The Office of National Drug Control Policy recently released results of a joint study with Nielson on exposure of teens (age 13-18) to online videos with drug and alcohol-related content (see the summary here). Among the findings:
- Of 18mm ‘unique viewers’, teens watched an average of 35 videos in one month. Of these, about 1 video per person contained drug or alcohol-related content
- About 5% of online teens viewed a video with drug or alcohol-related content
- Females were slightly more likely to watch videos with drug or alcohol-related context (57% to 43%)
- More than 2/3 of viewers of drug and alcohol-related context were under age 16
- 78% of drug-related videos included positive comments on drug use, 40% of videos showed explicit drug use.
What are we to make of this? Well, one ought not be too concerned if only 5% of teens viewed videos that some may deem dangerous or objectionable. And, we don’t know that watchers end up being users. On the other hand, it looks as if a small percentage of teens are watching a lot of stoner videos. And, there’s one more rub: the methodology section gives no information on whether or not kids knew they were being monitored (I suspect they did). After all that, should we be concerned about a nefarious You Tube-drug use link? I dunno.
Comments 4
Chris Uggen — October 19, 2008
hmmm -- intriguing study. that 70s show is the cultural product that really makes me wonder. when both my kids watched it a few years ago, i was consistently surprised at its easygoing attitude toward adolescent substance use.
sara — October 19, 2008
was it really that easygoing? it portrayed substance use as normative (probably troublesome) but always highlighted the stupid things the kids did (e.g., falling off the water tower) or said (e.g., long discussions about Star Wars) when they were high. the study cited above also quantified the content as 'positive' or 'negative' -- i wonder where the 'round the table scenes in the basement would have fallen?
stopped watching that show right around the time the 4th person said i reminded them of Kitty...
Hiroko Linnemann — June 12, 2013
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Andy Doku — May 9, 2019
The data as presented is certainly cause for concern, although might be mitigated partially by the awareness factor mentioned above.
As other commentors have stated, much likely depends on the tone of the content, to determine what the underlying intention of the kids was, and how illustrative their intentions are, of the bigger demographic of teens.
And of course, correlation is not the same as causation.
The bigger concern is the impact on their beliefs and associations around alcohol or drug use.
How much does media like Youtube influence our perception of the acceptability of alcohol or drugs, and using substances as a coping mechanism?
There are of course multiple variables involved in this, many of which are unknowns:
- how easily influenced a particular teen is
- the extent to which they are invested, and believe in, the host of the video, and the overall message they send or endorse about alcohol or drugs
- the observational learning elements involved - if the host of the video endorses substance use as a coping mechanism - then that must be the way to cope with stress
- the perception of the content of the video as fiction/non-fiction - i.e. is this intended to be a representation of real life - is that the meaning I give it?
There's also questions around how much of this media influence re substance or alcohol abuse rubs off from other forms of media.
And what is the evidence linking this form of social normalisation of alcohol abuse to addiction issues later in life?
Much of this in unmeasurable as it comes down to perception, family learnings, and the conclusions the teens arrive at after watching this form of media.
I'd imagine that if I were constantly shown this form of media, in a way that normalises substance misuse, in the absence of other evidence, then this would well influence my opinion on the acceptability of substance use for coping in certain situations.
The bigger content of life experience, other external influences and learnings from earlier childhood will likely steer their conclusions around such content; hopefully for the better and in the avoidance of abusing alcohol or substances in future.