Ministry of Youth and Sports hopes to contribute to creating a generation of young people who are not only smart in technology but also wise in using it for the common good.
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