Social Media Campaign Discouraging Binge Drinking Among Teens

Social Media Campaign: Discouraging Binge Drinking Among Teens
Problem Definition
Binge drinking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (2019), could be defined as “a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 g/dl or above… typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks or women consume 4 or more drinks in about 2 hours.” As the CDC further points out, in every six US adults, one binge drinks a minimum of four times in a month. It is, thus, apparent that the problem of excessive consumption of alcohol is rather widespread across the nation. The issue becomes even worse when binge drinking is increasingly becoming common amongst teenagers.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – NIAAA (2020) observes that underage drinking is one of the main concerns facing the country at present. In the words of NIAAA (2020), “alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America’s youth, and drinking by young people poses enormous health and safety risks.” The risks posed by binge drinking could manifest in either the short-term or in the long-term. Short-term effects include, but they are not limited to; memory loss, nausea, dehydration, and coordination problems. On the other hand, long-term effects could be inclusive of infertility, heart problems, stroke, liver disease, as well as brain damage. Binge drinking has also been associated with poor decision making and engagement in risky behaviors including irresponsible sex and abuse of hard drugs. It is also important to note that binge drinking has been linked to poor academic performance. Indeed, according to Karen, Wei, and Scott (2017), there is sufficient evidence indicating that binge drinking does foster academic underachievement amongst teenagers. In their recent study seeking to map the effect of binge drinking amongst teenagers in high school and their academic performance, the authors found out that high school students who engaged in binge drinking were more likely to not only skip class, but also ignore their homework or classwork. Thus, the authors came to the conclusion that “students who initiate binge drinking have poor school performance and engagement, which may interfere with achieving their future academic goals” (Karen, Wei, and Scott, 2017, p. 378). It therefore follows that the relevance of addressing this particular problem as a matter of urgency cannot be overstated. This is more so the case given that to a large extent, the future wellbeing and prosperity of the nation largely depends on the future workforce mainly comprising of those in this particular age group. In as far as this discussion is concerned, a teenager will be deemed to be any person between the age of 13 and 19 years.
Data and Statistics
From the onset, it is important to note that most teenagers are introduced to alcohol consumption at a relatively early age. As a matter of fact, according to NIAAA (2020), close to 30% of teens have their first drink by age 15. The situation is worse by age 18. NIAAA (2020) points out that 58% of teenagers have an alcoholic drink by the time they are 18 years old. Available data also indicates that of all the alcohol consumed within the United States, 11% of that is consumed by persons in the 10-20 years age bracket (NIAAA, 2020). As the CDC (2020) observes, in every drinking session or occasion, teenage drinkers are more likely to consume more alcohol than adults. In a National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted in 2018, it was found that “19% of youth aged 12 to 20 years drink alcohol and 12% reported binge drinking in the past 30 days” (CDC, 2020). These statistics are indicators of just how serious the problem is and the need for prompt intervention.
Evidence-Based Practices for Treating Substance Use Disorders among Adolescents
When it comes to the treatment of substance use disorders among adolescents, some of the evidence-based practices that are of relevance to this particular discussion include: behavioral therapy for adolescents, brief intervention, and brief strategic family therapy (BSFT). When it comes to behavioral therapy for adolescents, this would involve highlighting the need to stop alcohol consumption and establishing the standards for adherence. Once the targeted teenagers make progress, they could be rewarded or encouraged in one way or another. It should be noted that in addition to ensuring that the affected teens are able to avoid scenarios that could trigger binge drinking and allocate more time to activities that are unrelated to alcohol consumption, behavioral therapy for adolescents also equips the said teens with skills to identify and alter feelings and thoughts that are likely to motivate them to engage in the consumption of alcohol. Further, this approach also ropes in persons (including friends and family members) who could be instrumental in helping the affected teenager ditch alcohol.
On the other hand, brief intervention has a total of six key elements. In most cases, this approach is for opportunistic cases – i.e. where the adolescent seeks intervention or help for another problem or health issue unrelated to the consumption of alcohol. For this reason, it could come in handy in school counselling centers and institutional clinic settings. This is more so the case given that this approach does not necessarily need to be conducted by an addictions treatment expert/specialist. For instance, in line with the elements proposed, an adolescent who presents with failing grades at school could be sensitized on the dangers of binge drinking (feedback element), and notified that he or she can decide to stop drinking if and when she wants to (responsibility element). The teenager could then be advised that the best course of action is to stop drinking (advice element) and presented with some of the courses of actions (menu element) that he or she could apply in that endeavor, i.e. avoiding bad company. In essence, whoever is conducting the brief intervention approach ought to be aware of the fact that a firm and earnest tone (emphatic element) is often more productive than outright confrontation. Further, there is need to ensure that the teenager is in this case certain that the set objectives can be accomplished (self-efficacy element).
Social Media Platform
The social media platform that would be most appropriate for the present campaign is Facebook. This particular platform has been selected on the strength of a number of factors. To begin with, Facebook happens to be rather popular among teens. Indeed, in the words of Rothoni (2019), “Facebook is one of the fastest-growing and perhaps the most popular social networking websites among young people in western countries…” (148). In that regard, therefore, in using this platform, I would be sure to reach out to a significant number of those in my targeted age group.
Next, it is important to note that there is evidence indicating that to some extent, alcohol advertisement does influence teen consumption of the same when the teens are exposed to the said adverts (Grenard, Dent, and Stacy, 2013). In the words of the authors, “alcohol ad exposure and the affective reaction to those ads influence some youth to drink more and experience drinking-related problems later in adolescence” (Grenard, Dent, and Stacy, 2013, p. e370). Alcohol advertising is prevalent on social media, including Facebook. Thus, part of the campaign ought to be directed at countering the perceptions created by the said advertisements on this particular social media platform.
Health Promotional Strategies
Health promotional strategies targeted for this population could be presented in a systematic 3-step process. The three steps in this case are: the harm occasioned by engagement in harmful behaviors (such as excessive consumption of alcohol), the benefits of avoiding the harmful behaviors, and the most effective strategies to assure behavior change. In as far as the harms are concerned, teenagers ought to be made aware of the fact that excessive consumption of alcohol is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes including chronic illnesses (such as liver disease and high blood pressure) and cancer (specifically colon, liver, esophagus, and throat cancer) (CDC, 2019). Next, the benefits of harmful behavior avoidance that teenagers ought to be aware of include; better academic performance, improves chances of success later on in life, less anxiety and stress, better relationships, etc. Lastly, effective strategies to assure behavior change that could be applied in this case include; seeking professional help, avoiding bad company, and evading situations that predispose one to alcohol consumption (i.e. visiting a club).
Monitoring
Without monitoring of the success of the campaign, it would be impossible to assess the effectiveness as well as impact of the said undertaking. Thus, the success of the campaign will be monitored via: the examination of the click through rate (CTR), assessment of the reactions we receive from the target population, and follow-through of actual behavior change stories. In basic terms, our campaign would be deemed a success if the CTR happens to be high. On the other hand, positive reactions from the target population would be yet another success indicator. Lastly, the higher the number of verified success stories, the more successful our campaign will be considered to be.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (2019). Binge Drinking. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/binge-drinking.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (2020). Underage Drinking. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm
Grenard, J.L., Dent, C.W. & Stacy, A.L. (2013). Exposure to Alcohol Advertisements and Teenage Alcohol-Related Problems. Pediatrics, 131(2), e369-e379.
Karen, P., Wei, Q. & Scott, L. (2017). Binge drinking and academic performance, engagement, aspirations, and expectations: a longitudinal analysis among secondary school students in the COMPASS study. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can., 37(11), 376-385.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – NIAAA (2020). Underage Drinking. Retrieved from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/underage-drinking
Rothoni, A. (2019). Teenagers’ Everyday Literacy Practices in English: Beyond the Classroom. New York, NY: Springer Nature.