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

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It was my daughter’s birthday this week, and I got her a scratch card just for a bit of fun.

She ended up winning £100 from a £5 card.

I mentioned it to a friend, but she felt quite strongly that she’d never let her child do anything like that, as she sees it as gambling.

It felt a bit over the top to me, to me it was just a harmless bit of fun for a special occasion....

Is she being over top?

It is. The former is a criminal offence, the latter isn’t.

The purchaser commits a criminal offence if they buy on behalf of a minor.

The vendor only commits an offence if they knew or had reason to believe the purchase by the adult was intended for a minor.

The child hasn’t committed an offence.

That’s correct and is confirmation that the mother committed a criminal offence.

Oh for goodness sake.
It’s ONE scratchcard!

It’s not really any different from letting a kid buy a raffle ticket at a school fete, in my opinion. Pretty harmless to get bought a ticket by someone else.

Of course some people object to gambling of any kind on principle, and that’s fine; they don’t have to do it. But that doesn’t mean it’s their place to berate other people for it. It’s absolutely none of your friend’s business if you buy your kid a lottery ticket.

That sounds like the person in court for killing someone by drunken driving -

"It was only ONE little drink over the limit Your Honour ! "

The Courts are full of people who never thought they'd be there....

One scratch are win isn’t going to scar her for life as a gambler. I bought scratch cards as a mini present for older teens/young adults at a gathering - yes they were all pretty much old enough to buy one - one of them won a fiver and it was all a bit of a laugh.
im sure I was with then young DC and I bought a scratchcard occasionally and they were interested in it. Neither do them now and nor do I!

😂 buying a scratchcard isn’t a crime.

A dead person and a single scratch card aren’t remotely comparable, are they?

You must know that’s a witless thing to say.

Yup, exactly the same. 🙄

Not if you are an adult, it isn't.

No, but the principle is.

Maybe try and think outside the box?

No it isn’t. At all.

I'm less bothered about an adult buying a scratch card than a drunk driver killing someone.

What a weird comparison to make!

Ive seen so many customers let small children (from toddler age) choose scratch cards and then get shirty when we wont sell it to them. It's innocent fun to them but we could potentially get fined and lose our jobs, it's not really worth it even if the risk is very small.

I agree.
I was subject to verbal abuse when I worked in Retail wouldn't serve alcohol to kids who looked under-age.
Now they have to provide proof of age, which is better.

This thread makes me long for the “AIBU about shoes off in the house” threads.

From scratch cards to rape to drink driving in sixty seconds.

I think I need to start buying scratch cards and lottery tickets, instead of reading mumsnet.

But if the adult is buying the scratch card then no laws have been broken? It’s not like the child themselves is going to purchase the card.

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.

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

Is this a serious post?

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

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.

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’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.