Internet Continues to Pose Danger to Teenagers Through Easy Access to Drug Information

Despite steady declines in teen drug use over the past five years, the Internet remains a concern as it provides young people with easy access to information on how to obtain and use drugs. A recent pamphlet by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America alerts parents to Web sites aimed at teens that promote the use of cough syrup to get high, and some 12th graders are admitting to purchasing prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin online. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has noted a couple of new areas of concern, including the non-medical use of prescription narcotics and marijuana among 8th-12th graders. To combat these issues, school administrators must remain vigilant and take advantage of the latest web-filtering and reporting technologies.

Key Takeaways:

• The Internet poses a danger to teenagers through easy access to information on how to obtain and use drugs.
• According to a pamphlet by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, some Web sites aim to promote the use of cough syrup to get high.
• 12th graders are admitting to purchasing prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin online.
• The National Institute on Drug Abuse has noted a couple of new areas of concern, including the non-medical use of prescription narcotics and marijuana among 8th-12th graders.
• The iBoss Enterprise Web Filter has added a feature that allows keyword wildcard searches of reports to its already rich tool set.
• School administrators can use the iBoss Enterprise to accurately identify potential threats by searching for specific keywords or terms.
• The iBoss Enterprise can handle over four million concurrent TCP/IP requests and incorporates stream-based URL filtering.
• The device can be easily integrated into any school network and offers powerful software-free web security solutions.
• The ability to quickly and easily search for any term used across all search engines and blogs shorten an administrator's response time for addressing threats.

Statistics:

• Over the past five years, annual surveys conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse have shown steady declines in teen drug use.
• 8th-12th graders are increasingly using prescription narcotics and marijuana non-medically.
• The iBoss Enterprise Web Filter can handle over four million concurrent TCP/IP requests.
• The device incorporates stream-based URL filtering to allow access to select sub-URLs while blocking a base domain and vice versa.

Sources:

• National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Partnership for a Drug-Free America
• Phantom Technologies
• "iBoss Web Filters" press release