inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. Deputy for Youth Empowerment of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Asrorun Ni'am Sholeh proposed that teenagers who are victims of online gambling should be rehabilitated, not punished criminally.

"They are victims of a system. So, the proper way of handling them is through rehabilitation, not a punitive approach," said Sholeh on Monday (12/2/2024).

According to him, many victims of online gambling are due to lack of understanding and often start from just for fun until finally turned into a real addiction. This happens because of the lack of digital literacy and limited job opportunities.

As an effort to overcome this, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has created many activities that encourage the creativity of young people so that their energy is not channeled in the wrong way.

First is through digipreneur, namely developing the potential for entrepreneurship or digital-based entrepreneurship. Then, every Friday there is "Ngoprek Digital" which is a medium for the young people to gather every Friday at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Building to develop their creativity and digital potential.

"Become content creators, YouTubers and other professions that are digital-based. From just relaxing, now you can sit on the beach while generating economic value," encouraged Sholeh.

In addition, he said, what is no less important is presenting promotional steps, for example by providing assistance with access to capital and creating digital-based creativity competitions.

“Minister Dito had also initiated youth mental health for the mental health of young people. One of the issues is gambling, being dumped by a girlfriend or having trouble paying tuition fees so they do destructive things and so on," said the Deputy for Empowerment of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Through these steps, the Ministry of Youth and Sports hopes to contribute to creating a young generation that is not only smart in technology, but also wise in using it for the common good.

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