Food ? Or just something to chew on. :)
A couple of comments:
1. This is not peer-reviewed research. It is "mission oriented" research by "The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University"
2. This is the 17th instance of the survey - but the first one where they've looked at the internet. (When did you first "logon"?)
3.
My favorite tidbits ...
* The results are profoundly troubling. This year’s survey reveals how the anything goes, free-for-all world of Internet expression, suggestive television programming and what- the-hell attitudes put teens at sharply increased risk of substance abuse. And the survey results drive home the need for parents to better appreciate their power to give their children the will and skill to keep their heads above the water of corrupting cultural currents that their children must navigate.
* Our report distinguishes between no time and any time spent on a social networking site in a typical day because our analysis showed no significant difference in substance use among teens spending 1 to 30 minutes, 31 to 90 minutes or more than 90 minutes on a social networking site in a typical day.
* The numbers that were quoted wrt "social network" are essentially the same (well within the bounds of "statistical error" (4% for a survey of this size) ...
Compared to teens who in a typical day do not spend any time on a social networking site, those who do are:
* Five times likelier to use tobacco
(10 percent vs. two percent).
* Three times likelier to use alcohol
(26 percent vs. nine percent).
* Twice as likely to use marijuana
(13 percent vs. seven percent).
Compared to teens who do not watch suggestive teen programming, teens who do are (Figure 3.A):
* Twice as likely to have used tobacco
(12 percent vs. six percent);
* Almost twice as likely to have used alcohol
(31 percent vs. 17 percent);
* More than one-and-a-half times likelier to have used marijuana
(15 percent vs. nine percent).
* * *
If you haven't had a chance to read Mimi Ito's et al "Digital Youth" reports, check them out ...
http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/report ... and make sure your school library gets a copy of "Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out" !