In every university town across Britain there is something special about the start of a new term. Mums and dads drop their teenage children off at university for the first time and they fill the dorm rooms and student flats where they will learn and grow over the next three years. Rarely does society afford any of us a period of time quite like university, where we have the opportunity to study things that are interesting, important and valuable to the community at large and are unencumbered by the pressures of day to day living in quite the same way. Despite the problems of debt, fees and stress, it remains an important journey for millions of young people in our society to take. Parents leave their children behind with a mixture of pride and a certain sadness that they have finally flown the nest and the young people start their journey into the future with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.
Of course, that's how it's supposed to be, but in reality the pressures on students are immense. Student unions that sell cut price alcohol and the various traditions of drinking that exist on campus, along with the availability of street drugs present young people, full of self doubt and insecurity and with cash in their pockets an easy way to avoid the fears and worries that are a natural part of living away from home for the first time. As a society we ignore how prevalent mental health conditions are among students, instead we dismiss their problems as the indulgent moans of the privileged. In reality, these children are often far more vulnerable and easily damaged than we care to admit.
There are those who do understand the uncertainty and sometimes loneliness of life as a teenager in a new town and see that as a business opportunity. Recently the gambling industry, aware of the new restrictions on its activities that are pending have begun activities on campus to recruit a new generation of gamblers. The following advert is full of fascinating euphemisms.
We are currently looking for Student Brand Ambassadors in Swansea. The Brand Ambassadors role will be to drive traffic and activate new members to our FREE football tipping site www.thetopbet.com We are looking for people at any of the Universities/Colleges in Swansea who have a passion for football, are outgoing and are preferably a part of a sports team or society. Successful candidates can expect to earn between £80 - £400 on a great commission structure. There is also room for immediate promotion for good ambassadors to then have a team of people working for them. Their salaries then will jump significantly. All candidates must be 18+. Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Commission Salary: £100.00 to £400.00 /week
The cynicism here is palpable, 'brand ambassador' is a term favoured by marketeers the world over and it serves to present the brand as some kind of entity in its own right, an entity that must be represented in some way. The commission based role is not to act so much as an ambassador but to act as a pusher of a highly addictive activity that will allow a distant multinational corporation asset strip young people using a computer algorithm and a detailed understanding of behavioural psychology. It also relies on another factor to infiltrate university life - friendship. Top Bet are well aware that young people listen to one another far more than they listen to adverts on the TV. The most effective way to enter the lives of students is to enter friendship groups and gain the social proof and authenticity that this brings. All the while the goal is simple, to groom the addicts of tomorrow and to provide the share holders of gambling companies with an endless stream of revenue born of a modern 21st Century form of digital slavery. Those special beginnings for some young people at university and the hopes and dreams of their loving parents are transformed into nightmares by cynical businesses dedicated to extracting wealth, irrespective of the cost.