Youth Gambling: Coping Skills Up 40% After Prevention Performance... Pilot Schools Expanded to 170

Ministry of Education Signs MOU with Financial Supervisory Service, KakaoBank, and BTF Pureun Namu Foundation to Prevent Youth Gambling and Financial Harm

Pilot Program Schools to Expand from 12 to 170 Nationwide

The government’s 'experiential theater' initiative, implemented as part of efforts to prevent youth gambling, has proven effective in raising awareness about gambling risks.

On July 22, the Ministry of Education announced that following the "0% Round" arts-based experiential gambling prevention education program at 12 middle and high schools last year, students’ capacity to recognize gambling risks improved by 25.1%. The program also resulted in a 42.8% increase in students’ knowledge for dealing with gambling situations.

'0% Round' is a participatory theater performance developed by the BTF Pureun Namu Foundation. Students interact with professional actors during the performance and then take part in follow-up discussions and reflection sessions. Through this, they naturally learn about the irrational structure of gambling games—designed with a 0% win rate—the seriousness of financial harm, and how to make sound decisions and seek help when needed.

This year, the Ministry of Education plans to expand the program to 170 schools across the country.

To this end, the Ministry signed an MOU on this day with the BTF Pureun Namu Foundation, the Financial Supervisory Service, and KakaoBank for the "Prevention of Youth Gambling and Financial Harm." Previously, in May, the Ministry had also signed agreements with six government agencies—including the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Financial Services Commission, the National Gambling Control Commission, the National Police Agency, and the Financial Supervisory Service—to tackle youth gambling issues. However, according to the Ministry, this latest partnership is distinguished by its combination of central government administrative support and private sector expertise.

Under this agreement, the Financial Supervisory Service will provide information on the prevention of youth financial harm and illegal private lending, as well as financial education content. The Pureun Namu Foundation will serve as a consulting partner in developing materials for gambling prevention education, such as theater performances. In addition, KakaoBank will actively promote the illegal private lending victim reporting center through its social networking services (SNS), making it easier for young people to access the center when they need to file a report.

KakaoBank will support the Pureun Namu Foundation’s youth gambling prevention program with 550 million won this year, as well as provide gambling and financial harm prevention information through various online platforms. Furthermore, KakaoBank has committed to detecting and blocking in real-time any transfer attempts by minors under the age of 19 to accounts suspected of illegal gambling, displaying alerts to prevent underage gambling and financial harm through technological means.

Choi Eunok, Vice Minister of Education, stated, “Youth gambling not only undermines the growth and learning of students but can also result in financial harm and secondary crimes, thus requiring a comprehensive response. Through this agreement, we will strengthen gambling prevention education in schools in cooperation with relevant agencies, and will actively support early awareness and help for youth who may be exposed to gambling and financial harm.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.