The use of cards on school property has been banned to prevent students from gambling. Even so, many students still play card games such as Uno, Poker and Go Fish at school — both for fun and to gamble money.
Assistant Principal Lisa Warnke explains one of the rationales behind the card ban.
“There are over 1,600 students here, one dean and between one and three campus aides,” Warnke said. “There isn’t enough people to have an eye on every student all the time and to know whether the students are only playing a game or there is betting or gambling going on along with it.”
Others may say that cards were banned to prevent addictions to rise.
“I think [playing cards] is a distraction that can lead to an addiction,” said Spanish teacher Luis Carrillo-Cardenas. “I think they banned it for a reason. They probably saw or heard of students gambling with cards and they wanted to stop it before something bad happened.”
Many students, such as senior Michael Gudiel, play cards but do not gamble.
“If it has to do with money and actual valuables, then no [it’s not appropriate for school]”
“If it has to do with money and actual valuables, then no [it’s not appropriate for school],” Gudiel said. “But the stuff that we did in the library didn’t have to do with money. We would just play cards for fun.”
Junior Aaron Austria also plays cards to pass time with his friends.
“I feel like students barely have anything to do at school, we either walk around or sit around,” Austria said. “We need some time to take a break. We learn seven hours a day, and that doesn’t even count the homework. We work so hard at school and we can’t take a minor break to play a simple game with our friends.”
There are, however, students who still gamble. Senior Alex* is one of them.
“Honestly, we don’t do much inside school, like gambling-wise,” Alex said. “Maybe a dollar or two, but it’s mainly outside of school … [The reason we gamble is] just to have fun with some friends and find new hobbies. None of us get mad about it. It’s not really about the money … It’s all really casual and not competitive.”
Senior Jackson* also participates in games that involve gambling.
“[We approximately bet] about $30 to $50 per game. But if you lose your original buy, you can put more money in and re-buy,” Jackson said. “So people can win or lose a lot of money.”
“[The reason we gamble is] just to have fun with some friends and find new hobbies … It’s not really about the money … It’s all really casual and not competitive”
The main reason for the banning of cards on campus was because it’s illegal to gamble under the age of eighteen.
“Many forget that it’s illegal for minors to gamble so that’s the bigger issue,” said Carrillo-Cardenas. “If we want to give up that chance of them gambling, then the best option would be to get rid of card playing. That’s the safest solution for the students and for the school in my opinion.”
Carrillo-Cardenas sees how card playing can lead to a gambling issue on campus.
“I think it’s unfortunate because there’s a lot of card games that many enjoy,” he said. “But if it looks like the situation is leaning towards gambling then it’s better to get rid of it.”
* Names have been changed to respect our sources’ anonymity
