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The Youth: how modern day social media could bring a teen you know problems

Senior Inquiry
Youth: Drugs and Social media
Eddy Gonzalez
Liberty High School

The Youth: how modern day social media could bring a teen you know problems

Everyday people around the world are checking their social media sites to see what their
friends are up to. According to Edison research, about two thirds of the American population
have an online profile on one or more social media sites. It is not rare to open up Facebook or
Twitter and see one of your friends participating in drug/substance abuse. Day in and day out,
kids are falling into the influence of drug abuse. The origin of the pressure coming from social
media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, as well as Instagram. A survey done by the
NIDA( National Institute on Drug Abuse) states that more than 46,ooo teens, 8th, 10th, And 12th
graders showed that about 13% of the 8th graders, 30% of 10th graders, and 40% of 12th graders
said that they have used a drug at least once in the past year. The NIDA does most of the worlds
research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. Substance abuse leads to serious
problems such as bad grades, problems at school, family issues, as well as lasting legal problems.
Alcohol and drug abuse is also the leading cause of death and or injury related to car crashes,
suicides, violence, and drownings.(WebMD, March 12, 2014.) Thats a sad fact that needs to be
made history.
There is constant propaganda in favor of drug on social media sites and is constantly
being seen by youth. The ones producing the advertisements are not by major big name
companies, but by the people you choose to follow and befriend. From people posting images of
themselves doing drugs, to the Tweet that explains the amount of fun that was shared the night
before while on drugs, suggest teens to the power of feeling left out. Do as I say not as I do, but
that doesnt normally work when talking about impressionable adolescents. Teens are always
trying to fit in and do what everyone else is doing. A new study by Columbia University suggest
that social media sites could lead to risk behaviors in teens like drug use and alcohol
abuse.Columbia universities research center is internationally recognized for being the leader in

The Youth: how modern day social media could bring a teen you know problems

creating new knowledge and therapies to improve the health of individuals as well as
populations.The researchers from Columbia University asked teens how they felt about social
media peer pressure. Breena says she has a mind of her own, but she sees how those images
could entice her peers. it can, she says. it depends on how the kids take it. What way they take
the pictures and if they believe thats what they need to be cool. (Social Media use can lead to
increased drug, alcohol use, Posted:2011), Most kids do believe they must do drugs in order to
hangout with the cool kid. "The Internet puts it in your head," said Dana Cichon, 16, a junior at
Bartlett High School. "You think everyone else is having more fun than you." Drug abuse is a
trend just like any other fashion trends. Only in this case its not a pair of old blue jeans or Louis
Buttons...but a keg full of beer and a bag full of narcotics. Another study released by the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse states that around 70% of cool teens say they
use social networking sites daily and overall 10% of those who used social social networks said
that they used tobacco products, 26% used alcohol and 13% had tried cannabis. They also
studied what you would call the outcasts or un cool kids. The so called Uncool kids, that
were in the study, showed many factors as to why theyve been so reluctant to use drugs. 56%
said that their parents would kill them if they tried drugs, and 62% believed that their brain cells
would eventually rot from using drugs, leading to very low SAT scores. And an Oddly
overwhelming, 94 percent said they an feared allergic reaction to the drug!
The national Center on substance Abuse at Columbia Universitys study states that
digital peer pressure plays a role in what the kids choose to do now a days. The connection
between drug abuse and social media, is the images that they portray. While peers have always
had an impact on teen behavior, the digital format leaves teens to perceive to the same kind of
pressure that is around everytime someone logs on a social networking site. Whether the images

The Youth: how modern day social media could bring a teen you know problems

are on social networking sites or not, any exposure to pictures of people involved in substance
abuse could make any adolescent to commit such behaviors. This concludes that they are
exposed to this same pressure 24/7. So what you may ask? Well The fact being, that as of
September 2012 78% of teenagers have a mobile device and about half (47%) of them own a
smartphone.(Teens and Technology 2013) The use of a smartphone would simply be a gateway
to the internet. That gateways leads to the exposure of images of teens abusing drugs/alcohol as
well as breaking laws. What they call having fun, Is what later leads teens in to problems.
Media and social media portray people getting drunk or doing drugs as a good thing. It is
as though they glorify the situation and make teens feel like theyre missing out on the fun. Take
any song hitting the the top of the billboards list on billboards.com for example, Katy Perrys
popular song last Friday Night. Its was roaring through the soundwaves back in 2010.Its a
blacked out but Im pretty sure it ruled, also she says, ...And we took too many shots, think we
kissed but I forgot. The influence that the celebrity drug culture plays on teen substance abuse
plays a major role in the struggle to keep kids on the right track. Celebrities that are idols to some
, are always on social media sites posting images of themselves drinking and smoking . Popular
rappers rap about hustling and selling drugs as well as using them themselves. When it comes to
money andteenagers, any parenmt would agree that theyd do anything in order to get it. Weather
its the right way or the wrong way. When big name companies make a product and need to
advertise it, who do they hire to be the face their company you may ask? Guys like Drake that
has a commercial with Sprite, thats who. The same guy rapping, Kush rolled glass full, I prefer
the better things Celebrity spokespeople advertise the big name products and influence
everyone to go out and buy what they are initially trying to sell! Consumers buy from the people
that they emulate.The same influence stays when talking about drugs and alcohol abuse.At the

The Youth: how modern day social media could bring a teen you know problems

end of 2012, The NIDA reports that there was a significant increase in the number of searches for
information on the drug called Molly. A club drug made from MDMA, one of the purest forms
of ecstasy. Kanye west, Wiz Khalifa, & Tyga are just three of the many rappers out there rapping
about Molly. Lyrics from Kanyes song Mercy, Something about mary, she gone off that
Molly/Now the whole party is melted like dali is just clear evidence that celebrities do in fact
promote drugs in there songs.
Drugs are causing problems for teens all around the country. Problems at school, at home
as well as outside the home. According to a new study done by the National Academy of
Sciences in New Zealand, showed that the teens who started smoking marijuana before 18
experienced an IQ drop in early adulthood by age 38. That study suggests that the heavy
smokers could be losing about 8 IQ points. Madeline Meier, a postdoctoral researcher at Duke
University states her hypothesis, ...we see this IQ decline in adolescence because the adolescent
brain is still developing and if you introduce cannabis, it might interrupt these critical
developmental processes. This is one way drug abuse could bring problems in a teens life.
Family problems are very common when drugs are introduced in a teens life. Weather its from
social media or any other introduction. Eddy Gonzalez, a student at liberty high school is
experiencing that first hand. When youre with your friends smoking and having a good time
you tend to forget about the things that really matter, like school and family. You go home to
your parents worrying about your health and well being. Parents tend to express emotions by
yelling and trying to get their point across. Ergo causing problems at home. Eddy is just one of
the many teens paying the price of the consumption of drugs such as cannabis. Family is very
important in a growing adolescents life.

The Youth: how modern day social media could bring a teen you know problems

The only way to reduce the amount of young minds from being rotted away by drugs and
alcohol is to take action. Parents need to start monitoring what they do online, and how much
time they spend on it. Parents should be the main role models to their kids, they should set
nothing but good examples for their kid. If parents were more concerned with what their kids
were doing online, then the issue on teen drug use would not be as much as a problem. The war
on drugs has been fought for quit some time now. At the same time, teens are continuing to use
drugs and continue to abuse them and that is because the media is continuing to promote drug
use. The only way to change that is for a change in the way teens use social networking sites.

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