Impact Of Habitual Betting Enterprise On Christian Youth In The Light Of Jesus’ Liberating Pedagogy: A Case Of Soweto Village, Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The study is on the impact of the habitual betting enterprise among Christian youth in the light of Jesus’ liberating pedagogy in Soweto Village in Nairobi County, Kenya. The main goal is to investigate the impact of habitual betting enterprise among Christian youth in Soweto Village in light of Jesus’ liberating pedagogy. The three specific objectives guiding the study are: To identify triggers of habitual betting among Christian youth; establish the effects of habitual betting among Christian youth and to examine the role of the Church in curbing the betting enterprise among Christian youths. The study engages descriptive survey research. Purposive sampling was used to select the sample of forty Christian youth, ten parents, seven administrators, police officers and the area chief, and three clergy. Questionnaires and structured interviews were used to gather primary data while secondary data is sourced from various relevant sources. Data is analysed through descriptive analysis. The study is guided by three complementary theories to accomplish its goal. These are: Self-efficacy theory by Bandura; mediation theory by Boff and Boff and self-regulatory theory by Leventhal et al. The study found out that there are various factors that contribute to the habitual betting among the Christian youth in Soweto Village that include unemployment, advertisements, peer pressure, early exposure to betting and as an escape from reality. Among the effects of habitual betting among Christian youth are; betting addiction, early school dropout, family disruptions, job loss, suicide thoughts, rising debt level and development of criminal behaviour. The Church in Soweto has made some effort to provide the Christian youth with some activities like sports that will help them to feel as part of the entire “Family of God.” Through organizing some seminars and youth forums they are helped to showcase their talents and capabilities thus diverting their attention from habitual betting. The unfortunate thing is that there are different interpretations of Scripture by the different local Churches on whether a Christian should engage in betting or not. The Church should talk openly on the causes and the effects of the habitual betting and betting enterprise as a whole among the Christian youth during the Church services or during the Mass and in every other opportune time in order to target a larger population of the Christian youth and the entire population of the community. The government and the stakeholders from the education sector and the corporate world should fund programs that spread the needed information on the adverse effects of habitual betting. The government and other stakeholders should create awareness programs that aim at promoting a culture of responsible betting among the population and other members of the society. The lax in the regulations has allowed underage betting, substandard structures for betting tasks and unlicensed outlets. The interest of youngsters in betting is progressively turning into a matter of concern although it is disallowed under the present law. We recommend that the confirmation of customers into betting outlets ought to entirely be founded on introduction of a distinguishing proof for verification of age