AIBU to think a birthday scratch card win was harmless fun?

No it's not a rite of passage, but that wasn't my point. It wasn't about the scratchcard itself but more the over protective nature of certain parents. Which to be fair, you've just helped me prove by suggesting that OP's kid could be upset or become a gambling addict. Kids 'gamble' all the time. Raffles, tombola's, hook a dook. Most games at carnivals and fetes. School bingo nights...

You have to be 18 to buy a scratch card. If a 13 year old wins then someone 18 or above will have to claim the money on their behalf and then give them their money. If it's a scratch card with top prize £100, Id say ok. But if it was top prize £1 million, you can't just give them that as bank will ask questions and it would get awkward quick and people falling out.

All because of not getting scratchcards as a present?! It's hardly some sort of rite of passage. I don't see the point personally-either they lose and you've bought them a disappointing non-present or they win and think it's easy money.

It is gambling, but it’s something people do and fun that she actually won!

I had a doddery old great aunt that used to buy lottery tickets to put in birthday cards etc. I used to wish she would just give me the £1 she wasted on them. Never won a thing. And £1 was a decent amount for a small child back then!

The fact that so many people are horrified by a 13 yo getting a scratch card from a parent as a jokie present is mind boggling...no wonder so many kids seem so sheltered from the world. I worry that a massive portion of the current child population will grow up and just like the last kids that have just become adults in the past few years, will be constantly barated for being the way they are. When realistically it's the parents of that generation that are shaping them. It's like people can't see the correlation of how a generation parents and how the next generation turn out.

It’s not like you wrapped her up 20 Silk Cut and a bottle of vodka. I really couldn’t get het up over this.

I can remember buying a scratch card for my 13-year-old after relentless pressure, to show him what a waste of money they were. Only (deleted) time I've ever won.

Ask yourself why is there an age limit for scratchcards?

lol

I understand you think it is a small thing, but it is a criminal offence - I didn't know this until I read the thread.

We do this for Xmas and birthdays no gambling addicts here now they are all grown

FFS, it was a one off, lighten up. You sound so much fun....

Exactly. The school fete always has lucky dips, raffles and tombolas, which the children are encouraged to participate- not much different to a lottery ticket.
Also, it’s a one off.

oh i always buy the kids one

Whether she does or doesn't is irrelevant - the statistics are here to see -

https://www.horsedeathwatch.com/

Do you know much about horses, @CalliopeFosterBeauchamp ?

I would think that was fine, interestingly my sister who works in the gambling industry would be mortified (like she was with my suggestion of scratch cards as wedding favours)

**she works in compliance

I’m horrified at how many of you let your kids bet on horses and even in some cases attend horse racing. You do know that dozens and dozens horses are killed and injured every year for the “entertainment” of people? 149 have been killed in the last twelve months, 4 at Cheltenham this year alone.

I couldn’t give a toss if your kids turn out to be gambling addicts, but when you’re actively encouraging harm to animals… I have no words.

And no, I’ve never bet on the Grand National - not when my dad offered to put a bet on for me, not when there was a syndicate in my office. Even when I was a child, I had more sense. It’s disgusting.

Oh yes. It’s every bit as real as the one I responded to, which called others ‘pretentious boring fuckers’ with kids called Tarquin!

I don't gamble, but at Christmas a couple of years ago PIL put a scratchard in everyone's little box on their table at dinner, along with other games and fun stuff. The kids (14 & 11) won on one of their cards, and an adult gave them their winning card, so I collected it for them (a fiver or so each). They liked it but it's not given them an inkling to do it themselves, no-one in our family gambles normally. I thought of it as just a bit of fun. I personally think if gambling is more of an ingrained thing in everyday life, like buying lottery tickets, that might have more of an influence on the kids.

Congrats on the win ! They're just jealous they didn't get a winning card lol ! It's fun.

Is this a serious post?

It is, it's called a proxy sale, buying age restricted products for someone under age. It's treated the same way as buying alcohol for children. I get everyones point about tombolas etc but it is different from a retailers point of view. If a manager was to over hear you then you'd be hauled in for a disciplinary

It depends what your ‘real world’ is! Mine is def more Tarquin than Jayden/Lily-Mae, and giving a scratch card to a child would be seen as really tacky ;-) I don’t know anyone who would. But I don’t think it would lead to a lifetime gambling, delinquency or anything serious, that’s a bit OTT.