the Social Sidekick: Drinking Less because of Social Media?
A recent study done in Austraila by their National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre is suggesting that many teens are going into adulthood abstaining from drinking.
What?!? This can’t be for real, right??
Well, not according to Researcher Dr. Michael Livingston. He “found the number of 14-to-17-year-olds abstaining from alcohol rose from 33 per cent in 2001 to more than 50 per cent in 2010.” (news.com.au). And what’s the reason for this? The report states that “Dr Livingston speculated the age group’s love of the internet including, social media and online games, was taking up so much of their time they simply did not have enough time left to find themselves in drinking situations.” (news.com.au). To read the whole article about it, click here.
So what does this mean? Some initial thoughts of mine are…
- It actually gives some sort of positive outlook of all the social media teens are involved with. Maybe them being “online” all the time isn’t such a bad thing.
- Social Media consumption by teens is more important than I thought. My own children are on it a good amount but honestly I thought they were the exception. This seems to me that they are just average tweens/teens.
- When I think of Social Media, I often forget about Online Gaming which is also a form of social media. Teens, especially guys, are being social many times when they are playing online. Online Gaming is a huge draw for teenage boys.
- Students want connections. Whether it is partying or being on social media, they are craving being apart of other peoples lives. Drinking and partying does that as well as posting things on social media.
What do you think? Do you think this is true of American teens too?
