School is only getting tougher with respect to peer pressure. Now kids face this pressure both at school and at home. The digital age with all of its social networking has created an entirely new aspect to the notion of peer pressure.
Back-to-school season is just around the corner, and teens could face added drug and alcohol risks once classes start up. As reported in www.cbsnews.com.
A recent study found that 17 percent of high school students - about 2.8 million U.S. teens - drink, drug and smoke during the school day.
The Scary Truth
High school is a frightening time when it comes to illicit drug and alcohol use for both teens and parents.
One of the interesting notes to this study was the examination of the role played by social media. It found that 75 percent of surveyed 12 to 17-year-olds said seeing pictures of teens partying with alcohol or marijuana on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace encourages them to party similarly.
Forty-five percent of teens - almost 11 million - said they have seen such pictures online and 47 percent of those teens said that it seems like pictured teens are having a good time.
Teens who have seen these pictures were found to be four times more likely to have used marijuana, more than three times likelier to have used alcohol, and almost three times more likely to have used tobacco.
Obviously this study reveals how potent digital peer pressure is.
Digital peer pressure moves beyond a child's friends and the kids they hang out with. It invades the home and a child's bedroom via the Internet.
Hopefully continued education effort through teen drug classes and alcohol classes (including 8 hour MIP classes) will encourage kids never to try them in the first place.