Proposal on impact of social media on drugs usage among youth: a case study of nima community in ghana

Thesis Overview

<p> </p><p><strong>Introduction</strong></p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Mass media stories and reports of drugs and drug use are extensive and a daily occurrence. Mass media consists not only of traditional print sources such as newspapers and magazines, but also radio, television, advertising in many formats, and the new electronic media on the Inter-net. Media sources have become important forms of drug information for patients and drug consumers (Montagne,2001).</p><p>There has been a great deal of interest recently in the role of mass media in drug use, with a primary focus on alcohol, tobacco, and prescription medications and especially its influence on adolescents (Strasburger &amp; Donnerstein, 1999). For example, magazines with the highest proportion of young readers are also the most likely to contain alcohol ads (King et al., 2009). Ninth-grade students who listen to music with marijuana references are twice as likely to use the drug as their peers who do not listen to these songs (Primack, Douglas, &amp;Kraemer, 2010). Exposure to onscreen smoking in movies increases the probability that young people will start smoking (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention[CDC], 2010). An analysis of YouTube videos found that most posted videos on tobacco depict smoking behaviors and are supportive of smoking (Elkin, Thom-son, &amp; Wilson, 2010). Mexican American adolescents are more likely to experiment with cigarettes if they have been heavily exposed to scenes of smoking in movies (Wilkinson et al., 2009). Alcohol marketing has gone on-line as alcohol industry now exploits a variety of the new media tools to promote alcohol products most especially to young audiences (Chester, Montgomery, &amp; Dorfman, 2010). To counter these depictions of drug use in mass media, it has been suggested that prevention programs engage young people in a form of media literacy, to train them how to interpret messages and to develop critical thinking skills (Kupersmidt, Scull, &amp; Austin,2010). How influential is mass media in creating societal perceptions of drugs and drug use? Some research suggests that mass media are instrumental in generating moral panics, strong societal reactions against certain drugs and drug users (Murji, 1998). At issue is the quality of reporting on news stories. Coomber, Morris, and Dunn (2000) found that exaggeration, distortion, inaccuracy, and sensationalism are common in news reporting. Quality control mechanisms are rarely employed to ensure accurate reporting of news accounts of drug use. Based on this study the researcher wants to investigate the impact of social media on drug usage among youth.</p> <br><p></p>