A moronic survey says social networks will cause teens to do drugs

It never, ever, fails.

It happened with television, it happened with video games, and now it’s social networks.

Yes, says a survey from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (pdf), using social network sites makes teenagers more likely to use age-restricted and illegal drugs.

In the preamble to the results the authors write that on any typical day 70 percent of 12-to-17-year olds spend anywhere from a minute or three to hours on social networking sites whereas 30 percent don’t. It is those 70 percent that parents need to be really concerned about because these sites put the children at an increased risk of smoking, drinking, and drug use.

WTF?!? (right now that sound you are hearing is me banging my head against my desk).

The really scary part about this is that the people behind this study are down right serious, this isn’t any April Fool’s joke.

Please tell me if you can see any of the logic behind crap like this stuff that is right from their report:

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).

No wonder–with what’s on Facebook and other social networking sites for teens to see:

• Half of the teens who spend any time on social networking sites in a typical day have seen pictures of kids drunk, passed out, or using drugs on these sites.
• Even 14 percent of those teens who spend no time on social networking sites in a typical day have seen pictures of kids drunk, passed out, or using drugs on these sites.

Compared to teens who have not seen such pictures, teens who have seen pictures of kids drunk, passed out, or using drugs on Facebook or other social networking sites are:

• Three times likelier to use alcohol.
• Four times likelier to use marijuana.
• More than twice as likely to think they’ll try drugs in the future.
• Four times likelier to be able to get marijuana, almost three times likelier to be able to get controlled prescription drugs without a prescription and more than twice as likely to be able to get alcohol in a day or less.
• Much likelier to have friends and classmates who use illegal drugs and abuse controlled prescription drugs.

Especially troubling–and alarming–are that almost half of the teens who have seen pictures of kids drunk, passed out, or using drugs on Facebook and other social networking sites first saw such pictures when they were 13 years of age or younger; more than 90 percent first saw such pictures when they were 15 or younger. These facts alone should strike Facebook fear into the hearts of parents of young children.

Talk about Dr. Phil material.

I’m sorry but anyone with half a brain should be able to see this for the garbage that it is; but I feel sorry for the kids who’s parents will see this as some headline on a website or in the mainstream press and get all up in arms and start spouting the typical “but think of the kids” as they mass mail their Congress person to do something. We all know what happens then – more mass stupidity.

via Geek are Sexy