Is Gambling an Acceptable Form of Leisure - Essay Example

RUNNING HEAD: Gambling and Leisure Gambling and Leisure Student Name Institution: Course Code Tutor Date of Submission Assessment feedback Leisure Concepts Assignment 3: Major Paper Word limit: 2000 words (up to 3000 will be accepted without penalty) Weighting: 40% Due date: 15th June Key criteria of this assignment Component Mark / Grade Comment Content – does the paper examine the issue with a critical eye? Does it the essay develop an argument that is well researched and supported. 19 Style – does the paper follow appropriate essay writing conventions? (e.g., no headings) Is it well written and are spelling and grammar acceptable? 6 Introduction and conclusion – does the paper set the scene well and wrap it up appropriately with defined introductions and conclusions? 6 Referencing – does the paper use CREDIBLE references to support the claims and argument in the paper? Does it follow accepted referencing conventions? 9 Summary comment The Graduate qualities being assessed by this assignment are indicated by an X: X GQ1: operate effectively with and upon a body of knowledge GQ5: are committed to ethical action and social responsibility GQ2: are prepared for lifelong learning X GQ6: communicate effectively X GQ3: are effective problem solvers X GQ7: demonstrate an international perspective X GQ4:can work both autonomously and collaboratively Assignment grade/mark Leisure Concepts Major Essay “Is Gambling an Acceptable Form of Leisure?” Discuss Leisure time refers to the moment spent by individuals where they do not have a specific activity to do. At this time, an individual is own master and has the freedom to use the leisure time for own pleasure and will (Ramey & Francis, 2009). At such free times, the individual is free from usual work and has an unoccupied mind. The necessity to have freedom from work and find time for relaxation does not need much attention as it is usually necessary. The need for pleasure normally comes after pain that results from work tiredness and fatigue. Preoccupation with worldly daily activities are among the most common reasons that contribute to wearing out a man in both physical and mental dimensions and thus the need for relaxation. With the above statement, most individuals find life a very strenuous business and thus the need for free time for recreation and relaxation. The tragedy of life is that of work and work at all times. Any type of work may be both unavoidable and equally tiresome. The continuity of work therefore needs periods of break where individuals get the ability to recover their freshness and to some large extend, take their minds off (Griffiths & Barnes, 2008). This time of leisure offers a great opportunity of breaking from the normal routine escape the daily compulsions thus providing a time of joy and freedom (Ramey & Francis, 2009). However, although leisure is important in quite a number of ways, the problem arises when it comes to the decision of how one should acquire leisure. Although there are various ways of spending leisure time, others may be quite unethical, straining economically, and come with a range of social and legal issues. The purpose of this paper is to seek the answer to the question of whether gambling should be acceptable as a form of pleasure. Before doing this however, it could be important to understand the importance of leisure. Importance of Leisure Leisure is the chance to break from the normal daily routine that consist of work, domestic activities, personal care, and the unavoidable sleep. It thus implies that without leisure time, the society could not attain balance of lifestyle and hence the inability to sustain itself. In this context, leisure time is vital in providing that necessary balance in the society that is a key factor in avoiding issues such as decrease in productivity, individual fatigue that is the cause of various accidents, the ability to prevent individual mental and physical failure, and finally, the need to avoid family wrangles (Seller & Boshoff, 2006). Without maintenance of such issues, it is possible that the society that stop from its usual function and thus a societal breakdown in the end. Physical health is another importance that comes to leisure time. This is because of the reason that individual’s involvement in higher levels of physical activity like sporting translates to improved health outcomes. A research by O’Hara (2006) for instance indicates that obesity rates in Australia are at its peak and most likely the highest in the next three years. This will most likely lead to an increased number of obese people. Additionally, another benefit of leisure is that derived when individuals attain a positive feeling after taking part in an exercise. Psychological health is another important benefit resulting from leisure and thus leading to an improved spirit of an individual as it affects the mind and the internal sense. In this direction of thought, research indicates certain leisure activities that can lead to an improved mental health such as the relaxation of the yoga. In the general view of a society, leisure plays an important role as a stress buffer. For instance, when an individual feels worn out after an overtime work will feel better after swimming (Porter, 2004). Swimming or spending time at the beach will reduce stress and thus the attainment of self-esteem and personal achievement. Research also indicates that many leisure experiences contain some element of spiritual health. Spending time in the natural environment and experiencing the beauty of nature brings about some sense of belongingand ultimate sense of achievement. Additionally, religion in itself can be a good leisure activity that results in a heightened sense of enlightenment. Religious connections such as the festivities held occasionally give individuals pleasure and joy, thus relieving stress accumulated from daily routine activities (Porter, 2004). Such spiritual festivities come with concerts and fairs that are attractive and act as good experiences of leisure. However, spiritual health that relates to leisure does not have to be an individual experience of a defining moment or awareness. There are also leisure times spent in social places and thus bringing about social health. Leisure activities carried out in groups or with friends bring about social interaction and improved cohesiveness in the society (Ramey & Francis, 2009). Quite often, members of the society that do not interact with others in leisure activities find themselves isolated and find difficulties in socializing or communicating with new people. Social interaction with others does not only mean during workplaces or other community activities but also during leisure times to bring about a sense of self-belonging in the society. Finally, economic benefits can also be achieved through leisure activities. Individuals gain economic health when they buy the latest equipment of a certain sport activity such as the right shoe to maintain the latest version, buying a new novel to read during leisure, and paying certain registration fee in a gymnasium (Seller & Boshoff, 2006). This indicates that there is some sense of economic health that individuals attain in spending money to gain their sense of belonging. Leisure and Gambling The subject of gambling across Australia and the entire globe is greatly argued and highly pronounced. People of all ages in the current world are increasing considering gambling as a great source of entertainment and thus a leisure activity. For those interested, gambling is becoming a ‘sport’ activity and an economic activity as well. When conducted responsibly, gambling can be a great source of fun and joy (Esther, 2006). However, problems related to gambling conducted irresponsibly can lead to various disadvantages that include financial ruin, loss of career, family wrangles, suicide, and legal liabilities. In this context, taking gambling as an individual’s favorite activity can lead to addiction over time and thus should not be allowed as a gambling activity (Charlotte, 2010). Ethical issues such as lying in gambling to secure win and economic factors such as accumulating debt with the knowledge of when to stop gambling are other factors that should be considered as factors to avoid taking gambling as a leisure activity. Gambling in itself brings about obsession that consequently leads to an individual ‘chasing loss’ in the urge to win back some lost property or money. In this case, individuals see the loss incurred in lost money and thus gain some illusionary confidence of winning back the lost money (Anthony, 2010). In the process of gambling and seeking victory, an individual further loses more and more money. The result will be poverty, loss of excess time, and poor productivity. Connected to this point is the fact that more loss of money leads to individual indulging in criminal activities such as robbery to earn money for gambling in the urge to fulfill their addiction and need for pleasure. In the end, an individual will most likely run into legal liabilities for crimes related to gambling. Another important reason that support the point that gambling should be a leisure activity is the fact that the addiction related to gambling is likely to lead to individual foregoing personal needs to finance gambling. This is a terrible act since it leads to starvation and thus poor health conditions. Failing to buy basic needs such as clothing and paying for rent will definitely lead to stress and thus eventual poor living conditions. In worse case scenarios, individuals reach an extent of selling their property to finance their gambling needs (Charlotte, 2010). An individual gambling with a family property such as a car or a residential building puts family members and disgrace and eventual misunderstanding that may include divorce. There are also cases where the individuals gamble to ‘avoid’ daily pressures, obligations, and professional activities. In this case, gamblers find a short-term relief in gambling to avoid their daily responsibilities (Esther, 2006). Avoiding important social activities or individual employment may lead problems such as discipline for absence from work, loss of job, reduced pay, and a series of career problems. Loss of job may also lead to increased stress and thus more involvement in gambling to sustain the stress, at least for the short-term. This point is self-explanatory as to why gambling should not be a leisure activity. Additionally, during the entire individual’s life, development of empirical knowledge about several things takes place. Although knowing many things is the ultimate goal of every individual, it is the power of every individual to decide which information is wrong and right for them to succeed in their daily endeavors. The negative effects that come with gambling distinguish it from any other challenging activities that individuals encounter in everyday life. The need for information to solve various challenges should be an ethical process and individuals should avoid referring to external agents such as gambling to ‘solve’ their challenges. Since casinos and other gambling venues provide free alcohol to their customers, individuals could easily attain alcoholic addiction problems (Esther, 2006). Thus, it can be argued that addiction of gambling as a leisure activity can lead to alcoholism, which in turn results in health problems. Gambling also creates a deceiving society in the end. By nature, gamblers engage in lies for them to hide their gambling tactics. The continued behavior of lying leads to individual’s addiction to lies and eventually distortion of their general behavior with their partners, friends, and even at the workplace (Anthony, 2010). Deception is unethical behavior that eventually leads to distrust and problems related to lying such as corruption (Charlotte, 2010). In most cases, bettors do not reveal the exact amount of money they spend or earned in the gambling and instead create stories to try to justify their activities. In the event where lies engulf a family, there may be the possibility of disagreement ensuing and thus distorting the core values of the primary unit of a society. The result is family breakdown and hence poor societal values and ethics. Finally, another negative impact of gambling that does not encourage it in the list of individual’s leisure activities is that of violence. Betters find themselves losing a lot of money in the process of hoping for a win while at the same time borrowing money, selling personal items, accumulating debt in the process. In the event where bettors fail to win, they resort to disagreement and accusation of dishonesty and thus result of disagreement and violence (Charlotte, 2010). The emotional pain that comes with the loss of money will most likely result in individual need to resort to violence to sustain stress and the need to let go the lost money and property. In this case, the effects of violence can be a legal liability or even loss of lives. Conclusion To conclude with, spending leisure time responsibly comes with various benefits that are useful in contributing to an individual’s well being. Among the various benefits of leisure discussed, include social health, psychological benefits, religious health, and economic health. Perhaps these benefits indicate that leisure is an essential part of life of every individual and society. However, spending leisure time in activities such as gambling should not be encouraged owing to the various negative effects that come with gambling (Charlotte, 2010). Among the various negative effects that come with gambling, include addiction, loss of property, bankruptcy, reduced productivity, violence, ethical issues such as addiction to lies, and legal liabilities. All these reasons point out that the need for individuals to avoid gambling as their leisure time activities is of great advantage. Nonetheless, responsible gambling that may include the knowledge that the gambling agency benefits the most and that the individual is gambling for fun could be helpful as a leisure activity. Secondly, creating a strict budget for gambling and sticking to it could warrant gambling as a better gambling activity (Charlotte, 2010). Setting time limits for gambling while at the same time taking frequent breaks could lessen the negative effects of gambling. In general, the disadvantages of gambling outweigh its advantages and thus should not be acceptable as a gambling activity. Reference List Anthony, J 2010, Leisure, Sport and Tourism: Politics, Policy and Planning, Sydney, NSW: CABI. Charlotte, F 2010, Pathways to Excessive Gambling: A Societal Perspective on Youth and Adult Gambling Persuits, England, Ashgate Publishing Limitate. Esther, V 2006, The Quirky World of Intuitive Gambling: The New Millenium Leisure Paradigm Anticipation Is the Name of the Game, London, Authorhouse. Griffiths, M & Barnes, A 2008,‘Internet gambling: An online empirical study among student Gamblers’, International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 194-204. O’Hara, L 2006, Australian bodies to become biggest in the world within the next ten years, Health at Every Size, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 235-247. Porter, D 2004, ‘work, work ethic, work excess’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol.17, no. 5, pp. 424-439. Ramey, H & Francis, J 2009, ‘A Century of Work and Leisure’, American Economic Journal, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 189 – 224. Seller, F & Boshoff, T 2006, ‘Subjective Leisure Experiences of older Australians’, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, vol.53, no. 3, pp. 211-219. Read More