Eleven Southington High School students produced a two-minute film tracking a teen's downward spiral into sports betting, set to screen alongside 16 other youth-made videos.
Southington Students to Premiere Sports Gambling PSA on March 25
Eleven members of Southington's STEPS Youth Council will premiere a two-minute public service announcement about teen sports betting at a virtual statewide showcase on March 25, 2026 — the culmination of a months-long film project designed to warn high school students about the risks of gambling.
The PSA, produced with professional videographers and funded through Connecticut's Youth Gambling Awareness Project, follows a teenager named Macy whose growing involvement in sports betting begins to erode her grades, friendships, and family relationships. The video's final scene shows Macy seeking help from a trusted adult after her parents step in. The students settled on a tagline that captures the film's message: "sports betting is a losing game."
The March 25 Virtual Showcase
The March 25 event will feature all 17 youth-produced videos created this year through the Youth Gambling Awareness Project, a statewide program that funds and supports student groups across Connecticut to create original content promoting problem gambling awareness. The showcase is virtual and open to the public.
March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month nationally, and the Southington STEPS Youth Council has aligned its campaign timeline accordingly. Members plan to distribute gambling awareness resources and promotional materials to students during lunch periods at Southington High School throughout the month.
Behind the Film
Southington High School senior Jenna Hebert plays Macy, the lead character. Ten other Youth Council members — Amelia Rizza, Caroline Decorte, Devon Jasulavic, Drew Niro, Gigi Truss, Hayley Friar, Jackie Liebler, Katie Cavanaugh, Maddy Landry, and Raquel Gontijo — appear in supporting roles.
The students have been working on the project since October 2025, developing the script, rehearsing, and filming with the help of professional videographers Sebastian Pepe, Jeremy Chin, and Erika Korbusieski. The group chose sports betting as the topic after members said they observed it becoming a growing trend among their peers at Southington High School.
Once finalized, the PSA will be distributed to school staff, students, and parents, and the full version will be released publicly.
Why Sports Gambling
Sports betting has expanded rapidly across the United States since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to legalize it in 2018. Connecticut launched legal online sports wagering in 2021, and the accessibility of mobile betting apps has made gambling easier for minors to encounter — or attempt — than in prior generations.
According to the 2023 Connecticut School Health Survey, approximately 25 percent of high school students in the state reported engaging in gambling activities. The figure points to a problem that youth advocates say often goes unaddressed in traditional school health curricula.
The STEPS Youth Council chose to make sports betting specifically the center of their PSA, rather than casino gambling or card games, reflecting what they see as the most visible form of gambling among their peers.
About the Youth Gambling Awareness Project
The Youth Gambling Awareness Project is an annual statewide initiative coordinated by the Capitol Region Education Council in collaboration with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services' Problem Gambling Services and the CT Council on Problem Gambling. The program provides funding and support for youth groups to produce original public awareness content on problem gambling, which is then shared across the state.
This year's cohort includes 17 participating groups across Connecticut, each creating a short video. The March 25 virtual showcase brings all of the completed videos together for a public screening. The Southington STEPS Youth Council is among the participating organizations.
About STEPS
STEPS — which stands for Southington's Top Effort to Prevent Substance use — is a youth prevention coalition based in Southington. The STEPS Youth Council is a student-led component of the organization, drawing members from Southington High School who work on public health advocacy related to substance use, mental health, and other wellness topics.
The group's participation in the Youth Gambling Awareness Project extends their focus beyond traditional substance use prevention into the emerging area of behavioral addiction, reflecting broader public health conversations about how online and mobile platforms are reshaping risk behaviors for teenagers.
Got a tip? Reach out to us at tips@thequinnipiacpost.com.
Never miss Southington news
Free local news delivered to your inbox — no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
