1 / 30

Adapting to the Digital Age

Explore the impact of the digital age on substance use among young people and discover strategies to address this issue. Join Jimmy McGovern, a passionate advocate for education and wellness, as he shares insights and solutions.

hamish-cummings
Download Presentation

Adapting to the Digital Age

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Adapting to the Digital Age Jimmy McGovern

  2. Young People & Substance Use in a Digital Age

  3. Who is Jimmy? • Westmeath Native • Studied Mathematics with Sociological & Political Studies, NUI Galway 2012-15 • Vice President / Welfare Officer, NUI Galway Students’ Union 2015/16 • President, NUI Galway Students’ Union 2016/17 • Governing Body Member, NUI Galway 2016/17 • Vice President for the Border, Midlands & Western Region, Union of Students in Ireland 2017/18 • Advocate for Education, Access to Support, Suicide Prevention, and for Quality of Life.

  4. Who is Jimmy? • Steering Committee Member, Western Region Drug & Alcohol Task Force

  5. Who are USI? The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) (Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn) is the national representative body for third-level students’ unions in Ireland. USI is the sole national representative body for students in Ireland. Founded in 1959, USI now represents more than 374,000 students in over forty colleges across the island of Ireland. The goal of the USI is to work for rightsof students and a fair and equal third level education system in Ireland.

  6. USI Addressing Substance Use REACT is a joint initiative between the USI, the Irish Student Health Association (ISHA) and UCC Health Matters. The HSE-funded project aims to create an accreditation and award scheme for Third-Level Institutes that make significant changes within their campuses in an attempt to tackle the growing issue of excessive alcohol consumption among students. This initiative must be cosigned in partnership by both the President of the Institute and the President of the Students’ Union.

  7. USI Addressing Substance Use Prior to making a submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality on drug policy review, USI engaged in a consultation process with member organisations and students’ unions to ascertain their views.On July 17th 2015, USI National Council formally adopted a stance that called for USI to support a call for decriminalisation of drugs, with a view to taking a similar approach to the one Portugal took in 2001.

  8. USI Addressing Substance Use

  9. USI Addressing Substance Use USI Media Press Releases January, 2016 “The Union of Students in Ireland is urging young people to stay away from the ‘designer drug’ 2CB after six people were hospitalised following its consumption at a house party in Cork this morning. According to the 2015 National Student Drug Survey, 82% of students have at some point used illegal drugs.94% of the 2,701 people surveyed who said they have used drugs in their lifetime have shared drugs with another person. October 2016 “The Union of Students of Ireland in partnership with Drugs.ie and the HSE launched a harm reduction information campaign aimed at people who use new psychoactive substances (NSP)*. The use of psychoactive drugs in Ireland among the 15-24 year age group is the highest in Europe (22% lifetime use).

  10. The Power of...

  11. Social Media Giants… Are You Engaged?

  12. Storm Ophelia and Social Media Storm Ophelia was a great example of digital community engagement and the power of social media. Every young person in the country could tell their parent instantly, real time updates of the impacts of the storm. Video sharing allowed people to see in the impact in any single part of the country, instantly.

  13. SnapChat In Ireland:Daily users 1,750,000 1,400,000 are under 35 975,000 are under 24. Snap Inc.“We believe that reinventing the camera represents our greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Our products empower people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together.” ... What role does this play in the marketing of substance use? 18 - 20 years old (675,000) 24 - 34 year old (425,000) 13 - 17 year olds (400,000) 35 and over (350,000) 21 - 24 year olds (300,000).

  14. SnapChat Snapchat allows you to Upload and Share any image or video with anyone or everyone in your network in real time. The Snapchat Story feature expires after 24 hours, which allows users to upload large amounts of content.

  15. Snap Map

  16. Snap Map

  17. Alcohol Advertising & Teens on Social Media 12-17 year olds who use social media daily at increased risk of underage drinking and drug use, according to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. (2015)Compared to teens that spend no time on social networking sites in a typical day, teens that do are: • 5 times likelier to use tobacco • 3 times likelier to use alcohol • 2 times likelier to use marijuana 40% of all teens surveyed have seen pictures on social media of kids getting drunk, passed out, or using drugs. Half of teens who have seen these pictures first saw such pictures when they were 13 years of age or younger; more than 90% first saw such pictures when they were 15 or younger.

  18. Social Media’s Exposure to Substance Use • Young people often have between 600 - 2,000 connections online. • Statistically, in a network there will always be someone socialising at any one time, and they are likely to share that with their growing network. • Those who are not socialising, often upload their best content at a later time of their previous nights out. • At the rate social media is being used, we are exposed to Substance Use and Party Culture 24/7.

  19. 24/7 Exposure to FOMO

  20. “FOMO” (Fear Of Missing Out) Anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media.

  21. Question? If youth drug culture is on the rise, while young people’s digital and technological literacy is accelerating at unprecedented levels, are we seeing a correlation in activity?

  22. DARK WEB Does the growth in young people’s digital and technological literacy allow them to explore and purchase illegal substances online? If this is the case, how quickly can support services for young people adapt?

  23. 2017 Trends... Smartphones! - Most online/social time is spent on smartphones. Smartphone is the main delivery device for online content and services. If you want to perform on social media, you will have to perform on mobile. This means Producing content specifically tailored to smartphone screens (e.g. mobile friendly websites, vertical videos, etc.). Visual Content! - You will need to make contact as easy as possible for your audience to absorb and remember. Particularly important for graspingattention when advertising awareness campaigns, support information, etc. Rely more on visual contact (pictures, videos, infographics, etc.).

  24. Are we providing support to young people through the their Smartphones?

  25. Maximising Social Media - Ask Yourself? • Are we responding to and using the Social Media Giants effectively? • Do we have a Social Media policy or strategy? • Have we invested in staff to utilise social media? • If not, why not?

  26. “By adapting to the Digital Age, we can reach further audiences, reducing more harm and supporting more recovery, than ever before”

  27. Thank you! Contact:Jimmy McGovern Email:bmw@usi.ie Phone:086 130 3102

More Related