Facebook Users More Likely To Drink, Do Drugs Than Peers Who Avoid Social Networking

Interesting study from a very reliable source. Definitely worth reading, especially if you're raising kids.

When young people regularly see images of their peers doing such things, they are more likely to see that behavior as normal and do it themselves, the study found.

"The anything-goes, free-for-all world of Internet expression and suggestive television programming that teens are exposed to on a daily basis puts them at increased risk of substance abuse," said Joseph Califano, chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at New York's Columbia University, which did the research.

"The findings in this year's survey should strike Facebook fear into the hearts of parents of young children."

Adolescents between 12 and 17 were questioned about their typical social-networking habits. Some 70% said they log on at least once a day. Those who did were five times more likely to smoke, three times more likely to drink and twice as likely to smoke marijuana.

 

via Facebook users more likely to drink, do drugs than peers who avoid social networking: study.