Critical thinking
In Intermediate writing 2010 we have learned new ways of how to write college written papers. I feel that I have improved so much throughout this year. I have grown so much from my writing last year. one paper I wrote in writing was how substance abuse if glorified in social media. Social media portrays substance abuse as something used to have fun and is enjoyed by many. My paper gives many sources that deny the lies music,you tube,actors,magazines etc. say about substance abuse.
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Priya Raj
3/06/2016 University of Utah Writing 2010 What does Social Media Tell Teens about Substance Abuse? Throughout this generation, social media has come of great interest to the teen mind. Social media tells us everything about someone’s lives, what they think, transfer information etc. Most teens believe that social media is real life. Substance abuse has become very popular in social media portraying teens drinking, smoking and partying with other teens. Whether it’s good or bad it on those tiny little screen teens carry around. Social media is one of the top things growing in the teen world. Teens use media for free time, talking to other and not realizing what they see or read is true or false. Shannnon Brys talks about substance abuse being something glorified. She says ““ Teens that have seen pictures on social media of other teens doing drugs, drinking, or passed out, are four times more likely to have used marijuana, three times more likely to have consumed alcohol, and almost three times more likely to have used tobacco.” Brys study talks about social media increasing substance abuse three times more likely to happen rather then not being it at all. Social media glorifying substance abuse is not new but has been popular since 2012. Brys example of substance abuse is a resent release of the new Katy Perry song Last Friday night. One of the first words Katy begins with is “there’s a stranger in my bed, there’s a pounding in my head” Katy glorifies getting drug and waking up with some hot guy. Brys believes Katy gives the idea to teens that they are missing out on something if they don’t take substances to have fun. Brys also says “Teens who attend religious services about once a week are less likely to take part in drugs, alcohol or tobacco use.” Brys believes student that is religious and put into these situations using or seeing it on social media will turn away. Megan Moreno and Jennifer Whithill both scholarly writers talk about the increase of social media being used to adolescents. Megan agreeing with Brys states talks about the display of people having fun at parties or in pictures with the use of substance abuse taking part. Megan says “Such online displays of alcohol behavior have been correlated with offline alcohol behavior and risky drinking. The numbers don’t stop there. Whithill states statistics that research has shown higher risk of substance abuse shown in teens when seen on social media. Whithill says “Researchers are beginning to assess the potential of social media sites in identifying high-risk drinkers through online display patterns as well as delivering prevention messages and interventions. “ Brys study also had one of the same states showing the increase of kids using drugs skyrocketed when seen on media. Agreeing with Brys, Megan and Jennifer is the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Pediatrics team for adolescent found traumatizing information about the portrayal of substance abuse in TV shows, movies and music. The team says “between the years 1996 and 2004, the researchers found that three out of four movies rated G, PG or PG-13 featured people smoking tobacco. In R-rated movies, the rate was even higher, at 90 percent.” Now that years have gone by the numbers have only grown from 2004.Brys says alcohol and social media go hand in hand with movies and music with three times likely to try a substance. Well the Pediatrics team agrees; they say “According to a study conducted in Columbia, people who watch R-rated movies are six times more likely to try marijuana. This may have something to do with the fact that marijuana is the most commonly depicted drug in the movie industry.” The increase of substance abuse has skyrocketed and will only continue through the years. Teens and young adults many hours on social media and research have shown an increase of behavioral changes. Stephanie Cook, a scholarly article journalist says “We used regression analyses to examine the relationship between online ego network characteristics and alcohol use and substance use, respectively. Alcohol use was associated with network density.” (Cook , para 1) Cook uses data that analyses the relationship of alcohol and the use of network. She saw that teen’s characteristics were altered when on the network in general. Adolescents acted differently when on social media and in person. Therefore if an adolescent saw substance abuse on the media it was seen as normal and embraced; it was like a different life they lived. Cook says “Drug use was associated with an increased number of peer ties, and the increased proportion of network members' discussion and acceptance of drug use, respectively. We also found that online network density and total numbers of ties were associated with more personal drug use for males but not females.” The ties between peers and network are closely linked together. Adolescents would share the substance links to other peers; making it seem normal to teens because of the popularity it was receiving. Research from Cooks study shows that teens have a high number of personal drugs rather sharing them with friends in person. Cook also found research that showed personal drug usage was more popular among males then females. Cook says “Conversely, we noted that social norms were related to increased drug use and this relationship was stronger for females than males.” Therefore males have a higher risk of using personal drugs and females are likely to use substance do to social media. Bry’s gives an example of the Katy Perry song last Friday night that talk about Katy having a blast while drunk. Cooks thoughts are linked together with this because girls tend to follow the trends on social media rather than males. Girls believe Katy Perry’s song is the norm and believe it’s the only way to have fun. |