Facebook, MTV, and Other Teen Hotspots Are Causing More To Do Drugs, Alcohol

Written by Guest blogger - Ian- One-third of teenagers (male and female, ages 13-19) watch shows such as Teen Mom, Jersey Shore, and Gossip Girl. 70 percent of teens in the United States have an account on Facebook, MySpace, or another social networking website. According to researchers at the Columbia University National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, teens that are a part of MTV, Facebook, MySpace, or other social networking site are five times more likely to do drugs, smoke, or drink alcohol underage.

Being a Facebook member myself, I feel that this statistic is ludicrous! Facebook doesn’t support, promote, or resemble drug and alcohol abuse in any way. Facebook and MySpace are about communication, sharing, and making friends. Social networks do not promote drugs in any way.

On the other hand, MTV does. The MTV ten years ago is totally different than the MTV now. They used to just play music video after music video, but they’ve turned into a teenage drama channel. Jersey Shore is about a bunch of steroid-pumped guys and anorexic girls partying. That’s all that show is about… And one third of American teenagers watch it! No wonder so many people are doing drugs, alcohol, and smoking.

The other thing that MTV promotes is pregnant teens. Instead of trying to prevent teenage pregnancy, they turned it into a show. The more teenage girls that get pregnant, the longer they can keep the show running. The longer the show stays running, the more money MTV makes. Parents, beware! The television is more dangerous than the Internet.