The kids in recess were laughing.

Fabián Cadamuro, a teacher at a school in the Córdoba town of Cañada de Luque (population of 1,100), watched a group of children surrounding a 14-year-old boy holding a cellphone. He was using a casino app and his father’s Mercado Pago account to take bets from his classmates. A schoolyard bookie.

“It really caught our attention. The parents of 90% of the kids are rural employees. In many cases, they are illiterate,” he said. Like many teachers across the country, he was concerned that the playground distraction could lead to a gambling addiction.

The numbers, though scarce, are not promising. A study by the Buenos Aires City Ombudsman’s Office found last week that one in four high school students in the Argentine capital made bets on online platforms at least once. The survey, answered by 2,800 children and teenagers from 25 schools, found that 8.8% of high schoolers betted frequently.

The report was published as Argentina is going through a burgeoning youth gambling crisis. Although nearly 30 bills dealing with online betting have been filed by parties across the political spectrum, and some provincial governments have implemented their own campaigns and restrictions, no nationwide regulation has been passed in Congress.

Online betting platforms arrived in Argentina in 2017, but went mainstream only recently. Buenos Aires province gave Swedish........

© Buenos Aires Herald