Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 11/1/2023
LONGMEADOW — Screens are an ever-present, ubiquitous part of reality. Teens are especially reliant on phones and tablets, through which they connect with friends, watch media and learn about the wider world, which includes receiving societal messages about drugs, alcohol and other substances. A new documentary being screened at Longmeadow High School on Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. examines how teens are affected by these messages.
“Screenagers Under the Influence: Vaping, Drugs & Alcohol in the Digital Age,” the third film in a trilogy of documentaries, was released in March. The first two films in the series, “Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age” and “Screenagers Next Chapter: Youth Mental Health in the Digital Age” were released in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Longmeadow Public Schools hosted a viewing of the first “Screenagers” film in 2018. The school department is partnering with CLOSE Community, an organization that works to reduce youth substance use and abuse in town, to bring the “Screenagers Under the Influence” to Longmeadow.
“The tech revolution has allowed [teens] to be marketed to on their phones. They’re getting a lot of information online that they wouldn’t get otherwise,” said Shelly Warren, substance abuse response coordinator for Longmeadow Public Schools.
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America released positive reviews after screening the film. Warren emphasized that the film is not judgmental in tone. An award-winning filmmaker and primary care physician, Delaney Ruston mixes interviews with teens and parents sharing their stories with information from doctors and scientists.
“It’s not really a film about addiction,” Warren said, although part of the film does discuss how gaming, gambling and social media affect the brain’s risk and reward centers in the same way as drugs and alcohol. Instead, she said the film focuses on how mobile devices have changed the way teens access the world, particularly substance use messaging.
“I view [screens] as neutral. There are ways in which people use them that are positive and negative,” Warren said. “It’s not only negative challenges. Some risk-taking trends have gone down [in frequency] because teens are living online more and not doing some dangerous things in person. But then, there are risks that couldn’t have happened before screens. It’s a change in the way teens experience the world and their relationships in it.”
Understanding this may be a tool in helping young people navigate that world. For example, Warren said some health classes in Longmeadow have begun teaching students how to discern what is misinformation and what is accurate and to think critically about the messages they receive.
“Screenagers Under the Influence: Vaping, Drugs & Alcohol in the Digital Age” is recommended for students in grade 6 and older, and Warren pointed out that many middle schools and even some children in elementary school have phones. There are often tablets in the home before that. “If they have a Wi-Fi connection, the whole internet is open to them,” she said.
Warren said, “We have had several families sign up, which is ideal. We’re hoping to spark intergenerational discussion.” She hopes people take away an “understanding of the new world that kids are living in. I hope people come with their families and learn something together.”
Registration for the screening is requested but not required to attend. To register for the screening, visit tinyurl.com/bdev6by2. For more information about the film and the others in this trilogy, visit screenagersmovie.com.