Alcohol, Drugs Common in Online Teen Chats
Adult sexual predators are not the only danger to watch out for in online social forums. A recent study highlights the equal danger of peer-to-peer conversations.
"It used to be enough for parents to know their teens' friends," said Doug Tieman, president and CEO of Caron Treatment Centers, which provides addiction treatment services. "However, the online revolution requires parents to be much more sophisticated in terms of understanding not only how their teens are spending time online, but also what they are talking about."
Kids falling in with the wrong "virtual crowd" is often proved as destructive as a "real life" group, according to Caron.
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What are kids talking about online?
Drinking alcohol, smoking pot, partying and hooking up.
In a study of more than 10 million online messages written by teens in the past year on common message boards, forums and social networks, nearly 2 percent were about drugs or alcohol.
The study found that teens focus their discussion of alcohol and drug use on message boards rather than on blogs or online groups, partly due to privacy concerns. Older teens, however, were more likely to discuss drugs and alcohol use on their blogs.
Alcohol dominated online teen chats. Some of the frequent conversations on teen forums involving alcohol include teens thinking hooking up/having sex is fun while drunk; social gatherings are more fun while drunk; concern for their friends who drink too much; and vodka and beer are teens' drinks of choice.
Where gender is identifiable, more girls tend to talk about hooking up in their online chats than teen boys. Few teens expressed regret over things they had done while drunk and many chalked it up to "fun" and "having a good time."
Also a recurring topic in teens' discussion of alcohol is complaints about the current legal drinking age. They claim, however, that the law does not stop them and they can still get alcohol when they want to.
In conversations around drugs, marijuana, cocaine, Acid, Meth and Heroin were among the most talked about in teen discussions. The majority of teens' messages about drugs other than marijuana were lists of drugs they have tried. Teens were found to ask more questions about other drugs than about alcohol or marijuana. Teens also gave each other advice or warnings to stay away from harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin. At the same time, more experienced teens give others advice on how to take specific drugs.
"What kids used to learn about drugs on street corners, they now learn online," said Carol Falkowski, director of research communications for Hazelden Foundation, an addiction treatment, education and research center in Center City, Minn., according to USA Today. The Internet "erases geographic and social boundaries."
"Kids who live in remote areas can develop a camaraderie online of drug-abusing kids. They can share stories about drug experiences."
Some marijuana-related discussions include teens talking about cutting class, cutting themselves while getting high, and how marijuana helps them cope with their depression or that it's better than smoking cigarettes.
Ashley Duffy, 18, had freely talked about her drug use in her online journal, knowing her parents wouldn't tap into it, and used the Internet to contact her dealer.
"Kids are really open about it," Duffy told USA Today. "I think they think their parents are clueless. And I guess they are."
David Rotenberg, executive director of Adolescent Services at Caron, warned parents to know conversations with peers "can be equally dangerous" to adult sexual predators preying on teens online where much of the attention is.
The study was conducted by Nielsen BuzzMetrics, which tapped into such online communities as MySpace, Facebook, and teenspot.com.
