A few months ago, I was commenting to a friend of mine who works security for Mount Airy Casino near Mount Pocono about an article I had read where a 2-year-old child was found wandering the halls of a casino hotel while the parent was on the gambling floor at Wind Creek in Bethlehem.

I told him of my shock and disbelief that a parent could be so selfish and unconcerned for her child’s well-being, but my friend gave a sardonic laugh and told me that this is way more prevalent than we might think.

As I looked into this, I found that the problem of unattended children has been a sore subject for the state’s 16 casinos, including the three in our area - Wind Creek in Bethlehem, Mount Airy in Paradise Township near Mount Pocono, and Mohegan Sun in Plains Township near Wilkes-Barre.

The problem has become so serious that Wind Creek became the second one to unveil a plan to address the issue and presented it recently to the state Gaming Control Board. Casino officials said they plan to spend more than $4 million to upgrade security throughout the property. This includes not only the parking lots, where children have been left in cars sometimes for several hours, but also in hotel rooms, lobbies, restaurants, shopping venues and the casino’s common areas.

In proposing the plan, casino officials noted that children as young as 2 months were found unsupervised. The children found without parental accompaniment ranged up to 17 years.

The problem became so serious that the Gaming Commission authorized the collection of information to determine specific numbers and found that since data was first collected in 2021, there were 269 incidents where children were left unattended while their parents or guardians were gambling. In the 12-month period ending April 2022, there were 43 additional cases.

Casino floors are open only to those 21 and older. Minors cannot enter the food court at Wind Creek without supervision. The casino posts numerous signs alerting patrons of this policy. The food court is where most of the infractions occur, casino officials said. “Our house policy requires us to report any individual 14 or younger who is unaccompanied. However, we also self-report 15- to 17-year-olds who do not have a parent or guardian with them,” a casino statement said.

Gaming Commission spokesman Doug Harbach said the gaming board is concerned about how commonplace this problem has become and is interested in determining how casinos plan to deal with it. In relating some of the incidents which have occurred recently, Harbach cited one involving a father who left his 5-year-old unattended in a Mount Airy hotel room while he gambled in the casino. The incident was uncovered after the parent reported the child missing; however, the child was found unharmed in the father’s hotel room.

At its March meeting, the Gaming Commission heard a report that two casino patrons had been placed on the involuntary exclusion list for leaving children alone in cars while they gambled. The children were both 8 years old.

In some cases, a parent will try to rationalize his behavior by saying that the child was unattended in a parked car for only minutes while daddy scurried to place a sports book bet. Even that is unacceptable. More troubling are those parents who leave their young kids alone in cars for hours at a time while they play slots or table games.

Gregory Krausz, a professional counselor from Bethlehem, told Play Pennsylvania that those with addictions are more likely to be guilty of this aberrant behavior. “The relationship with gambling can become the focus of an individual’s life and takes priority over other relationships,” he said. “The relationship with gambling for a problem gambler impacts many life areas including how they parent,” he added.

Josh Ercole, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, said while most of us are saying “what were they thinking,” the gambling addict processes the situation in a completely different way. “It’s not in a logical, straightforward manner like it would be for you or me. Just like people who don’t understand drug addiction, it’s truly hard to understand the gambling addiction,” he told Play Pennsylvania.

Not every incident of unsupervised children involves addiction, Ercole said. “It’s an unfortunate situation where there are very negligent parents who have a lot going on. Some of it might be mental health or the environment they were raised in.”

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.