Is social media preventing teens from smoking, drinking and taking drugs?
Researchers in New Zealand say socialising in the age of the Internet means teenagers are now expressing themselves differently
Modern New Zealand teenagers have turned to healthier living, virtually giving up smoking and cutting back sharply on binge drinking and illicit drugs.
The smoking rate had dropped to less than three per cent in 2015, from 15 per cent in 2000. The rate of regular binge drinking nearly halved in the 11 years to 2012. And illicit drug use fell to 23 per cent in 2012.
But researchers aren’t clear on the reasons behind these reductions in risky behaviour and wonder whether Snapchat and Facebook may play a role.
Otago University Wellington researcher Jude Ball said there had been large, almost simultaneous reductions in adolescent risk behaviours in a range of countries.
She had found health interventions such as hikes in tobacco tax might have played a role, but the similarities in the data between countries despite variations in their tobacco controls suggested broader social forces were at work.
Some argue that social media is replacing risky behaviours: adolescents can be cool and sociable without drinking, and gaming, texting and social media means they have less time, or are less inclined, to drink or smoke.
