Talk about upsetting the stereotype of basement dwelling, dateless nerds:
The revelations come in research conducted lately in Canada among 10 to 16-year-olds by epidemiology PhD candidate Valerie Carson.
“This research is based on social cognitive theory, which suggests that seeing people engaged in a behaviour is a way of learning that behaviour,” explains Carson. “Since adolescents are exposed to considerable screen time — over 4.5 hours on average each day — they’re constantly seeing images of behaviours they can then potentially adopt.”
Apparently the study found that high computer use was associated with approximately 50 per cent increased engagement with “smoking, drunkenness, non-use of seatbelts, cannabis and illicit drug use, and unprotected sex”. High television use was also associated with a modestly increased engagement in these activities.
According to Ms Carson this is because TV is much more effectively controlled and censored in order to prevent impressionable youths seeing people puffing tabs or jazz cigarettes while indulging in unprotected sex etc. The driving without seatbelts thing seems a bit odd until one reflects that old episodes of the The Professionals, the Rockford Files etc are no doubt torrent favourites.
Your headline certainly describes the late 80s/early 90s BBS scene in Toronto, as my adolescent self remembers it. Lots of soap opera style hookups and breakups in a very short time span, house-wrecking parties once a week, etc.
Probably a good thing the net is more sedate.
Comment by Chris Taylor — April 27, 2011 @ 11:56
I was already married and living a settled lifestyle by then (even if the kid and the house in the distant suburbs were a few years later). I clearly missed out on much of the drama and tragedy of the BBS scene.
Comment by Nicholas — April 27, 2011 @ 12:29